ILP “Participation” – Lynda.com tutorial: Up and Running with Edmodo

My Learning Experience with Lynda.com Tutorials
I have no idea why I didn't think to complete this tutorial before creating an Edmodo for my first Independent Learning Project. However, after being somewhat familiar with Edmodo this tutorial was simple to follow while still teaching me SO MUCH. I knew the basics and this tutorial provided much further knowledge about using Edmodo and all of it's many features. Lynda.com tutorials are easy to access and contain so much useful information. I will definitely be accessing this resource more often while I am a student at Florida State.
The best part about this specific tutorial is the way I was able to see what the instructor was doing on the website. Capturing screenshots made it easy to follow and will be good resources for my future Edmodo classroom (see screenshots below). Another thing I liked was how the instructor showed me what each post looks like from a students profile. 
The coolest feature about Edmodo that I learned in this tutorial is the quiz customization. There are so many different options to choose from to make the quiz just the way it needs to be (see notes below).
  
Notes

Edmodo can teach students about digital citizenship and how to use social media in a safe and secure way.

*Join communities on Edmodo, specifically, Digital Citizenship community.

"Range" allows for selection of more than one grade.

Create groups for each class period AND small groups for projects, discussion boards, collaboration, etc.

To customize profile settings: upper right corner - enter profile information - MAKE SURE TIME ZONE IS CORRECT (tests, assignments, due dates will be affected by this).

Left side bar: add school to make connections with other teachers/co-workers; customize URL; email and text updates option.

Choose who you want to send messages/assignments/quizzes/notes to.

Group code or Join URL to invite students.

Parent code connects to students account so parents can only see things posted by their child or the teacher.

Lock the group code after all students have joined.

Teacher can delete anything students post to keep it appropriate.

The clock icon can be used to schedule posts so teacher doesn't post during school time.

Polls can provide important student feedback for the teacher.

*Post a poll the day before an in-class discussion to prompt students and get them excited about the topic.

Customization for quizzes:

1. Time limit

2. Point value for each question.

3. Types of questions (multiple choice, true false, short answer, matching, fill in blank)

4. Edmodo automatically grades everything EXCEPT short answer and fill in the blank must be EXACTLY like the teacher typed it.

5. Preview quiz to see it from students perspective.

6. Give partial credit for short answer, MUST CLICK "CORRECT" first.

Screenshots

 

Sundae Survey

https://fsu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6l2VNVe9cIyw21f

10-Final EME Post

              Data Collection tools, such as Survey Monkey or Google Forms, can be used in many ways as a teacher. I really liked the simplicity of both Survey Monkey and Google Forms in our classroom this semester. Voting on things such as “Best in Show” made it fun and easy to interact with other people in the classroom. I would like to implement this in my future classroom. Whenever we do science or history fair in a fourth grade class, we could use a Google Form to decide which project the students thought was best. Involving the students in picking the best project gets them excited and more motivated to do well on their project.

             The blogs this semester were so interesting to read! It is hard to pick only one favorite topic but I really loved reading about the ways in which each person plans to use certain tools in their future career. Our class is full of such a diverse population of creativity so I feel that these sections really opened my mind to new ideas that I can use in my future career. Some of the topics in this course were difficult to understand how they could be used in the classroom. But reading my classmates’ blogs about their ideas was really helpful in understanding the possible applications of each tool.

            The next technology-related skill I would like to learn is the smart board. I played with the smart board a little in the FSU Tech Sandbox and some of my high school teachers used it. There seems to be so many cool capabilities within the smart board and I would love to learn how to use one and possibly have one in my future classroom. Even using them for PowerPoint games seems to be better than just using a projector and a clicker. With the smart board, I could touch the screen like the actual Jeopardy game. I think this tool has tons of capabilities that could really enhance any classroom interaction.

            To achieve my future technology-related goals I will likely take more Lynda courses while at Florida State University. Reading about my classmates’ experiences with Lynda really convinced me to take advantage of these courses and resources. Another tool that I will use is google. More specifically, I can use the internet to find different seminars or lectures for professional development on technology-related topics. This course also taught me to take advantage of my co-workers and my schools librarian for help or guidance with certain technology-related tools. Asking for help and collaborating with others can greatly increase my knowledge with certain technology-related topics and tools.