Edmodo has a pretty similar interface as Facebook, which I think that it may, in some way, appeal to students or teachers in this social media era! You can post things directly onto the main feed but there is no way you can private message anyone on this tool. I think it is good because in this way, it promotes the idea of group interactions, as the students come together and discuss about a particular topic openly, so everyone gets to see each other's point of view and share theirs too, instead of one student sharing with another student privately. So essentially, everything that is related to the topic is being discussed openly on the feeds and everyone gets to see what everyone has got to say! I signed up as a student and joined the EME6414 class! This is what I see on my laptop!
It's like we are trying to conduct a class on Facebook but with features like uploading of assignment files onto your profile if there are any assignments given by the teacher.
You can also monitor your progress, which are your grades on your assignments posted by your teachers!
And it is not restricted to just one course, you can be in multiple courses if all the teachers decided to put the entire semester on Edmodo! It works too! haha I think it is pretty cool but at the same time, I think being the teacher of the class on Edmodo, he or she will have to be actively engaging the students and at the same time, I think it is important to also create some form of a time line to make sure that the students are checking their profile on specific time of the day and week, to participate in any form of online class activities created by the teacher. I feel that for people in Higher Education, we know how to self-regulate ourselves and we are adults, we should know how to manage our time and do what needs to be done for the course like in this class. As for students in elementary schools or high schools, I think the teacher might need to control and manage the students because they may be easily distracted since all these will be done via the computer! Therefore, having some form of a time table for the students to follow would be ideal to keep them on tasks!
The students can even invite their parents onto Edmodo and monitor their kids learning progression! While it may be a good idea to get parents involved in the kids learning so the parents can have a better idea of what their kids have been learning in school. But I think it might be pretty stressful for the students. Taking myself for an example, I would feel really awkward when I am studying and my parents are watching me. Even if it's online, it is their presence that will make me feel awkward, which I think will limit my ability to share how I feel about certain concepts of a particular topic. I will also be worried that my parents will see my assignment scores and if I don't do well, I will be punished etc. It makes the learning environment stressful and it may have a negative impact on a student's learning. What do you think?
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