Have you used Edmodo? It’s a tool I started using a few months ago. If you are a little reticent about being sold another Facebook alternative, it’s understandable. Our world is full of digital gimmicks, apps and sundry items, which is why I really need to see clear benefits before contemplating using something new.

I was sold on Edmodo by the fact there is a clear home-school link, which allows the teacher and individual students in a class group to communicate and upload content. I also like the fact that it’s separate and not linked to other social network sites and designed with an educational purpose.

Messages can be sent to remind learners to bring specific items to class, or for the teacher to send links to web articles to reinforce a point that cropped up mid-lesson. If you, as the class teacher, have the app available on your phone, you can take pictures of completed activities or even your boardwork, potentially mitigating the delay of having to wait for learners to finish copying from the board.

Go to: https://www.edmodo.com/ To use Edmodo, you will need to set up an account but it’s fairly intuitive to use, resembling other social network sites such as Facebook.

Finally it’s worth mentioning that at the moment, I’m only using Edmodo with adults but ideally I would like to introduce it into a summer school context with young learners. Before going ahead with this, keep in mind that planning is essential in order to comply with the safeguarding policies that your school will have.