3.3 Using Web 2.0 Tools

In my classroom students have been using Edmodo from the beginning of the current semester and they love it. Edmodo is considered a Learning Management System and it is known as the facebook for teachers and students. On Edmodo my students really like to make their own avatars and change them whenever they want. Edmodo has its own educational applications embedded in the program like Sokikomon Math apps. They compete with their own classmates or with other students from other parts of the world. Students enjoy playing math games from Sokikomon, they earn points from advancing into different level and they can use their earned point to buy accessories for their avatars. I also use Sokikomon’s class management tool to give and take away students’ behavior points. Student can view their behavior point in real time. I use Edmodo to send current information, post a new assignment, give a link to a website. Students have also used Edmodo to post their completed assignments and to send message to the class or directly to the teacher. Parents can also be part of class by registering in Edmodo, using a particular code number that is given by their own student. When my students’ stared using Edmodo they didn’t have difficulty to familiarizes themselves with the program they connected easily to the application, because of its similarity to a Facebook an application that is well known and used by many of them.  Students also use Edmodo to post an assignment created using Wordle a wonderful web 2.0 tool to create words and posters. They were collaborating and creating their own designs. I am currently teaching an elective course and I am trying to incorporate some of the web 2.0 tools that can be used in their core classes. The outcome of working with Wordle was to encourage students to explore a similar tool such as Tugxedo and create their own design to be used on the present yearbook cover.