Edmodo Basics: A Practical Approach for Teachers East Irondequoit Central School District Professional Development Instructor: Candie Black Candace_black@eastiron.monroe.edu Fall 2014
CREATING A TEACHER ACCOUNT FOR THE FIRST TIME 4 EDMODO S HOME SCREEN 8 PLANNER 11 SNAPSHOT 12 YOUR PROFILE 13 SETTINGS 15 ACCOUNT 15 EMAIL & TEXT UPDATES 16 CHANGING YOUR PASSWORD 16 PRIVACY SETTINGS 17 JOINING A GROUP 18 CREATING STUDENT GROUPS 20 GROUP SETTINGS & CODES 22 LOCKING & RESETTING THE GROUP CODE 23 MEMBERS 24 PROGRESS SCREEN 25 TEACHER BADGES 26 STUDENT BADGES 27 DISCOVER SCREEN 28 SUGGESTIONS 29 COMMUNITIES 30 PUBLISHERS 31 FIND CONTENT 31 2
TEACHERS YOU MAY KNOW 32 POSTS 33 NOTES 35 ALERTS 36 ASSIGNMENTS 37 QUIZZES 37 POLLS 38 STUDENT HOME PAGE ON EDMODO 39 STUDENT PROGRESS SCREEN 40 LIBRARY 42 FOLDERS 44 NAMING OF FOLDERS & FILES 45 RE-ORDERING & REMOVING FOLDERS 45 ADDING DOCUMENTS TO A FOLDER 46 LOGGING OUT OF EDMODO 48 3
Creating a teacher account for the first time a. Go to www.edmodo.com (bookmark this on your computer for future access). b. Click on the left BLUE button marked I m a Teacher. c. Choose a title from the drop down menu. d. Enter your first name, last name, school email and a password for your Edmodo account (Hint: consider using your actual email password; it will be easier to remember). e. Check the box marked You agree to our Terms of Services and our Privacy Policy. f. Click on Sign up. 4
g. Find your school enter the school name, city, state, zip, then choose your school (this associates you with a particular school). You can always change your school in the future. Click on Next step. If you already have an Edmodo account, START HERE! h. Update your teacher profile i. Note that if you want to go back to the previous step, click on Back to Step 1. ii. Find a photo / image that will display with your name. This can be an actual headshot of yourself OR a picture downloaded from the internet and saved to your desktop that represents you. Click on Upload a New Photo. Locate this picture on your server account. The photo should now appear. You can change this photo in the future. 5
iii. Edmodo will automatically put in a URL for our Edmodo account. This will make it easier for colleagues or students to find you. If you like the URL as is, keep it. If not, try putting in another word that users would associate with you (such as a nickname). If it isn t used already by another user, Edmodo will assign this URL to your account. iv. Click on Next Step. 6
i. Follow communities Select a learning community that interests you. (You can select more than one.) Click on Go to my homepage. j. Verification step - Identifies the user (you) and the role (teacher). Note that the first time you open Edmodo, you must verify your account. k. You will have to lead your students through a similar process except that they will select I am a Student. 7
I Your communities H Your groups A Home button Edmodo s home screen E Search bar F Notifications G Your account B Progress button C Discover button D Library button
A Click the Home button to return to the home screen. B Use the Progress button to track how your students are doing and to award them badges. (Advanced Edmodo PD will cover this.) C The Discover button suggests apps and links you might find useful as well as teachers you might know or would like to invite to connect with you on Edmodo. You can also join different communities by topic on this page and follow various publishers. Finally, you can browse different topics to search for content on Edmodo. D Your Library is where all of your uploaded content is located. Content can be viewed in several ways: (1) by item (unsorted); (2) by folders (sorted by name only not by class; (3) content that is attached to posts only; or (4) content from your linked Google Drive. E The search bar allows you to search posts, groups, users, and apps by term. F The Notifications button alerts you that you have something waiting for you in Edmodo (such as a direct message, a reply, assignments that have been turned in, or alerts). When there is such an item waiting for you, the notifications button will display a little red circle. To view the information, click on the item you want to see. G Your account contains various options such as Getting started (to set up your account), Invitations (from people who would like to connect with you), Profile (information about you that you wish to share), Settings (email, title, name, etc ), Help (to get more information on a topic), Report a Problem (email to Edmodo support), and Logout. H The Groups section is where all of the groups (or classes) you will create will be located. Notice the (+) plus icon in the upper right-hand corner this is what you will use to create a new group. I The Communities section displays all of the communities to which you belong. You are automatically added to the Support Community. Post questions to this support community and a technician from Edmodo will send you a response to solve the issue.
