Edmodo: Provider for Conceptual Change

“Conceptual change occurs when learners change their understanding of the concepts they use and of the conceptual frameworks that encompasses them” (Jonassen, 2005, p. 4). The relevance of Edmodo is to provide teachers and students learning opportunities to experience learning in multiple ways, to develop a public voice, and to compare their own ideas with those of their peers. It provides teachable moments outside the classroom in which debates, dialogue, and demonstration take on a virtual look.

Edmodo is designed for the educational environment. Students and teachers are breaking away from the old chalkboard/lecture learning models and moving towards a generation of digital learning. This process requires conceptual change. Edmodo provides a foundation for this change by using its “technologies to construct models that represent learners’ internal conceptual models; as learners build and alter their models they are constructing knowledge by changing their conceptions of what they are learning” (Jonassen, 2005, p. 4). The conceptual change that takes place is the transition to the virtual classroom and utilizing the latest technology to collaborate, share, and submit assignments.

Edmodo provides useful tools that promote interest in today’s generation. It provides the capability to collaborate via twitter, text and email. It also provides a platform that teachers and students can use to send notes, links, files, alerts, assignments, and events to each other. Edmodo offers the foundation of model building a virtual classroom that promotes knowledge-building activities. “One of the best ways to engage and support learners in conceptual change is to help them construct models of what they are studying using a variety of model-building tools” (Jonassen, 2005, p. 10). For example, teachers can structure Edmodo to foster meaningful learning by incorporating lesson plans on student reading strategies, writing strategies, note-taking skills, searching in multiple resources to gain information, etc. Students can organize in groups for collaboration. This method puts more of the learning into students’ hands rather than a teacher hand-feeding them. In the beginning, teachers model these skills/strategies to a whole class. Then small groups will practice the strategy. Finally, students are given the opportunity to practice the skill on their own.

The link for Edmodo is www.edmodo.com

EDMODO VIDEO FOR CONCEPTUAL CHANGE

Works Cited
Jonassen, D. H. (2005). Modeling with Technology. Mindtools for Conceptual Change. Prentice Hall.