EDMODO - A Student Quick-Start Guide

1. An Interactive “Quick Start Guide” for Students

2. General Introduction
This slideshow is designed to provide students with a
basic hands-on introduction to the social learning
site: edmodo.com.
It provides a quick tour of the student’s Edmodo
home screen and all of the main features of the site.
If students are viewing this slideshow within an
Edmodo post, they are advised to “popout” the post
by clicking the far right button above the post
(displayed below).
Popout button

3. General Introduction
This slideshow is an unofficial student-focussed
companion to the official Edmodo Guide.
While teacher-focussed, the Edmodo Guide is much
more comprehensive and details all of the great
features of Edmodo in more depth.
This slideshow is more of a basic “quick start guide”.
For more detailed help and information on Edmodo
features students and teachers are referred to the
Guide:
http://www.edmodo.com/guide/

4. Note to Students
This guide will take you through a tour of the key
features of the Edmodo social learning site, to help
you get started.
Each feature will be described and explained with
accompanying images.
The tour is interactive and will instruct you to take
brief action steps after each explanation.
If you are not logged into Edmodo already, you
should open a new browser tab (if necessary) and log
into your Edmodo student account before continuing.

5. Features of the Edmodo
Home Screen

6. 1. The Spotlight
The “spotlight” appears at the top right-hand side of
the Edmodo home screen.
It is the first thing you should check when you log in
to Edmodo. It will highlight new replies to posts by
you, upcoming calendar events and important
messages (alerts) from teachers.
Action Step: Locate the spotlight on your page and
check whether you currently have any items listed
there that you should respond to.

7. 2. Filters
The filter options appear just below the spotlight.
Filters allow you to focus on specific types of posts.
Clicking on a filter label (e.g. Assignments) will hide
all other posts and leave only that type of post in
view. If there are no posts matching a particular filter
then no posts will be displayed.
Action Step: Experiment with clicking the different
filter options.

8. 3. Everything & Direct
These two options appear just under your profile
picture on the top left of screen. Clicking on
“Everything” will undo all filter effects and display
everything in your feed once again. Clicking on
“Direct” will display only direct messages between
yourself and others (e.g. your teachers).
Action Steps: Click “Everything” to undo the filter
effects from step 2. Click on “Direct” to view only your
direct messages, if you have any.

9. 4. Tags
Tags are labels you can apply to specific messages in your feed
to group them together based on topics or themes. For
example, for each class you might use tags for each unit topic
so that you can easily see all the posts relating to a unit
together.
A list of your previously used tags is listed below the filters on
the right of the screen. You can click on any tag in this list to
filter your feed and display only posts that have been tagged
with that label. To add a tag to a post, just click on the “Tag”
option below the post.
Action Steps: Choose some posts in your feed and “tag” them
based on the topic, subject or unit they relate to. Experiment
with clicking the different tag labels in your list of tags on the
right.

10. 5. Groups
The groups you belong to are listed to the left of your
feed. You can “filter” your feed to display only posts
relating a specific group by clicking on the group in the
list. This area is also where you join new groups by
clicking “Join”. You can also “hover” the mouse over a
group label for extra options in a context menu.
Action Steps: Click on different group labels in the list to
filter your feed according to each group. Remember to click
“Everything” afterwards to reveal everything else that has
been hidden. Hover the mouse over a group label and
explore the options provided (don’t “withdraw” from the
group, or you’ll have to join it again).

11. 6. Profiles
Everyone on Edmodo has a
profile, just like other
social networking sites.
You can view a person’s
profile by clicking on their
avatar picture beside a
message they have posted.
Their profile will list all
their public posts.
Action Step: Click on a
fellow student’s avatar
picture next to one of their
posts and view their profile.
Avatar picture
A Student profile

12. 7. Your Library
All the files, documents, web links or other attachments
attached to all the posts you have ever received are kept
together in your personal Library.
You can access your Library by clicking on the “Library”
link at the top of the page. Library items can be viewed or
downloaded, and like posts they can be filtered by group
or type. You can even create folders and organise your
Library items in a way that makes sense to you.

13. 7. Your Library

14. 7. Your Library
Action Steps: Go to your Library and experiment with
the features. Create several folders and move items into
their appropriate folder if you have items in your
Library. You could create folders for “Assignment
handouts”, “Class work handouts”, or for specific units
or topics within a subject.

15. 8. The Calendar
The Calendar can be accessed by clicking the link at
the top of the page. Your calendar will include
assignment dates and other events set by your
teacher. Calendar items will appear in your spotlight
as they approach.

16. 8. The Calendar
Action Step: Go to your calendar and check if there are
any events or assignment due dates listed.

17. 9. Settings
You can click the “Settings” link at the top of the page
to edit your profile and change other settings. This is
where you can go to change your login password, your
avatar picture and other personal information.

18. 9. Settings
Action Step: If you haven’t already done so, choose a
profile picture from those provided or else upload an
appropriate novelty image to serve this purpose.

