ONLINE TEACHERS, EDMODO IS SHUTTING DOWN FINALLY: ALTERNATIVES FOR ONLINE TEACHING

I felt heartbroken when I got an email that read:

"Hammed, Edmodo is closing its doors on September 22, 2022"

"Edmodo.com platform is sunsetting on September 22, 2022"

I thought the mail wasn't for me because EDMODO has been a wonderful LMS for online teaching with excellent features.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, I have used EDMODO to engage my students to learn actively. It looked attractive and easy to use even for a novice.

What I enjoyed the most about the app was the computer-based testing feature which was cool for objective testing. I had about 80 students on the platform. The CBT saved me the stress of marking repeatedly.

Another pivotal feature of EDMODO was that it automatically computed the progress of my learners.

I could easily inform parents about the performance level of their children. I love this!

My online classes almost looked like a school after I added other subjects like social studies, sciences, civic education and business studies under the same platform. You can also add teachers to your portal.

Every student would receive a prompt mail anytime I share a lesson or schedule a test.

ANOTHER REMINDER!!!

This morning, I got another mail that prompted me to write this post.

It looked like a nightmare that I woke up to this ugly mail again.

"We regret to inform you that September 22, 2022, will be the last day that Edmodo users will have access to the Edmodo.com platform and service. It has been an absolute pleasure serving over 100 million users all over the world for almost 15 years."

WHAT NEXT?

That EDMODO is sunsetting shouldn't be the end of my online teaching. I need to harness some other platforms to transfer my students.

After so many reflections about what to do about keeping my teaching on, I felt I should share these alternative LMS (Learning Management System) apps which I have found similar to EDMODO for online education.

There are lots of online teaching apps which are available on mobile stores for free downloads. For now, I would recommend TEACHMINT and GOOGLE CLASSROOM.

This is because I have used them. They're secure and effective for teaching. While considering these tools, I placed them on the following criteria:

1. Free

2. User-friendly (Even for new users)

3. Low data consumption

4. Audio or Video conferencing

5. Back up of Classroom Data

6. Secure (by registration)

7. Sharing tool

For instance, with Google Classroom App, you have access to every Google extension such as freemium Google Drive, Gmail alerts, Google meets, Google docs, slides and sheets.

Interestingly, TEACHMINT, also, has a store of standard objective questions for almost all secondary school subjects that you can freely generate for your students.

Why not try this app by downloading them from your mobile store? ; get your students registered using your class links or codes and continue learning.

DO YOU USE ANOTHER APP DIFFERENT FROM THESE?

For posts related to this, visit my blog at www.elt-reflections.com

THANKS FOR READING!!!

Hammed O. Lawal