Using the Edmodo LMS To Teach SI791:Open Source Software Development Course

I am teaching a course next semester on open source software development focusing on improving the user experience of Sakai 2.9. My students will be a combination of user experience experts, UI designers, information architects and software developers.

I am using Edmodo rather than Sakai as the primary learning management platform for the course. Part of my goal is to get us to “think outside the box” as we think about re-designing Sakai 2.9’s portal.

I am really excited about the Social aspects of Edmodo and the fact that it has an excellent iPhone application. I also like the way Edmodo handles private and public information – for example, you can follow the course materials and discussion (those we choose to publish) at the following URL:

http://www.edmodo.com/public/si791-sak/group_id/161836

Since this course will be very dynamic and we will evolve it together, the more conversation-oriented nature of Edmodo will be a great fit for this course.

Members of the Sakai community are welcome to lurk in as members of the SI791 Edmodo site and even participate – send Dr. Chuck an E-Mail for the secret join code after you make your Edmodo account.

The more I play with it, the more I am tempted to use it for my SI124 – Networked Thinking course as well.

I am less tempted to use Edmodo for my larger and more structured courses like SI539 – Design of Complex Web Sites and SI502 – Networked Computing since they are more book oriented, well-organized and pretty fast-paced in terms of material. Sakai still feels like a good tool to “manage” those courses.

I think that using more than one LMS next semester will be fun both for me and for the students as a collective usability exercise.

And yes, I see the irony in teaching a course about open source development working on an open source project but using a close-source cloud-hosted technology. And I do need to get used to type “Edmodo” (like the dragon) as compared to “Edmoto” (like a motocross bike).