Title: Edmodo - tasks and activities
Course: AMORES revised learning materials for teachers on interactive ICT tools in teaching national and European literature - final version - UK > Section: Week 4: Edmodo

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About Edmodo

This week we will be having a look at Edmodo which is a secure social medium particularly useful for using in school, i.e., education.

We would like to begin some discussions with you on how you might use this social medium to create a virtual ‘classroom’ and enable your pupils/students to use online collaboration to engage with their chosen text(s).

Those of you who have not used Edmodo before please have a look at this brief introductory video.

Create an account

Throughout this week we will mostly be working in Edmodo, so please create your account here.

You will also need to verify your account to help keep students protected on Edmodo. You can find out how to do so here.

Create your group

In this video, you will find step-by-step instructions on how to create your own groups, and how you can invite students to join.

Watch the video, then log on to Edmodo, create your own group and invite two people to join.

At some point you are going to be taking part in a discussion about safety/security online, especially with regard to social media, so please read the Edmodo Parent Permission Form example. This will be particularly relevant when working with younger learners.

You might also want to take a look at a sample Code of Conduct for use with pupils of any age.

We also recommend you have a browse through the interactive Quick Guides to Edmodo, adapted for each group of users (young learners, slightly older ones, secondary school, etc.).

Upload files

Considering your students will be using Edmodo to share e-artefacts, the following videos might be useful as they show you how students add files to their backpack

and how teachers add files to their library.

Watch the videos, then log on to Edmodo.

Create a folder for a literary work you plan to cover in your class.

Start discussions

Once the e-artefacts have been uploaded you will want students to comment on them and interact. You can do this by starting a discussion and this tutorial shows you how to do that. Discussions can be started immediately or scheduled to start at a time that you find convenient.

In addition to responding to the opening comment, students and teachers can react to a post, thus providing immediate feedback (somewhat like "liking" on Facebook).

Watch the video, then log on to Edmodo. Upload a movie or a comic strip you have created and start a discussion around it. React to at least one discussion someone else has started.

Planner

Before you start uploading e-artefacts, you'll probably want to set a due date for submissions. Or you might want your students to know when the next videoconferencing event is coming up. You can schedule tasks and events in the Edmodo Planner. This video walks you through how to use it.