The following icons are found along the right-hand margin of most Edmodo pages: 1. Store Edmodo allows you to download and purchase educational apps through their site. (Note: Edmodo provides incentives in the form of store credit for things such as getting a certain number of students to join your groups. These incentives come in the form of Edmodo cash that have an expiration date.) 2. Manage My Apps manages the applications you have downloaded from Edmodo. 3. Apps Launcher similar to the ipad homescreen from which you open an application. 4. Planner calendar function 5. Snapshot special feature that creates an ELA or Math Common Core-aligned quiz. 10
Planner a) Edmodo can be used as a calendar with the teacher adding assignments. b) Every assignment that you post as a teacher is automatically added to the group s calendar and each individual student s calendar within that group. c) To add an event, click on a date, type in a description, and click on which groups (or individual students) to which to assign it. d) Upcoming events are displayed in the Notifications section as well as in the calendar/planner. e) You can change the date of an item by clicking on it and dragging it to a new date. The due date will be automatically updated. f) Students can also add their own events to their own calendars. 11
Snapshot Edmodo s Snapshot tool creates Common Core Aligned quiz questions for English and Math. 12
Your profile a) Your profile - Name, role, workplace a. # of students b. # of teacher connections c. Library items (things you have uploaded into your folders) d. Sharing score e. Click on the Start editing button in the upper right to edit the profile (this includes changing the photo). b) Profile overview a. About me in this section, you will enter a brief description of yourself, your position, and anything else you would like to include. b. Collections i. My Student Badges if you create achievement badges for your students, they will be housed in this collection. (Details on how to 13
create and award student badges will be provided in the Advanced Edmodo workshop.) ii. Favorites c. Teacher Badges in this section the teacher badges you have earned are displayed. Place your cursor over any badge to see its name. Click on any badge to see the qualifications required to earn the badge. Click on the See All link to see all available teacher badges. c) Communities d) Your connections a sample of the teachers to which you are connected are displayed in this section (photo/icon). Place your cursor over any of the photos to see the name of the person. Click on anyone s icon to open up their profile. a. Show all connections click this link to display all of your connections. b. Invite teachers click this link to invite teachers (using their emails) to join Edmodo. 14
Settings Account a) User photo upload a new photo or select an icon b) Personal information o Primary Email o Secondary Email o Title o First & last names o Country o Timezone 15
Email & Text Updates a) You can choose to receive a text message from Edmodo whenever an event happens (such as when someone makes a post, replies to a post, or when a student turns in an assignment). You can change this at any time so as to no longer receive text messages. Keep in mind that text rates may apply depending on your cellular plan. b) Students can also elect to receive email alerts and or text alerts from Edmodo. While students will be alerted when you or another student make or reply to a post, the student will not receive an alert when another student turns in an assignment. Changing your password Click on the password tab under your profile. Enter your current password, then your new password twice. 16
Privacy settings 17
Joining a group a) Join my group Edmodo Basics by locating the Groups box on the left margin and clicking on the plus icon in the upper right hand corner of the box. Two options will be displayed: Create and Join. Click Join. b) A box will appear labeled Join Group. To join another person s group, you must either receive an invitation from that person OR have the join code (alphanumeric code). sifreg c) Enter the code I give you and click on Join. d) Note: join codes are only good for two weeks to preserve the security of the Edmodo environment. You only have to join a group once to be a member, however, if you receive a join code, you should join promptly as opposed to holding on to the join code for a while as it will eventually expire. e) Notice that you will now have the group Edmodo Basics listed in your group box. f) Your students will follow the same procedure to join your groups. a. Note that when students sign up, they will be asked for their email (this is optional). 18
b. Students can elect to receive email notifications (when the teacher sends a post, alert, assignment, poll or quiz), but they will never receive junk mail from Edmodo. c. Just like teachers, students can join multiple groups with just one student account. That is, if more than one of their teachers has an Edmodo group for their classes, the student only has to create one Edmodo account to join multiple groups. 19
Creating student groups a) If you have created any groups or have joined the groups that others have created, they will be listed here. Click on the + (plus) icon to reveal two possible options: b) Click on Create - this allows you to create a group that you will manage. c) Give a name to the group. (Hint: if creating a student group, it is a good idea to give it a simple name that clearly identifies the group. For example, French 2-1.) d) Select a grade or a grade range. e) Select a subject area. f) Select an individual subject. g) Click on Create. 20
