Edmodo and ClassDojo

Peter McAsh is Computer Studies (programming, applications) and Geography teacher who has been teaching since 1979 and is a self proclaimed advocate of  integrating technology into all areas of education.  From viewing his blog http://dcvi.typepad.com/mcash/, Twitter page https://twitter.com/#!/pmcash and Edmodo site http://www.edmodo.com/pmcash , I have learned a lot about gaming in the classroom and the use of Edmodo as a teaching tool. Here is a good review of Edmodo as posted by AppAppeal:

"Edmodo.com is a private online social platform for teachers and students to share ideas, files, events and assignments. Built on a microblogging model, the site allows teachers the ability to handle a good deal of class activity online. Teachers can send out assignments, receive completed assignments and assign grades using the online platform. In addition, they can maintain a class calendar, store and share files, have a public (RSS) stream, and conduct polls. Teachers can also use the site to send text (SMS) alerts to students. Users have a home page where they can see a summary of recent activity for their class. The home page allows the teacher to make a new assignments, assign an event to the calendar, send out an alert, write a note to an individual or a group of students, and share links or files with students. When a link or file is shared, a message can be added that explains the contents. A number of filters can be applied to the summary view, including notes, alerts, events, assignments, links and files. Teachers can also assign grades to assignments, and students can easily view a summary of their grades on all assignments. " This looks like a cool teaching tool and I plan to try using it.

One more teaching tool that was introduced to me through Peter's bloggs is ClassDojo:

"ClassDojo is an in-classroom tool that helps teachers manage behavior and boost engagement in class. ClassDojo enables you to recognise specific behaviors and accomplishments in real-time, with just one click of a smartphone or laptop button. ClassDojo works by setting up real-time feedback loops in the classroom, to recognise and reinforce desirable behaviors and values. All recognition is logged automatically, and student behavior records are automatically created and updated.  ClassDojo automatically generates analytics, shareable character report cards and insight into your classroom that has never before been possible."

These are two web 2.0 teaching tools worth checking out.