Facebook is now being incorporated into classes at Freedom… sort of.

In recent weeks, various teachers throughout the high school have been experimenting with a website known as Edmodo. Edmodo - a site that mimics the appearance of Facebook - allows teachers to more easily collaborate with students by sharing homework assignments, educational media and access grades and class notices. The site was discovered after multiple Freedom teachers attended the Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference in November.

Those who create a free account on the site are able to make posts on the class’s “wall,” comment on various posts from classmates and receive notifications that may provide class information. Edmodo also allows each student to safely create a personal profile. On this profile, students can post a photo of themselves, list their favorite quotes and post their career aspirations. Really, the only feature Edmodo proves to lack is a “like” button.

Mr. Fitzpatrick has been incorporating the site into his English classes. “All my students signed up for it, and so far I’ve used it basically to collect assignments and spread class news,” Mr. Fitzpatrick said. “Students that aren’t as likely to check my website can sign up for e-mail notifications [on Edmodo] and know what’s going on.”

Mrs. Russell recently began taking part in this cyber community as well. “I use [Edmodo] to post discussion questions and assignments that can be downloaded, and I plan to use it for peer-editing,” Mrs. Russell said. “I think that students have responded well to it; it’s friendlier than Moodle was.”

Currently, Edmodo is in a sort of trial phase at Freedom. With Edmodo mimicking Facebook so closely, obvious problems arose right away. “Immediately I began to receive texting language and things that were inappropriate for school,” Mrs. Russell said.

In order to remind students that, though modeled like Facebook, Edmodo is for educational purposes only, Mrs. Russell printed off the site’s code of conduct and had each of her students sign a copy. Some of the rules included: “I will use posts to discuss school-related content only” and “I will limit my use of sarcasm to avoid misinterpretations.”
Student reaction to Edmodo has been varied.

“I like how assignments are posted on the site; it’s super convenient,” Senior Brittany Bates said. “But it’s no Facebook.”

Other students see the site as a hassle. “Just stick to e-mail,” Senior Kaylynn Fehir said.