h) Indicate your anticipated group size and type in a description of the group. i) Do NOT click the box Default all new members to read-only unless you want to prevent students from posting. j) Click on the box Moderate all Posts and Replies only if you want to supervise all student posts. (This can be very time consuming. It is recommended for younger students or any learners that might need close supervision of their postings.) k) Click on Finish. 21
Group settings & codes a) Note the group name appears with a colored square. (To change the square s color, double click on it and a color palette will appear. Choose the color you prefer.) b) Note the gear in the upper right-hand corner. Click on this gear to adjust group settings. c) Group code this is the code you will give others (students) to join this group. d) Join URL - You can also invite students with the Join URL, which never changes and allows you to approve new members even when the group code is locked. Students can sign up using this URL or join if they have an existing account. When a student requests to join the class using a Join URL, you as the teacher will receive a notification saying Group Join Request. Click on this and a dialog box will appear in which you can choose to Accept, Deny or Block This User. If there are multiple requests at the same time, you will also have the option to Approve All. e) Note the checkbox option of Default all new members to read-only. If this option is chosen, then new members will only be allowed to read what is posted, but will not be able to post themselves. 22
Locking & resetting the group code a) Because Edmodo wishes to keep your groups secure (that is, only give access to all of the information on your Edmodo account to the groups and members you have approved), when a new group is created, the group code will be unlocked and displayed for 14 days. After that time, the group will automatically be locked so that no one else can join. Edmodo sends an email to the teacher before the group code is locked. b) As the teacher, you can lock the group code anytime you would like by clicking on the group and then clicking on the Lock icon next to the group code. After a group is locked, no one can join the group until the teacher resets the code. c) To unlock the group code (called resetting ), either click on the Lock icon or pull down the LOCKED box and choose Reset. This creates a brand new join code (different from the first) that you can give people to join your group. Like any other group code, it will be automatically locked after 14 days. d) You may wish to lock the group code after your students have all joined to prevent them from distributing your group code to others not in your class. If a new student joins your class, simply reset the group code to allow them to join. 23
Members a) Note the progress bar on the left margin that indicates the number of current members. b) The names and photos/images of each member are located in the body of the site. c) You can click on any member s name to see his/her profile. (Changing a student s password and generating parent codes will be discussed in the Advanced Edmodo course.) 24
Progress screen a) The Progress screen is represented by a heartbeat symbol so that you can keep your finger on the pulse of your students progress. b) The Progress screen is divided into three tabs: a. Grades this is where you can enter grades for various assignments. b. Badges - Edmodo has created a system of badges for their users to encourage them to make progress in learning how to use Edmodo. You can create your own badges specific to your students. (Instructions on how to create and award badges will be given at the Advanced Edmodo workshop.) c. Insights - Group level analytics are displayed to get a clear view of student progress. Reactions allow your students to provide immediate qualitative insights. For example, your students can let you know when a question is too hard, or you can provide some encouragement to students. The insights page compiles these reactions to provide a quick pulse of the Group through aggregate reactions. 25
Teacher badges a) Edmodo has created a system of badges for their users to encourage them to make progress in learning how to use Edmodo. There are a variety of badges for having a certain number of students join your group, having a certain number of community/professional connections (with other teachers, for instance) and for sharing your library of documents with students. Badges are automatically awarded once you meet the criteria. b) You can view the badges you ve earned by clicking on your name next to your picture/icon or in your profile. c) Hover the mouse over the badge (or click on one) to learn about it (the requirements that you had to fulfill to earn it). d) Click on the See All link to see all available teacher badges from Edmodo and the criteria required for each badge. 26
Student badges You can also create badges for students to reward them for their accomplishments. The process is simple (name it, describe it, upload an image). (More information on how to create and award badges will be covered in the Advanced Edmodo workshop.) 27
Discover screen The Discover screen allows you to download apps to use on Edmodo and to connect with other teachers / Edmodo users or organizations. 28