19. 10. Grades
You can view grades for assignment you have “turned
in” via Edmodo by clicking the button at the top of
the page.
You will be provided with a list of groups you belong
to and then you can choose a group to view
assignments teachers have graded.
The assignment task, your turned in assignment, and
your teacher’s comments and marks will all be
displayed together (shown in the next slide).

20. 10. Grades

21. 10. Grades
Action Steps: Click on the Grades button at the top of
your page and gain familiarity with navigating through
your different group sections, even if there are no
graded assignments listed just yet.

22. 11. Create A Post Box
Obviously you make a post to your group using the box just
above your feed in the centre of the page. As a student, you can
post a note to your entire class group or else you can direct
message your teacher. You are unable to direct message other
individual students.
You simply type your note, type the name of the person or
group you want to sent it to, click “Send” and you’re done.

23. 11. Create A Post Box
Action Steps: Experiment with posting different types
of posts.
More detailed help with posting files, links,
attachments and embedded content follows in the
second part of this slideshow.

24. Conclusion
That’s the completion of the student tour of Edmodo.
If you’re satisfied, go have fun with Edmodo and happy
learning.
If you want more details on some of the features,
consult the Edmodo Guide mentioned earlier.
If you’re specifically looking for detailed help with
making different types of posts (attaching files, rich
media content, videos, links) then proceed with the rest
of the slideshow.

25. Making Different Types of Posts
More Detailed Help

26. 12. Post With a File Attached
Next to the Attach option choose “File” and choose
the file to upload from your computer. Edmodo has a
great document viewer, so if it’s a common document
type (e.g. Word file, PDF, etc) others can view it
directly rather than having to download it.
Attach a file

27. 13. Post From Your Library
Next to the Attach option select “Library” and choose
the item from your Library to attach. You can attach
documents, files, links or any other item in your
library this way.
Attach from your Library

28. 13. Post With a Link Attached
 There are two steps to this type of post:
1. Next to the Attach option choose “Link”.
Attach a Web Link

29. 13. Post With a Link Attached
2. Type or paste the link details into the box, and give
your link a short description (e.g. Title of the page
or site you’re linking to).
 Edmodo will cleverly suggest a description for most
links.
Type the link details here (e.g. http://www.google.com)

30. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
Many types of rich media web content allow you to
integrate them into your own site (e.g. Youtube
videos, Glogster posters, Slideshare presentations,
Flickr images, etc). This is called “embedding” the
content.
Embedded content is very useful because it means
people reading your post don’t need to go to another
site to view your video, poster or other content. They
can view everything in the one spot.
Embedding content is a little more involved than
attaching a web link, but it’s still very simple.
The 2-step process is outlined over the next few
slides.

31. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
There are two steps to embedding content into
Edmodo:
1. Get the “embed code” for the content.
 Embed code is simply a short snippet of programming
code that will tell Edmodo where to find your content
on the web and what to do with it to make it work in
Edmodo.
1. Paste the embed code into the link part of your post.

32. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
1. Get the “embed
code” for your
content:
 For Youtube videos
go the video’s web
address, and under
the video player
you’ll see an option
to “<Embed>”.
 Click “<Embed>”.

33. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
1. Get the “embed
code” for your
content:
 This will reveal the
embed code for the
video, along with
some optional
choices about how
your embedded
video will look.
 Copy the embed
code.

34. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
1. Get the “embed
code” for your
content:
 For Glogster posters
view your Glog,
then scroll down
and choose to
“Embed into your
page”.
 Then copy the code.

35. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
1. Get the “embed
code” for your
content:
 For Slideshare
presentations view
it on Slideshare, and
above the slideshow
you’ll see an option
to “<>Embed”.
 This will reveal the
embed code for
your to copy.

36. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
1. Get the “embed
code” for your
content:
 For Flickr photos,
view the photo on
Flickr.
 Choose “Share this”
and then “Grab the
HTML/BBCode”
 Copy the code.

37. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
1. Get the “embed code” for your content:
 Many other websites that have rich media content
will offer a similar “embed” option, allowing you to
locate and copy the embed code.

38. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
2. Paste the embed code into the link part of your
Edmodo post:
 Choose “Link” next to the Attach options as you
would for attaching a web link to your Edmodo
post.

39. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
2. Paste the embed code into the link part of your
Edmodo post:
 Paste the embed code for your content into the link
box (it will be fairly long).

40. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
2. Paste the embed code into the link part of your
Edmodo post:
 Paste the embed code for your content (in this case
a Youtube video) into the link box.

41. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
 When you click “Attach” and return to composing your
post, your embedded content will appear just like a web
link.
 Rest assured, when you finish your post and “Send”, your
video or presentation will be embedded into your post
below your note.

42. 14. Post With Web Content Embedded
 Voila!
 Your
chosen
content is
embedded
within your
Edmodo
post,
allowing
others to
view or play
it in
Edmodo.

43. Credits
Slideshow produced by:
Brendan Vanderkley
English/Psychology Teacher
Christian College, Geelong
My Blog:
http://webteachertech.wordpress.com