Integrating social networking in teaching and learning ...

The Social Learning: Integrating social networking in teaching and learning Rupesh Kumar A Assistant Professor Department of Studies and Research in Library and Information Science Tumkur University, Tumkur, Karnataka, INDIA 572103 email: [email protected] Abstract Facebook turns ten! “From face-to-face communication to Facebook communication” could be an apt one-liner to describe the evolution of communication technology. “Web 2.0 is an attitude not a technology” said Ian Davis. Social networking is the catch-phrase of the day. A product of Web 2.0, social networking has made a tremendous impact on the way people think and communicate. In a knowledge society where citizens are netizens, the Web rules as the de facto platform for communication. Education has become ubiquitous and mobile with the use of the Web. Today‟s learners are digital natives.

Pedagogy can be made more effective, interactive and engaging by

integrating social networking in the process of teaching and learning.

This paper

demonstrates the use of Edmodo, a social learning platform for teachers, students and parents. Keywords: social networking, social learning, edmodo Dawn of e-learning era Learning is the most important activity in an education system. Learners are the focal point of an education system. The fact that learners have different learning styles is undisputable. The fundamental limitation of a conventional learning system is that it is teacher-centric. It offers little or no autonomy to learners to learn at their own pace and style. Learners need a system which facilitates learning at one’s own pace and style.

The application of

information and communication technology has brought unprecedented changes in the education system, making self-paced and self-styled learning possible. E-learning is a product which offers self-paced learning. “E-Learning is the effective learning process created by combining digitally delivered content with support and services.” (Waller and Wilson) E-learning is a technological infrastructure with applications and software that manage courses and users. The software that facilitates 1

e-learning may be called a Learning Management System (LMS) and supports course creation, content delivery, user registration, monitoring, and certification. Evolution of e-learning Gonella and Pantò, in their paper on didactic architectures, have traced the following stages in the evolution of e-learning: 1. Web-based Training: characterized by the online distribution of autonomously used learning materials laying emphasis on „training‟ rather than on education or learning. 2. E-learning 1.0: using a Learning Management System (LMS) to create, design and manage courses, as well as support content delivery, user registration, monitoring, and certification. There is not much scope for communication and collaboration 3. Online Education: Learning consisted not only of materials delivered by the teacher but also of interactions and discussions among students, making learning a social process.` 4. E-learning 2.0: Web 2.0 has given birth to e-learning 2.0. The influence of new practices on the Web has resulted in a new array of services, which can be collectively termed “E-learning 2.0”. Edmodo Today, one can find a plethora of applications on the Web which facilitate collaborative content creation and interaction.

There are several social networking websites offering

attractive content sharing features. Further, there are sites exclusively meant for sharing content in specific formats, e.g. photos, video. However, the teaching and learning fraternity needs an application which can blend the features of e-learning as well as social networking. Edmodo is one such application. In this paper, an attempt has been made to illustrate the use of Edmodo. “Edmodo helps connect all learners with the people and resources needed to reach their full potential.” (Edmodo) Who is Edmodo for? Edmodo is useful to teachers, students, parents as well as administrators. The following section demonstrates how Edmodo can be used by teachers.

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Signing Up A teacher can start using Edmodo by signing up. One can sign up by filling a simple form. Edmodo homepage www.edmodo.com presents a sign in panel for existing account holders. Just below the sign in panel, there is an option for teachers, students, parents and administrators to sign up. A teacher can sign up by clicking the button “I‟m a Teacher”.

Fig 1. Edmodo Homepage with Sign in/Sign up Window The following sign up form is displayed. Click “Sign Up” button after filling the relevant particulars.

Fig 2. Teacher Sign Up Find School After signing up, a teacher may find his/her school from the search interface. If the school is not found, it can be added by clicking “Add it here”. Add the school by giving relevant 3

details and clicking the “Add School” button. Use the option “Use the school that I entered” to associate with the school just added. The same is shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5.

Fig 3. Adding a new school

Fig 4. Use the school entered

Fig 5. Associating with school Edmodo will present options to upload the teacher‟s photo and choose a URL for identification.

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Fig 6. Photo upload option and Edmodo URL A broad classification of the communities on Edmodo is presented to the user in order to bring the discussions of his/her interest on the user‟s homepage.

Fig 7. Edmodo Communities

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Edmodo User (Teacher) Homepage Fig. 8 shows the Edmodo teacher‟s home page. This home page acts as a dashboard which presents all the options available to a teacher.

Fig 8. Teacher Home page Email Verification Verify your email address by clicking Me > Settings > Verify email address. Open your email account. Click Verify your credentials to verify your email address.

Fig 9. Verification e-mail 6

Creating a Classroom The first step in Edmodo is to create a classroom. Edmodo has a three-step classroom creation procedure, which is demostrated in the following figures.

Fig 10. Creating a classroom/group– Step 1

Fig 11. Creating a classroom/group – Step 2

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Fig 12. Classroom ready for the students to join Joining a Classroom Edmodo provides two ways for students to join a classroom. A teacher can invite the students to join a classroom either by giving them the Group Code generated by Edmodo or sending the join URL.

Fig 13. Join URL

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The various options available on Edmodo Teacher Account Homepage are given in the following figure.

Home, Progress check & library

Note, Alert, Assignment, Quiz & Poll Planner, App launcher & Store

Group Code, Join URL

Posts, Folders & Members

Fig 14. Options on Edmodo Teacher Account Homepage Edmodo helps a teacher create the following types of content: 

Note



Alert



Assignment



Quiz



Poll

Note A note refers to any descriptive content which a teacher posts to a classroom. A note can have a file attached, a link, a document from the Edmodo library or a scheduled message (the teacher can schedule the date and time of sending the note)

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Fig 15. Edmodo Note Alert An alert is a short notification or message a teacher posts on the homepage. The length of the message is limited to 140 characters.

Fig 16. Edmodo Alert

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Assignment New assignments can be created or existing assignments can be loaded. A teacher can set the due date. The assignment can be locked after its due date.

Fig 17. Edmodo Assignment Quiz Quiz may be created and assigned to a classroom. A teacher can assign the time limit, randomize the questions and assign the quiz to the classroom. When quiz is ready to be posted to the classroom, click Send to post it.

Fig 18. Creating a quiz

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Fig 19. Adding a question to the quiz

Poll A teacher can create polls to collect opinion/responses from the students.

Fig 20. Creating a Poll

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Edmodo Library Edmodo has the provision of a library where a teacher can add items. The collection in the library will be available to the students.

Fig 21. Edmodo Library Edmodo Discover Discover apps, groups, links, publishers, communities and search content using Edmodo Discover.

Fig 22. Edmodo Discover 13

Conclusion Web 2.0 has opened up new avenues for teaching and learning process. The application of Web 2.0 in learning process is essentially e-learning 2.0. In e-learning 2.0, “Everyone is a learner, but everyone also has the potential to be teacher” (Cobb). E-learning 2.0 not only helps in effective content delivery and course management but also facilitates harnessing the collective intelligence of learners. It is in this context, services such as Edmodo play a crucial role. Bibliography Cobb, Jeff. "Learning 2.0 for Associations." 2010. Tagoras. 18 February 2014. . Edmodo. Edmodo. 2014. 18 February 2014. . Gonella, Laura and Eleonora Pantò. "Didactic architectures and organization models: a process of mutual adaptation." elearningpapers. July 2008. 19 February 2014. . Waller, Vaughan and Jim Wilson. A Definition for E-Learning. October 2001. 19 February 2014. .

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