Classroom in the Cloud, ch. 3

          From chapter 3 of Classroom in the Cloud, I have decided to look further into Edmodo. My reason for choosing Edmodo over Wikispaces is that I am semi-familiar with Wikispaces, however I had never heard of Edmodo before reading this chapter.
         Edmodo is described by the text as "...the 'Facebook' for education...a social media platform that allows students and teachers to connect in a private and secure environment outside the classroom" (73) The purpose of Edmodo is to extend learning outside of the confines of the classroom and into students' after-school lives, and to share valuable educational resources. Edmodo provides a closed, and therefore safe, environment for teachers and students to share comments, videos, handouts, ask questions, etc.  One neat aspect of the Edmodo resource is that students can have peer conversations with one another under the supervision of the teacher. This can also provide a place for students to turn in work, and in return receive online teacher feedback to assignments. The teacher possesses all ultimate editing rights to all posts uploaded onto Edmodo. Through Edmodo, students can access additional educational apps.
          Another useful feature of Edmodo is that it can be accessed through any device that has internet access. The text even says that through Edmodo teachers can have access to their gradebooks, and to any comment left by a student. Apparently, teachers have the freedom and ability to customize their Edmodo page for the class, although in order to obtain certain features you have to pay a small fee.
          Edmodo also includes the option for students to add assignments or photos to their "Edmodo Backback," which is essentially a digital, Cloud-based folder in which files are saved and stored. These files that are saved into the Edmodo Backpack have been saved for good, and students or teachers are able to access that storage at any point in the future.
          Another right that is available to the teacher of the Edmodo page is the ability to create small groups within the main group.
          As a future teacher, I am potentially interested in using Edmodo as a tool for my classroom. For one, Edmodo creates a positive online community (which is desperately needed in our society!) that extends communication beyond the classroom. It is also a great way to keep all my resources in one central location, including gradebook, student work, student comments, etc. It can also be as equally useful for the student as it is for the teacher. Edmodo allows for students to keep all their assignments in a central location as well. Lastly, Edmodo classrooms can collaborate with other Edmodo classrooms all around the globe. What exciting possibilities this educational globalization creates!