Edmodo vs. Blackboard Learn Edmodo is a social learning platform for teachers, students, and parents. It is commonly thought of as the Facebook of schools, as called by pupils and teachers alike. Blackboard Learn provides an online teaching and learning environment by providing content management and sharing, online assessments, student tracking, assignment management, and virtual collaboration. An instructor can develop course sites without knowing any HTML code.

Moodle, Edmodo and Blackboard lead the academic markets for learning management systems.

Edmodo leads the learning management systems, following by Moodle in terms of customers. In terms of actual users, Moodle leads the way. The next graphic show what types of social media followers use which learning systems the most. For example, Twitter followers use Edmodo the most, followed by Bb. Facebook users also prefer Edmodo and they really don’t like Bb. Linked In users prefer Bb. Source: http://www.edudemic.com/the-20-best-learning-management-systems

The interface is easy to use and works like Facebook . Why Edmodo? The interface is easy to use and works like Facebook .  It is accessible online, anywhere you have internet access.  It is private and secure.  Parents can create a parent account to check their child’s activity providing another avenue for monitoring, privacy and security.  If you, your students, and parents are used to operating Facebook, then you all can use Edmodo.  It is also accessible on the iPhone and Android phones.  There are free iPhone and Android Apps that you, parents and students can download.  This gives portability with Edmodo where it can be checked on the go.  You don’t have to worry about student content being viewable to the public, as you would with using Facebook, or other popular social networking sites.  Parents don’t have to worry about their child’s information being seen by others.  Edmodo provides account avatars that can be used instead of uploading a student’s picture.  This provides more privacy and security.   Teachers also have the option to give students access to read only assignments and posts on the message boards and disable students ability to post on the board for other students to read.  Teachers can create private secure groups that only members of that group, parents of those group members and the teacher can get access to. Source: http://adaptivelearnin.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/10-reasons-i-love-edmodo-recommend-it-for-educators/

More Reasons to Like Edmodo 5. Edmodo provides Webinars and resources on ideas on how to use it with your classroom. 6. Edmodo gives you the option to create sub-groups or smaller groups within a group. 7. Edmodo makes posting assignments, homework assignments, due dates and web links extremely easy. 8. Edmodo gives you the option to connect with other teachers and join communities with other teachers for networking and collaboration. 6. These subgroups can be used very powerfully and in many ways. If you have a large class with group assignments, you can take your class group and create small groups of students into sub-groups. This is just example of how sub-groups can be used. Source: http://adaptivelearnin.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/10-reasons-i-love-edmodo-recommend-it-for-educators/

Reasons to Like Blackboard Learn Convenience and Flexibility.   Multimedia content  Live interaction and communication  Advanced quiz and survey tools  Easy document sharing  Built-in anti-plagiarism service  Most colleges use Teachers manage all course materials online, where they are immediately available to students. Instructors can post documents, make announcements, send e-mail, create online assessments, and more. Students can access course documents, send files to their instructor, and access grades directly. Course materials are available 24/7, from any location, allowing students to learn when and where they like. Multimedia content – Students enjoy access to course materials designed to enhance their learning experience, including video lectures and audio assignments. Live interaction and communication – Students can engage in video and chat sessions with instructors and classmates and stay in touch through e-mail, discussion boards, and blogs. Advanced quiz and survey tools – Instructors can create practice tests and gather student feedback online. Feedback is immediate. Easy document sharing – Upload files with just a few clicks. Built-in anti-plagiarism service – Plagiarism detection is automated by SafeAssign. Most colleges use Blackboard…great preparation for students. Source: http://www.bu.edu/tech/teaching/lms/blackboard/

Homework—Email to Leslie or Amy Teachers will explore both sites and provide an analysis of how either would be most beneficial to their classroom instruction.