Wk4 Wimba

In listening to this week's Wimba archive, I realized that I had been selecting learning management systems for use in my classroom without even realizing that was what they were. While doing my action research project, I used Edmodo to create an online book club for my class. This site had only a few simple features, but it was a nice way to introduce my kids to online learning. They were able to post links and comments and respond to comments by others, turn in online assignments, and answer poll questions I made up, but it was very limited (kids could not send messages directly to one another to prevent cyber-bullying) and I felt it was appropriate and safe for my fifth graders. I chose Edmodo over Ning because Edmodo is add free and I wanted my kids to focus on group discussions rather than direct messages. For my current position, my school wants the kids to have e-mail and blogs and has elected to use gmail which I am not really comfortable with. I don't feel it has all of the options and safety features that I think are necessary when dealing with young students (I work with sixth graders now) and I have been trying to persuade them to use Gaggle. I have also heard of Schoology and after the discussion, I think this would be worth exploring.