LHS is implementing Edmodo, an online student-teacher communication app, in every classroom. The goal behind using this learning management system in grades six through twelve is to make students college and career ready.
“To prepare students, we were looking for a learning management system that was affordable and had the features that could help us find a bridge in the training from high school level to college,” web technician Daniel McLeod said.
Every teacher in the school has a group set up for each class period to provide students with updates regarding homework, tests, and other information.
Edmodo is also being used more frequently to ensure that students’ needs are met more consistently, including the ability to quickly ask teachers questions and receive answers via Edmodo.
“Edmodo is the bridge to wherever we go,” McLeod said. “In the next three to five years, we hope that the pricing will be more accessible and the products chosen are the best for this school.”
Teachers are allowed to use Edmodo however they want this year. The only requirement teachers have regarding Edmodo is to use it in place of their teacher webpages linked to the school website. Using Edmodo provides easier access to contact information, course descriptions, and syllabuses.
“We’re not trying to dictate how you use Edmodo as a teacher this year,” McLeod said. “If you wanted to go further with digital assignments, quizzes, responses, and doing polls with students, that is available. It is not a requirement, but it is an option.”
In college, online courses are becoming increasingly common and students need to be acquainted with 21st-century learning. Among the newer products coming out are Blackboard, Canvas, and Moodle, which are all learning management systems used with college courses.
“Edmodo is getting students used to the idea of having all of their assignments digital,” McLeod said, “and being able to slide from one management system to another easily because they’re organized digitally. That is going to be a skill that helps them achieve in college.”
To help students and staff with any problems they encounter while using Edmodo, the library has set up a new tech center.
“Change is tough,” McLeod said, “but we are trying to alleviate that by being available for questions with help and training with both the staff and the students. It’s a process, and it does take a little while to get used to the change.”
If you have questions regarding how to use Edmodo or how to access the different features of the app on your mobile device, you can visit the Edmodo help page linked here: https://support.edmodo.com/hc/en-us.
