Edmodo and the New School Year

This year I am starting to use Edmodo for grades four through eight. I used it for the first technology class of the year. I wanted to share some insights and ideas to keep in mind for next year.

Our Own Domain

I attended about five hours of the 2011 EdmodoCon online conference. It was a great way to learn more about how other educators are using the program. One feature is the ability to reserve a domain name for your school. It allows the administrator(s) to get analytic information about the use of Edmodo and communicate across the teachers and students at the school or district level.

The students are learning to type ourschoolname.edmodo.com to go to the web site. I am enjoying the comments students are leaving in the evening in response to feedback I have given them about the first project.

Basics of Edmodo

Many of the fifth, seventh, and eighth grade students tested Edmodo with me last May. We did not really scratch the surface of the program and there are new features that were released. My first assignment was similar across all grade levels. The students:
* Answered a poll question - unique to each grade depending on the feedback I was interested in receiving
* Shared their favorite mode of learning and a future career goal which is an option on their profile
* Searched the calendar to find the date that the first trimester ends
* Sent me a direct message with the date
* Clicked the "Turn In" link and sent me an "all finished" message

It's great to be able to send the students quick feedback on their work.

Submitting an Assignment File

My next task is to teach the students how to submit their work files through Edmodo. I wanted a simple task for fourth and fifth grade. I realized that their profile could use an avatar. I decided to see if I could give them a template through Kid Pix. It is a program they easily use.


I created a square that is outlined in black and filled with yellow. I put the Kid Pix file in my resource wiki in case someone else finds it useful. It needs to be downloaded and placed in the Shared - Idea Machine folder. I created a Grade4-5 sub folder to store the Avatar.kpx file.

To use the file in Kid Pix Deluxe 4 for Schools, the students click on the Idea Machine. Next, they double click the Grade4-5 folder, then double click the Avatar.kpx file.

I know many teachers use Tux Paint, too. I created a Tux Paint file and put it on my resource wiki. This file is a black outline with a transparent center since that is what is required by Tux Paint to allow a student to have their work to display on top of the template. If the template is white, the drawings and stamps hide under the template. On an OS X iMac, this is not a simple task. You have to know the following trick. Go to the Tux Paint application icon and right click (control click). Choose Show Package Contents from the menu. Open the Contents folder, navigate to the Resources folder, then the starters folder. This is where templates are placed; in this case, the Avatar.png file.


Students would click the New icon then scroll down the list until they see the black outline of a square.


The students enjoyed designing an avatar. We did not finish the task today. During our next class, the students will flatten any stickers and words, save the file, then submit the file to Edmodo.


There will be a follow-up assignment to save the image as a JPEG file. They will learn to use the settings link in Edmodo and browse for the image. In Kid Pix, I will place a shortcut to the Shared Users folder on the desktop for ease of locating the file. Kid Pix really buries the folder on the hard drive.


I'm looking forward to seeing all the colorful avatars in Edmodo next week.

Tux Paint Stamps and Starters

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm not happy with the way Kid Pix is behaving on Mac OS 10.6. I do not have funding at the moment to switch to the MacKiev version or Pixie. Two outstanding issues in Tux Paint were saving to unique folders and what to do about the Idea Machine that I really like in Kid Pix. I have an answer to the Idea Machine today.

Thinking About Stamps

This morning, I started thinking about the stamps in Tux Paint. I knew from the support materials that I should be able to add my own, but I never took the time to think it through. It turns out that it is SO easy.

I will add a blog post next weekend for Windows, but today I had my MacBook Pro out and started hunting around.

The first important note in Mac is that the folder for stamps is hidden from view. To unhide the folder, go to the Applications folder and then to the Tux Paint folder. Find the Tux Paint icon and right (or control) click. When the contextual menu opens up, select Show Package contents. This is something I really never think about. Many program icons are really folders.


Inside the Tux Paint folder is a subfolder called stamps. There are two ways to go about adding images as stamps. They can be placed in separate folders, for example, Kindergarten, first, second, third or placed in one folder such as saintmichael.


The difference is that if you have one folder (saintmichael) every stamp is in the same group. If you have multiple sub folders you can use the arrow key to click through the different stamp sets.

The Difference With Starters

Starters are like a blank or coloring book page. The starter will work better for me in projects in which I want to control how large the initial image will be. This will be the case with my ABC stamper chart project.


Again, I had to go look at the Tux Paint package contents. The folder is called starters. I took my Kid Pix ABC chart and saved it as a PNG image. I moved the ABC.png into the starters folder. Now when I start Tux Paint and choose the New button, I can scroll down to my ABC chart and have the students start their project.

Video

I used Jing Project to create a little screencast. If you cannot view it, let me know and I'll upload a different file format. You can view the video full screen although it's a little blurry that way. If you want the original video, let me know and I will send it to you via email. I've also posted the video on Vimeo.

The Final Frontier

If I can figure out how to create folders to save student work, I'm golden! I know it has to be do-able. I just have to think it through.

Tux Paint Installation

I have decided to install Tux Paint in the computer lab this year. I am going to use it in test mode and decide if it will make a good replacement for Kid Pix. Unfortunately, Kid Pix is operating very poorly on Snow Leopard (10.6).


Download and Installation
The download and installation are quick and easy. I go directly to the Apple Mac OS X Tux Paint Download page. One key is to download both the program and the extra stampers.


Configuration
An additional key step is running the configuration program. I have found, from the installation on the Windows XP tablet PCs, it pays to configure the system to Always Save New Picture under the Save Over Earlier Work category. I place a check mark in the Start Blank section. Finally, I place a checkmark in the Use Alternative Save Directory in the Save Directory category. I browse to the Document folder. Tux Paint created a Saved folder within Documents. All of these settings are on the Saving tab of the configuration program.

Next I go to the Video/Sound tab. I adjust the window size to fit the screen above the dock. On the tablet PCs I set the program to adjust to full screen.

Ideas To Test

My biggest concern is the lack of folders and the ability to use pre-made templates similar to those I prepared for the Idea Machine in Kid Pix. I think if I'm careful with a file naming convention I might be able to still have templates. I'll have to see how things are sorted when I open files. I'd like the youngest student's work to appear first on the list. 

Additionally, I may have to teach the students to rename their files. Right now Tux Paint assigns the date and time stamp as the file name.

I know a few teachers who use Tux Paint. I'll have to reach out to see what best practices are already in use around the world.