By Ashley Schulman
It is eighth period, and freshman Brooke Ferber is startled by her vibrating phone. She has just received an Edmodo notification through text message. Her phone continues vibrating throughout the day until she goes home. When she comes home she goes onto all of her social media websites—which now include Edmodo.
On Edmodo, Ferber sorts through all of her classes and looks at her assignments. Ferber is not the only student doing this. Many South students are on their computers and checking their own teacher’s assignments. Edmodo has found its place in the realm of the many social media websites students use.
Edmodo has spread throughout the school due to teachers wanting to incorporate social media in their classes. If you listen in the hallway, you will hear students refer to Edmodo as “Facebook for school.” Teachers like the benefit of the text message or email notifications and the ability to interact with their students outside of school.
English teacher Mrs. June Shaw said, “When students are absent it gives them a better connection.” Mrs. Shaw also likes how user-friendly the website is for teachers. She feels it helps her “continue the conversation” outside of school, which she thinks also attracts new teachers to use Edmodo.
Some teachers also prefer Edmodo to email. Librarian Mr. Damon Reader said, “I have more problems with email than Edmodo.” Mr. Reader feels that email glitches causes him to get his student emails at odd times, when Edmodo does not have this issue.
Many students, however, feel that Edmodo can be overwhelming. Freshman Hannah Zaretsky said, “The news feed is disorganized and confusing.” Zaretsky also feels that it is easy to be distracted on Edmodo and be lured into other websites like Facebook.
Ferber said, “There a pressure that if you do not check it, you’re not going to have your homework and you are going to screw up.” Even though Ferber does not like the pressure, she does like the fact that Edmodo is safe.
Because Edmodo is so safe, teachers like to use it for group projects. It takes away some of the need to have accounts on other social media websites to be able to interact with a group. Mrs. Shaw said, “Some parents do not let their kids have a Facebook account. That can be very embarrassing for a student.” Edmodo provides a safe and comfortable environment for students to be able to have conversations on a project.
As teachers find out about Edmodo more and more, students throughout the school will be adapting to it. Mr. Reader states, “I definitely like the concept of Edmodo, but it is not perfect.”