Growing Increasingly Confident in Integrating Technology in Classrooms

This past weekend, I attended a professional development seminar hosted by the New Jersey Council for Teachers of English, or commonly known as NJCTE. There were various different workshops for aspiring teachers as well as teachers themselves. We had to attend three workshops and one of the workshops I chose to attend was the one about integrating technology within an English classroom. If this workshop had been offered two weeks ago, it would have been convenient and beneficial to our Interactivity #3 because it offered various new and upcoming technologies. Just to list a few: iPevo, Socrative, PiratePad, Edmodo, Evernote, Haiku Deck, PollEverywhere and Nearpod. The one I would like to elaborate on is Edmodo. First, to give background on Edmodo, Co-founders Nic Borg and Jeff O'Hara wanted to create a tool that closed the gap between how students live their lives and how they learn in schools. This is ultimately every teacher's challenge and goal when creating lesson plans. At the end of the school day or even school year, teachers want to know and be assured that their students are leaving their classrooms knowing their material/content and adapting it to their own lives. So, in 2008, Nic and Jeff created Edmodo. 

Edmodo is free! And safe! It allows teachers to digitally connect with their students and create a safe online collaborative learning environment. Plus, it looks similar to Facebook! This helps students become more comfortable with the tool. An appealing look, what more could students want? Edmodo is similar to Blackboard but it's free. 

After taking a look at the website and watching the tutorials and other videos, I already know that I will be using this within my classroom and lesson plans. An idea I have is having a book talk, which is similar to a book circle but, of course, it is all online. I can present a passage from the book, a theme, or even a posing question I would want my students to critically think about. These book talks can build up background and create a circle of responses. It's pretty much a live give and take technique. All in all, this is very convenient in a classroom and beneficial when it comes to critical thinking and collaborative work. Plus, it's free and safe! What more could teachers want? I have provided the link to the Edmodo website below and advise you to check it out! It will change your future as a teacher and lesson planning!

Link: EDMODO