Classroom+Management+Systems

Technology is great for enhancing lessons. Wouldn't it be great, though to have a way to organize it all? That is what a classroom management system (CMS) does. It is a web and app-based program that allows teachers to make lessons and/or assignments, manage projects, and allow students to communicate, collaborate, and post assignments in one place. Some allow for grading. Some of them have apps available within their management system. If you have been in college recently, you most likely used a CMS like Blackboard to access grades and lecture files, and to post assignments.

The three classroom management systems described below are free and fairly simple to use. Students can access lessons, quizzes, and assignments, and may communicate and share with the teacher, the class, or a group through a CMS at anytime on a laptop or app-enabled electronic device.

|| Edmodo is free. The interface is very similar to other social sites, like Facebook. The teacher creates a group or class and a unique access code is created. Students access the group or class by entering the access code. Entering an e-mail is optional. Basic functions for each group or class include posting notes, documents, links, and commenting on posted items. Teachers may create subgroups, assignments, quizzes, and polls. Teachers have the additional option of using apps from the Edmodo app store with their students. Communities in Edmodo are also available to teachers for sharing ideas. || || Through Google Apps for Education (free), teachers and students can work with documents, spreadsheets, web pages, calendars, forms, and apps together in a controlled environment. The teacher assigns unique passwords and e-mails. Files can have one owner or many. || || Wikispaces Classroom makes it possible for teachers to create a classroom communication tool on one wiki. Students are assigned unique usernames and passwords. The teacher can create news feeds, attach documents, links, and videos to assignments. Projects and teams are easily created from users within the class. ||
 * Edmodo
 * Google Apps for Education
 * Wikispaces Classroom