Suggestions The Suggestions tab has two sections: a) Edmodo Apps these are apps (some free, some paid) that Edmodo selects for you based on your profile and use of Edmodo. You can click on the apps to find out more information or proceed to the link Find more in the Store to see all available apps. b) Suggested links Edmodo also suggests links you might find interesting based on your profile and use of Edmodo. Links are free and are classified by subject area (such as Language Arts ). Remember that next to the book icon is the number of other Edmodo users that subscribe to that link. 29
Communities The Communities tab this tab allows you to connect with other established Communities. These are generally subject-based (such as Educational Technology or Physics ). You can unsubscribe to a community at any time. When you subscribe, posts to this community will be visible on your homescreen. 30
Publishers The Publishers tab in the same way you can connect to communities, you can also find publishers with which to connect on Edmodo. You can unsubscribe from publishers at any time. Find Content Find Content the search box marked Find Content will allow you to search the shared documents available on Edmodo. Type in a keyword and Edmodo will display the results that match that key word. 31
Teachers you may know Teachers you may know this section displays teachers that share some portion of their profiles in common with you (their photos and names will be displayed in little icons). Edmodo will suggest for you to connect with teachers from your school that area already on Edmodo, teachers of the same discipline at other schools, and teachers that belong to the same communities as you. You can also invite teachers to join Edmodo and connect with you. 32
Posts a) This is where your class posts will appear. b) Notice that you can filter your posts by a variety of factors: posts by you, by your students, by date, or by type of posts (such as assignments). 33
c) There are also several different kinds of posts : a. Notes sends a short note to a group. (Example Warmup Question: In what country would you most like to study abroad in college? ) b. Alerts sends an urgent note to the group. (Example: Mr. X s 3 rd block History class will take place in the Library today. ) c. Polls send a multiple choice question to a group. (Example Should cell phones be allowed in classrooms at Eastridge HS? Answers: Yes, No, Maybe) d. Assignments this function allows you to post an assignment with a due date including attaching a file or link. (This topic will be covered in the Advanced Edmodo workshop later in the summer.) e. Quizzes this function allows you to post a quiz with a due date including attaching a file or link. (This topic will be covered in the Advanced Edmodo workshop later in the summer.) 34
Notes a) With the Note tab clicked, type your note in the large box. b) Choose the class (group) to which to send this note. (Note: you can send a note to multiple groups at the same time or to individual students.) c) Upload a file that will be attached to this note by using the first icon on the lower left that looks like a document. (Optional) d) Upload a link that will be attached to this note by using the 2 nd icon on the lower left that looks like a chain link. (Optional) e) Upload a file that will be attached to this note that you already have uploaded into your Edmodo Library using the 3 rd icon on the lower left that looks like an open book. (Optional) f) Click Send to send the note immediately OR click on the Clock icon in the lower left to schedule a date/time for the note to be sent out. g) Keep in mind that students can respond freely to posts without any limitations on their language. All members of the group can see these posts. You will have to teach them good digital citizenship and set up the expectation that only schoolappropriate language is acceptable in Edmodo (unlike, for instance, posts that can be seen on a student s Facebook page). h) As the teacher, you are able to edit or delete any of the students posts. (This topic will be covered in the Advanced Edmodo workshop.) 35
Alerts a) A note and an alert have basically the same function. The alert, however, is designed to be more of an urgent message and therefore is restricted to no more than 140 characters in length. It will be displayed in a larger font and in bold to recipients and will appear in the Notifications section of the Edmodo screen. b) Type the alert in the box. c) Choose the class (group) to which to send the alert. (Note: you can send an alert to multiple groups at the same time or to individual students.) d) Click Send to send the alert immediately OR click on the Clock icon in the lower left to schedule a date/time for the alert to be sent out. 36
Assignments Quizzes (This feature will be covered in detail in the Advanced Edmodo workshop.) 37
Polls a) Enter the question you would like to ask the class. b) Enter at least two and up to nine different answer choices. (Two answers are the default number. Click on the Add Answer button for more boxes.) c) Choose the class (group) to which to send this poll. (Note: you can send a poll to multiple groups at the same time or to individual students.) d) Click Send to send the poll immediately OR click on the Clock icon in the lower left to schedule a date/time for the poll to be sent out. e) Each member of a group can vote only once. All poll answers are collected anonymously, that is, the student s identity is not revealed as the poll results come in. 38
