Schoology Review

PROS: We started using Schoology an year ago and I can clearly say that our students and teachers love the platform. It is friendly solution for both teachers and students. The gradebook provides real-time reports with essential information for both students and teachers. The team behind this platform is proactive and they are always open to hear their customers’ feedback.

CONS: I’d like an option to roll out curriculum edits to all courses by using the materials and assessments.

PROS: There are no benefits to this product that other LMS do not have.

CONS: The support team/company does not listen to teachers. There are many features that HUNDREDS of teachers have requested, some dating back SEVEN YEARS or more that have never been added and are STILL being requested. The features that Schoology adds are not the features that teachers ask for or care about. When you look at their dashboard that shows what features they are researching, developing, or have completed, none of them are the features that hundreds of teachers, including myself actually want.The system glitches often and crashes often, and I have never once been able to talk to customer support. My students have been using this system for 12 weeks now and are still struggling with it. It takes so many clicks just to find one assignment. There are so many features that don't work well. For example: when uploading zoom recordings from class I make sure that my files are in the correct format and under the size limit, but, for reasons unknown, sometimes it will take 3 tries to upload a video, receiving the error message "unsupported file or directory," even though it is the same file type I upload every day in each of my classes. When you copy assignments to other courses, instead of creating drop down files where you click on the quarter, then the week, then the day (which is how we have it set up), it shows every single folder for the whole year in one drop down box, forcing you to scroll extremely far to get to the correct folder, this is also true when trying to save assignments to the correct resources folder. On the main page it shows the oldest missing work first, instead of that day's assignments, making it difficult for students to easily see which assignments they need to complete for that day. You also cannot fully control the notifications you get from your courses, making the notifications useless as I receive so many of them. When I post an update with my schedule or chart or anything else I format in a document then copy and paste, but schoology never formats correctly and changes how everything looks, which is why I wish I could add a picture in line with text so I can just screenshot the schedule or post I made. Also, you cannot put a link in line with text unless you format the link in a document and copy and paste, writing the url in the text does not format it as a clickable link. The messages are not easily navigated. You cannot search for messages or see messages you just sent to one student, if you want to find a message you have to just keep scrolling. Also, when it comes to integrating other curriculum websites with Schoology, it is at an extra cost. My school uses MyMath and Savvas which both integrate for free with Google Classroom. I have to jump through hoops to assign lessons from these curriculum websites to my students, so I can 1. grade the assignment and 2. not have to have my third graders log into 20 different websites just to complete their assignments.

PROS: Schoology combines all aspects of classroom management into organized interface. This system does great job when it comes to collaborating and integrating with other school softwar and utilities such as: EduCannon, GoogleDrive and TurnItIn.

CONS: They constantly improve the product but often times its features take some time in order to make their way to the user.

PROS: I like that I can support my students and assess their learning on the go. This system allows me to create educational playlists and separate learning modules that challenge my students constantly. My students can have better control over the time, place of learning and speed.

CONS: I have great experience with Schoology, they constantly update the product, release features and they always hear their customers’ feedback.

PROS: I can organize class information into folders through Schoology. I like that there is integration with videos/Quizlet and other tools and this means that our students can access it directly from this system instead of redirecting students to other sites. I like that it keeps things streamlined and simple.

CONS: I don’t like the mobile version. There is no option to locate folders easily especially those folders with functioning issues.

PROS: - Positive feedback from instructors who find the platform easy to use. - Excellent feedback from stakeholder investors who are able to see transparent elements of the platform through unique profile settings. - Positive feedback from Administrative staff who find the platform simple to use and yet complex enough to complete day to day tasks.

CONS: - Some limitation of iframe embed due to the HTTPS protocol requirement. Use of HTML code editor often strips the inclusion of more advanced features such as Java functions. - Limitation toe badge and gamification of learning.

PROS: Schoology is perfect solution for our students throughout school day. Within the system you can find assignments, discussion forums, media albums, links, videos, files, portfolios and quizzes.

CONS: The product has some limitations when using it through iPad, our students cannot see the list of their assignments. Also, parents have some difficulties when navigating Schoology and finding the information they need. In my opinion, they could improve the mobile version and make it even more intuitive.

PROS: Interoperability and ease of use make this the best learning management system on the market.

CONS: There really is not any level of difficulty because any issues I have had have been submitted to the product team and updated within the week.

PROS: Through Schoology I can share information with my students, I can post assignments and my students can turn in all their work on Schoology. My students can complete online discussions, we can post notes and we can keep track of everyone’s activities. I’m able to post updates for my classes and students get email notifications. We can copy things from other sections instead of recreating sections over again.

CONS: They always update and improve the program, I don’t have dislikes about this program.

PROS: Basic version of Schoology which is free comes with all valuable features. Materials can be rearranged with its drag-and-drop feature and thanks to this feature we can easily change the sequence of a lesson. We can easily move materials from one folder to another.

CONS: I don’t like that we have to click into a page in order to view the content.

PROS: This product does everything that a teacher would need to maintain an online presence with their course. It allows us to house and embed all of their materials for their own classroom organization or for student perusal. We can post and grade discussions, assignments, and electronic portfolios. We can post updates to our students, parents, club members, sports teams, and colleagues.

CONS: There aren't any pressing issues that damage my experience with Schoology. The team works constantly to make improvements on the platform, and many of the improvements come from suggestions from their clients. They seek feedback and updates are meaningful for their users. One of the tech people told us that they constantly ask the question, "What else can we do?" After my experience with it in the past year and a half, I can say that this question drives the Schoology experience.