Web 2.0 Resources to Promote Cross-Cultural Awareness and Connections
Edmodo, created by Nic Borg and Jeff O’Hara in 2008, is a great hybrid of a social networking and classroom management tool. It allows a teacher to create a digital classroom to which they can post assignments, resources, or simply announcements. Using this tool, students can stay abreast of their classroom studies, as well as stay connected to their classmates and teacher. The global function of Edmodo, however, is its ability to connect educators from all over the world. Edmodo has fantastic learning communities, some that are created by its members, others by educational companies such as Common Sense Media. In this learning communities, educators can come together to share ideas and connect their classrooms.
Edmodo is free and easy to use. The teacher simply can set up a classroom and students enroll in the class using a code. An educator could even just join in order to access the learning communities mentioned above. Some of the communities need to “accept you” before you can post, but in my experience this authorization happens fairly quickly. Most of the members are fairly active, and I’ve always found helpful individuals who love to share ideas.
I’ve used this service to create a digital classroom platform for my classes, for my own professional development, and to reach out to other classrooms from around the world. Any time I wished to connect my Spanish 101 class with other Spanish speakers, I always had a myriad of teachers offering their classrooms. There were also many teachers posting lesson ideas, videos, and resources, which allowed me to make my first few years of teaching engaging and fun for my students. My students also created videos that we then in turn shared with the Spanish Teachers community so they could use them in their classrooms. Knowing that they were creating authentic material that could be used by other teachers, my students definitely worked harder, and were excited to see the positive feedback they received.