Edmodo
Edmodo was an educational technology platform designed for K-12 schools, enabling teachers to create virtual classrooms for sharing content, assigning quizzes and homework, and fostering interaction among students and parents in a manner akin to a secure social network.[1][2]
Founded in 2008 by Nic Borg and Jeff O'Hara, who drew from their experiences in public schools to address gaps in digital workflow and communication tools, the platform grew rapidly as a free service, attracting over 100 million registered users worldwide by providing features like gradebooks, polls, and file sharing without the distractions of commercial social media.[3][4][5]
Edmodo achieved prominence as a staple in classrooms for its ease of use and focus on privacy, though it faced challenges including a 2017 data breach affecting millions of users and eventual acquisition by Chinese gaming firm NetDragon Websoft in 2018 for $137 million, which shifted its strategic direction.[6][7]
In August 2022, Edmodo announced the shutdown of its free consumer-facing platform on September 22, 2022, citing unsustainable maintenance costs, to redirect resources toward government-partnered deployments in select countries, marking the end of its broad accessibility as an independent educational tool.[8][7][2]