The internet’s potential as an educational tool has been apparent as long as the internet has been around. The problem, of course, is that unfettered access to the internet is hardly conducive to structured in-classroom learning.
In 2008, two Illinois school district employees, Nic Borg and Jeff O’Hara, set out to fix this problem when they created a “social learning network” called Edmodo. Rather than teachers utilizing an ever-changing string of unconnected web sites — “lonely island” web content, as Borg terms it — for educational purposes, the pair came up with the concept of a “home base” with the type of social networking functionalities that students already used in their personal lives, where teachers could share (and students interact with) relevant web content.
“Outside social networking tools don’t work in the classroom for a number of reasons,” says Borg. He cites “distraction and privacy issues” as examples, and notes that “what was needed was a teacher-oriented platform to provide Web content to students in a safe way.” Essentially, Borg and O’Hara created Edmodo as a closed social network within each classroom, where students can create profiles (with no private, personal information required) and teachers can share content, create online discussion forums, assign and upload homework, and post school notices. Furthermore, with features that allow information sharing at the school and even district level, Borg notes that “Edmodo can become the main communication hub for a school district or community.”
The idea has proved immensely popular. According to Borg, Edmodo counted over two million users across the globe by the end of last school year; the company expects another half million users by the beginning of the new term–and for that new term, Edmodo is offering new functionality in the form of mobile apps, badges and a Quiz Builder assessment engine.
“Students will be or already are operating one-to-one with mobile devices at a much higher rate than they are with notebook computers or netbooks,” Borg says, further noting that utilizing dedicated mobile apps in the classroom “enables the phone to be a useful tool rather than a distraction.” Quiz Builder, another addition to the product suite, uses a proprietary algorithm to create assessment tools from content with high engagement within the platform. One more new feature: badges. Teachers can create and assign badges for lessons learned or jobs well done–part of a strategy Borg calls “the game-ification of the classroom.”
The Edmodo platform is free for teachers–whom Borg dubs the “maestros of the classroom”–and offers “publisher communities” where outside content creators can share what they offer; teachers also have access to trending content data that shows the most popular content used within the platform. When asked about possible advertiser or partner content revenue streams, Borg wouldn’t elaborate past saying that, should widespread adoption become a reality, “operating a ubiquitous K-through-12 platform opens up exciting content opportunities.”
