Edmodo: The Start to the Change in Education and Technology

Kaila Tuccio

iPad Apps for Education

 

            Throughout my experiences with technology, I have used a lot of different technology to help me to learn and better my education. This year, I received an iPad and have been able to use that in the classroom to help me. Something great about an iPad is that it is like a computer, but just smaller and more convenient. It has been so useful because I am able to bring it to class and take notes with it without having to carry my laptop around with me. The iPad has also been helpful through the apps that it offers for me to enhance my learning. An app that I have used that has been not only helpful but it also a great resource when I am a teacher is Edmodo. Edmodo is an app where you can check assignments, grades, notes from teachers, a calendar, and your own ‘backpack’.
            As a teacher, this app would be great to use because it has very similar features to social media websites, like Facebook. There is a main newsfeed where you can see posts from the teacher and other students in the class. This will keep the students up to date as to what and when things are due.

 

Teachers and students can post on the newsfeed so if they have questions they can be answered

quickly due to the fact that the app sends notifications to your iPad or iPhone.

 

This has been very helpful for me because I will receive a little note that I have a notification of

either someone posting on the newsfeed, whether I received a grade back, or if an assignment is

coming up to be turned in.

            The Edmodo app also allows the teacher a place where the students can turn in assignments as well. Allowing for the computer to collect the assignments is a huge advantage. The biggest advantage is that a teacher can just look onto to Edmodo and go to that specific assignment, collecting and grading all of the papers. Teachers can never lose assignments and it also allows for them to grade them more quickly. This app also provides students with their grades faster than if the teacher grades them by hand one by one. Once you are done grading a project, paper, or blog the teacher can grade it and return the grade back immediately. The app also notifies you when you have a new grade, allowing for the student to view the grade even quicker. The calendar has the dates of when everything is due and it keeps the student updated and notified when due dates are getting close. This keeps both teachers and students organized and it allows for students who do want to get ahead to be able to do so.

            The last part of this app that is a huge advantage to the teacher and the students is the section called “My Backpack.” This is where you can add things like websites, word documents, PowerPoint, pictures, and videos to use during a class or to go back and look at later. In the app, there is a section where you can divide everything into different folders to make it easier to find things you put in the backpack. Something great about this part of the app is that teachers and students can use this as well. It holds all types of information and it does not have a limit either.

            Throughout this semester I have been able to use this app to help me better enhance my experience in my technology class. This has helped me to keep organize and informed along with allowing me to contact my teacher with ease. I have been able to turn my homework and projects in and get my grades as soon as my professor finishes grading them. My backpack is filled with websites and documents that help me complete my projects to the best of my ability. This app is great for teachers because it is easy for students to use this program. It helps to keep both the teachers and students organized as well. Edmodo has been very resourceful to me this year and is a perfect app that would assist with teacher productivity.     

iPads in the Classroom

By: Kaila Tuccio

Our world today revolves around technology. It is what almost everyone is familiar with. They know how technology works and people rely on it. The medical field, education, and basically every job nowadays use brand new and updated technology so they can be the best in their field. It used to be that children learned how to use technology when they were finishing up middle school entering high school. Today, that is not the case. Technology has become so big that they have created children’s toys to be solely based on technology. Children are being brought up around technology at an even younger age. They have even begun to bring technology into elementary classrooms.

            This video shows elementary schools in Chicago that are bringing iPads into the classroom. The teachers they interview states that having this technology in the classroom allows the students to stay engaged because their lives at home revolve around technology. With the use of the iPads, students can take a “virtual field trip” every day and they can learn with a visual technique. With the creation of the apps and programs on the iPad, students can use not only a visual technique to learn but also through auditory learning. Special education students can even use the iPads in their classroom to make learning easier for them. With using the iPads, special education students can hear and see things to help them to understand information better. For example, they might have a picture of a dog with the letters d-o-g spelled out underneath it. When you click the button, it pronounces the word dog. This is using all types of learning and teaching techniques that can give these students the best opportunity for them to comprehend what they are being taught. iPads in the classroom help to keep students up to date with technology. Today, younger children are better at technology than most adults. They are being trained at a young age how to use technology to their advantage and how it can make their lives easier when it comes to education.

            This website talks about the top ten reasons why classrooms benefit from the use of iPads. An interesting reason that is pointed out is that the iPad supports over nine languages. This is a huge success and benefit to the classroom. There has also been an increase over the past years of ESL students (English as a Second Language Learners). The iPads offer them the opportunity to not only learn in their own language but in English too. This gives them a great opportunity because as an elementary teacher you are still responsible to teach students who do not even know how to speak English. Using the iPads will be an easier way to communicate with the students and give them a fair and equal opportunity to learn. Another reason that iPads are so helpful is that they have 3G service which means you can use them even when the students are not at school. This gives them the chance to use these outside of the classroom and at their home. iPads will make the students want to do their homework, especially if they can use their iPads to help them accomplish it. This will motivate the students to want to do their homework and learn.

            iPads offer students a sense of responsibility and uniqueness. They can turn their iPads into a reflection of themselves. Students can find cases that show their sense of style. They can also use the iPads to help them find what learning style best suits them. The iPad allows the students to go through many different techniques to help them learn or study a subject. This gives them the chance to take on the responsibility to see what works best for them. iPads also need care: charging the battery, making sure not to drop it, bringing it to school, etc. This gives students an early opportunity to learn responsibility, how to take care of something, and to keep it in good condition.

            Overall, iPads are a great addition to the classrooms. It gives the education a bright future and really catches them up to the surrounding fields. iPads can benefit children if they are used in the right way. They can give them multiple ways to learn and find ways that best work for them. iPads also give all the students a fair opportunity at learning like our ESL students and our special education students. Using technology in the classroom will engage the students and get them excited about learning. As teachers, that is the most important part of the job and teachers must do what it takes to help children reach this point.

  

References

Holmberg, N. (2011). Top 10 reasons classrooms should have ipads. Retrieved from http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/10-reasons-classrooms-ipads.htm

Pearce, S. (2011). Why use ipads in education. Retrieved from http://innovativescholar.com/2011/05/26/why-use-ipads-in-education/

Riehl, J. (2012). Top high-tech toys for kids. Retrieved from http://techsavvymag.com/2012/05/22/best-toys-kids-new-technology/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV8M6P9st9Q