An Alternative To Twitter

When most people think about microblogging they think about Twitter.  Twitter is currently the fastest social network/micro blog on the net.  Twitter is not the only microblog in the game.  There are currently 139 microblogs available for people to use.  Most of them will wither away only to be replaced by seeds of new microblogs.

There is a fairly new microblog geared towards education.  Edmodo looks and feels like Twitter.  There is even a mobile app for Edmodo users.

Edmodo can be created by anyone but the majority of the users will be teachers and students.  Its preferred that the teacher set up an account along with accounts for thier students that will be using it.  Teachers have the ability to list all of thier students or set them up in specific classes.  If a teacher needs to send a message to a specific class her or she can or if he or she need to send out a message to all of the students they can do that as well.  An example could be if a teacher is absent, she or he can send a message to all of his or her  students.  If that same teacher had to leave before the final period, only those students could be notified.

Edmodo is completely in a closed enviroment.  Communcation is restricted to the teacher's specifications. 

There are some restrictions to using edmodo.  Some people have found limiting to themselves to 140 characters in Twitter difficult.  Edmodo limits you to 100 characters.  Its also a relatively new site so users are few.  Emodo's website comes equipped with a user forum page to discuss issues and ideas to use edmodo. 

You can attach photos to edmoto without going to another website.

Edmodo is a great alternative for teachers if Twitter isnt the right answer.  Its a controlled enviroment that looks and feels just like the real thing