Edmodo VS Schoology

    Okay, so I just figure out Twitter and Diigo (which was easier than I thought by the way) and now I have to move on to Edmodo and Schoology; whew! I guess if I was actually in the classroom, I would have more knowledge of resources and tools like these, but, since I am not, I had no clue! So I begin signing up for accounts and playing/navigating through the new sites.
I realized two things:
1. There really is Facebook for Teachers!
2. While both have basically the same features, they are set-up very differently!

Take a look at what I mean:

    I was not familiar with Edmodo or Schoology, however, after "playing" with them both over the past few days, I feel that Schoology is easier to navigate and is more tailored to my organizational thought process ( I am slightly OCD). While I do not currently have students to use this with, I think it will be a great tool to use in the future when I am in the classroom. I will be able to create quizzes, assignments, and discussions for the students to participate in. It will also be a great communication tool for the students; imagine their faces when they see that there is an "educational Facebook". The layout of Schoology is easy to follow. The tabs are labeled well and the resources section allows for organization within the section. I found it very hassle free to upload videos, insert pictures, and connect links in Schoology.

Why Schoology?

    Edmodo felt overwhelming to me not only the first time I logged in, but each time thereafter. One thing I did like about Edmodo was the Snapshot feature (generated Common Core based quizzes which the system grades for you). I feel that this would be beneficial in the classroom to see where students are in regards to certain standards and results would guide me with lesson planning in order to meet the needs of all students.

Why Edmodo?

 

    The choice is yours, what works best for you, your students, your classroom, your school, your community? You may choose to use certain pieces of both, however, that may become challenging.

    All that being said, I will definitely use one of these sites in the classroom and in labs to get students engaged and involved in their learning. However, I know that the reality is that some students/families/homes (yes, even in this technology driven world) do not have computers or internet access. I will not use either one of these as my only communication, grading, quiz, or assignment tool. I do not feel that it is fair to ask/expect students and families to have to go somewhere else nightly to complete assignments. I want to be sure that I know my students and families and that they all feel welcome and comfortable with the activities and communication in (and out of) the classroom. 

PLN, Twitter, Diigo, and Other "Connections"

What a week, where to begin? Okay, we will start from the beginning, maybe it will all become clearer than mud when I am writing about it; or maybe not. 

If you are like me, you are asking yourself, "What is a PLN?" As we all do, when I see an acronym, I go through the list in my head: PN, LPN, CEN, CSN, RN - and then, oh yeah, I remember I am in Education, NOT nursing. I am back at square one, "What is a PLN?" Well, thankfully I have many resources, and I discovered that a PLN is a Personal Learning Network. Still not clicking? Maybe this will help (I too am a visual learner):

Some of the networks I chose to add to my PLN were: Classroom 2.0 , Goodreads , and Teachers.net. 

Okay, so now that I almost understand what a PLN is, I embark on the next adventure, starting my PLN on Twitter. If I thought discovering what a PLN was was a task, maneuvering my way through Twitter was another adventure. My head felt like it was going to explode, it was on extreme overload - Tweetdeck, hashtags (what is a hashtag), @ who? So after clicking from how-to pages back to Twitter home page and back again, and well back again and again and again, I took a break, cleared my head, and then went back to try yet again. This time, I took my time, and while I still am not sure I know how to engage in, view, or find a "chat", I at least have found some people people and groups to "follow". As an educator, I decided to keep my Twitter account professional and chose to follow other educators, speakers, and groups that would help me to enrich my professional tool box and enhance my teaching and student learning. To see who I am following, follow me @mrsklearns2day at twitter.com. 

While I am still navigating through my third task for the week, Diigo, I already know that the neat and organized format of this social bookmarking tool is going to make my life much easier. What is Diigo and social bookmarking? I wondered the same thing as I was used to simply "clicking" the star to yellow to save a page, only to have to remember where I saved it and how to find it again. With Diigo, the remember and search (and wasted time) is eliminated. Diigo also allows you to find and bookmark items on one source and then view them again on another source. 

Well, I am off to dive more into Diigo and expand my knowledge (and confusion) of the Twitter world. Be sure to keep track of my progress from an Unconnected Student to a Connected Educator!

The Connected Educator, from an Unconnected Student's Perspective

     So this week, I log on in excitement to begin a new class, The Connected Educator. When I previewed this class I thought, "No problem, I know how to use the computer. I can search, I can post, I know e-mail, powerpoint, and a few other things; I've got this!" To my surprise, in week one we are to read about RSS and Blogs - "Um, what?" As often as I find myself scrolling through Facebook, glancing at Pinterest and searching for lesson plans and recipes, I realized that I do not think I have ever sat and read a blog, and if I did, it was completely by chance. Now I see that I am to create my own blog, panic set in! 

     I sit down, prepared to start working on and discovering the new technology that I can use to improve my teaching, my student's learning, and a new way to communicate with parents and other educators. A task for week one: organizing blogs with RSS and Feedly, and of course, I have not a clue as to what either of these things are, but as I read, I discover that Feedly is my new favorite resource! Not only did I set up a Feedly account, both for professional and personal interests, on my laptop, but I also downloaded the app on my phone so I can read, catch up, and search on the go. 
What is an RSS? Well, while I am still trying to put in into "English" instead of "Computer Lingo", I believe it a system which allows you to keep up to date with a site or blog that you often visit. In my mind, I thinking of it as a bookmark that automatically sends you updates and articles. This video does a great job of putting the "Computer Lingo" into "English". **Please note, Google Reader is no longer available, but you can use Feedly instead.** 

     So far, I would like to believe that I am right on track with making the transformation from an unconnected student, to a connected educator. I'll be writing about my successes, my failures, my confusions, and findings throughout this course so stick with me as I become "Connected"!