Student home page on Edmodo a) Notice that the student homepage has the same basic structure. b) The Home, Progress, Notifications and Profile sections are in the same place as on teachers homepages. c) Students also have a Planner along the right margin. d) The groups (classes) to which students belong are listed in the Groups section. e) The two big differences between a teacher and a student homepage are: a. the Parent Code section. This contains a unique code to give parents so that they can have access to their student s progress on Edmodo. (More information on this will be covered in the Advanced Edmodo course.) b. the Backpack (= the student s Library ). 39
Student progress screen a) The student progress screen lists the number of posts and replies they ve made, the groups to which they belong and the badges they ve earned. This screen also displays the teachers and students with whom they are connected. b) The student s progress screen has three parts: a. Profile overview shows badges earned, favorite quote, how they learn, and career goal; b. Progress shows assignments/grades c. Activity shows the posts and replies that the individual student has made. (sample Profile Overview student screen) 40
(sample Progress student screen) 41
Library Your library is where all of the files you upload are located. There are several display (filter) options for the Library : 1. Library items this will display all Library items in alphabetical order. If you use Edmodo for multiple classes, your files will be mixed together. Therefore, this is not a very productive display method. 2. Folders this will display only the folders that you have created to contain the files you ve uploaded. These folders will be arranged in alphabetical order, so in order to have multiple classes grouped together, it is important to name each folder logically (see below). When folders and files are named properly, this is the most productive display method. 42
3. Attached to Posts this will display only those files that you have attached to a post (this can be useful to quickly find an assignment you gave students). 4. Google drive You can link your Google Drive to Edmodo. This option will allow you to display and use your files from Google Drive, which then can be uploaded to and posted in Edmodo. (An explanation of how to use this will be covered in the Advanced Edmodo course.) 43
Folders This is where you will upload and organize your course materials. a) Plan out how you will organize your course materials. (Note that you can only create one level of folders, that is, you will not be able to put a folder inside another folder.) It is recommended that you create a folder for each unit. b) Click on Add folder. c) Click on New folder, give the folder a name and click on Add. d) Repeat this process until you have added a folder for each of your units. Notice that Edmodo will put the most recently created folder on top. You can reorder these folders by dragging them into the correct order. 44
Naming of folders & files Because Edmodo only allows one level of folders under each group (that is, you cannot currently have subfolders), it is important that each folder identify the group and then the topic (otherwise, when you open your library, all the folders from every group will be jumbled together). The following naming system is recommended. Class Unit # - Unit name For example: FR2 Unit 1 Personal ID Re-ordering & removing folders a) Use the columns of dots to change the order of folders. b) Click on the Disable button to prevent group members from viewing the contents of this folder. Click Enable to allow group members to view the contents of the folder. c) Click on the Remove button to remove the folder. (Be careful: removing a folder will also remove the contents of the folder as well.) 45
Adding documents to a folder a) Click on Add to folder to choose from 3 options: a. Upload file b. New link c. Add from Library b) For the most part, you will use the 1 st option: Upload file from your school computer. Click on Upload file. c) Click on Upload Files. Locate the file on your school server. Click on Choose. The computer will upload the file. Once complete, click on Add. 46
d) You will now see the file you have added in the folder. There are now three options for this file: The book icon near the file name indicates the number of users (including yourself who have opened this document). The paper and pencil icon allows you to attach the file to a post to a group. The folder with the minus sign icon will remove this document from the folder. e) Click on the name of the document or the document icon below the name or the miniature preview of the document to download it. f) Documents can be re-ordered in the same way as the folders (by dragging the file using the column of vertical dots). 47
Logging out of Edmodo There are two ways to logout of Edmodo: a) Close the web browser tab. b) Pull down your account (your mini photo/icon next to the word Me in the upper right). Choose Logout. 48
Look for the Advanced Edmodo PD to be offered later in the semester. See www.mylearningplan.com for more information. In addition to a review of the basic functions of this program, this workshop will teach participants how to: Create, collect, manage and grade assignments Create, manage & grade quizzes Create, award, & revoke badges to designate student achievement Manage parent accounts Use the Library w/google Drive Send multi-group posts Use the calendar function Use Edmodo Mobile 49
Remember to 50