Title

Professional Development on Using Edmodo

Time
&
Collaboration

The How To video was created Spring 2012. In Fall 2012, I presented many
resources, including the video from my ISTC course, as a professional
development.

I presented the professional to intermediate teachers; however, the video that
was created involved several participants school-wide. The staff members and
students involved in the production of the video were credited at the end of
the video. The editing and production of the video itself was worked on
individually through Moviemaker.

Content
&
Description

Throughout my graduate program I became familiar with an online learning
platform called Edmodo. In my ISTC 633 course; Instructional Video, I created
a How To video on implementing edmodo in the classroom. I utilized my prior
experience developing edmodo pages in my graduate program and in my third
grade classroom and had the opportunity to present edmodo to my staff as a
professional development.

The production of this video consisted of practical use of the Instructional
Systems Design Process (ISD), video production process, and proper application
of the technical skill-sets that I had to master during this class. The video was
developed using Moviemaker 2.6, a flip camera, my third grade students and
coworkers at Woodholme. Sources used to produce the video were properly
cited in credits.

Justification
&
Reflection
This 4 minute Web 2.0 video shows how the features of edmodo can have a
positive impact on professional development for my coworkers at Woodholme.
edmodo is a social networking website utilized as a collaborative, secure
environment. The website is intended for teacher-student and studentstudent
communication and collaboration. By choosing this edmodo blog and How To
video as an artifact, I demonstrate the importance of communication and
technology integration for students and teachers. My edmodo group allowed
teachers to visually interact with many of its features. It served as an online
environment to post assignments and reminders, build an event calendar, and
post messages to created groups. The website also allows for microblogging so
teachers and students can share links, videos, and images. Micro-blogging is a
term described by Wikipedia as "a form of blogging that allows users to write
brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either
to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the
user".

This web 2.0 tool is extremely versatile in its capabilities. My original purpose
was to motivate and engage students. From a constructivist perspective,
content knowledge is easily transferred and created through students blogging
and exploring links and attached resources. Based on the idea of content
integrated with technology, pedagogical implementation is key for the other two
factors to be beneficial in successful learning. This is why I concentrated on
how edmodo is a more powerful tool in terms of professional development.
Teacher communication can motivate reflective practitioners to be a part of
this online community. Teachers have the same capabilities: sharing lessons,
success stories, and exchanging ideas that help build good instruction. That is
the main ingredient in transferring the content to students; to develop good
pedagogical practices.

It is important for schools to not only provide teachers with technology tools to
use, but also to provide them with the time and professional development
experiences necessary to learn how to use the technology (Kovalik, 2001). This
support is essential for teachers to develop a positive attitude toward
technology integration and to feel confident enough to incorporate it into their
instruction (Kadijevich, 2006).