Schoology

Vorteile

This is hands-down my go-to LMS for education. Having used a variety of LMS programs out there, and having come from some such as Google Classroom, and 3DGameLab, Schoology is top notch. Constantly being updated, Schoology helps transition the focus from the teacher to the student. The best features are Schoology's ability to integrate with other tools, as teachers can embed edtech tools such as Padlet, Polleverywhere, Thinglink, etc into a Schoology assignment using their LTI integration. As they continue to partner with other edtech companies, some of these then become options within their platform. I have used their integrated Conferences, Lock Down Browser, and more. The ability to transition ownership to the students, monitor their work while letting them work at their own pace is truly remarkable and a game-changer in education.

Nachteile

There are some things I wish were available such as the ability to share an entire folder of contents with an individual student, or to set separate completion rules/dates for assignments within a folder. Not sure why these aren't options. I also think a way to automatically award badges upon completion would really help teachers cut down on time awarding them.

Vorteile

I have been using Schoology for approximately five years now and I find it to be the easiest LMS with the most features of all the other ones I’ve tried. It is so easy to organize in whatever way is most convenient for you and your course. It supports video uploads from multiple different kinds of sources whether be YouTube or Loom or Edpuzzle. Students love the use of badges where teachers can send “gold star” encouragement to students like “most improved” or other distinctions. Students can easily email their teachers through Schoology. Course updates allow for whole class communication. The pro list goes on and on.

Nachteile

The biggest con I have experienced occasionally rears its head when I try to sync Schoology to PowerSchool. I find that some assignments will not sync. Even after I go through all of the usual troubleshooting details such as having a due date or the assignment title being too long, nothing will get it to sync. This is not a huge problem maybe one assignment and 50. What is frustrating, is that when you go into the sync page the error listed doesn’t tell you what to look for us just simply says “failed the sync.

Another frustration I have is when I want to unpublished material to students In Schoology that unpublished material is then unpublished in PowerSchool. Just because I want to on publish it in Schoology does it mean I want their grades in assignments to be unseen in PowerSchool.

Vorteile

It's better than nothing. I have never used another complete LMS, but there HAS to be a better one when based on the gradebook, which is what teachers use the most. I also work with teachers who say they've used Canvas and it's much better. Previous to this, I used EasyGradePro and Illuminate, both of which had gradebooks that were far more customizable. I am literally writing this right now because, in my 5.5 years of being forced by my district to use this LMS, not ONCE am I aware of any teachers being asked for product feedback--and only a couple times have any noticeable improvements been made. I find this intensely frustrating, as I have a long list of improvements that should be made and nowhere to share them. I arrived here, not at the product's website, after Googling "Schoology+feedback" And so I will post them here in their entirety in hopes that Schoology designers might actually care one day.

Nachteile

--NO SEATING CHART--should allow teachers to save pre-set comments in Resources to save time--teacher should be able to set a default to show comments to student instead of having to click the box every time they want the student to see the comment--comments should be dated--system should be able to mark empty cells missing automatically once due date has passed (regardless of grading status)--when student submits an assignment, missing mark should disappear--missing mark value should be customizable (not always zero)--”Mark empty cells missing” should be accompanied should be accompanied by the option of “except ones with submissions”--submissions should be time stamped--should have the ability to sort assignments in order of date of late submission--score for quiz needs to update automatically if student takes it late--should be able to sort students by who has most ungraded submissions--Bulk Edit should allow you to change the lock date--I should be able to type in a LAST name to send a message--Teacher should be able to merge rosters so that students on different rosters (i.e. SpEd) can respond to same discussion topic instead of having separate boards--Copy Rubrics should not make endless duplicates; should notify when they are duplicates --read receipts for messages--in Mastery tab, should be able to display assignments by alpha order, number order, etc.

Vorteile

Schoology is out LMS connected to PS. It allows so much more than just virtual learning. Students can check classwork by reviewing files and notes teachers upload to courses. Schoology allows parents to see the materials students are provided with. It is our go-to for classwork and course information!

Nachteile

The add-ons and additional connected apps can be glitchy.

In Betracht gezogene Alternativen

Gründe für den Wechsel zu Schoology

Vorteile

I love that I can login once and be able to access a variety of programs and software. The one user login is awesome! I like that I can send out messages to students either through the messenger feature or by placing an announcement in each class. I also like being able to go directly from one website (for example Newsela) to another (for example Nearpod) with in the platform itself. Set up classes is a breeze, and I appreciate how seamless Schoology has made it for teachers. The training I received from Schoology staff is also very good.

Nachteile

As with any LMS, there is a learning curve, but it ranks as one of the better LMSs in terms of easy of use. I would like to see Zoom integrated directly into each class, as an additional option.