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Blackboard Learn by Anthology vs. Blackbaud Education Management Solutions

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Blackboard Learn by Anthology

    Score6.9 out of 10
    N/ABlackboard Inc. is an enterprise learning management systems vendor. Blackboard was founded in 1997 and became a public company in 2004. The company provides education, mobile, communication, and commerce software and related services to clients including education providers, corporations and government organizations. As of December 2010, Blackboard software and services are used by over 9,300 institutions in more than 60 countries. Blackboard Learn is the company's flagship LMS, supporting…N/A

    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions

    Score7.2 out of 10
    N/ABlackbaud Education Management Solutions is a unified student management system for K–12 private schools. Blackbaud Enrollment Management System™: Gives schools and families the ability to track admissions progress from first impressions all the way through the application process to acceptance, enrollment, and tuition payment. Blackbaud Learning Management System™: Track students' academic performance and progression…N/A
    Pricing
    Blackboard Learn by AnthologyBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Blackboard Learn by AnthologyBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalRequired
    Additional DetailsMust contact vendor for pricing information.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Blackboard Learn by AnthologyBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Considered Both Products
    Anthology, Inc
    No answer on this topic
    Blackbaud
    Chose Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    We originally had Blackboard but it did not bring everything together in one place and frustrated parents, particularly those with more than one child. The high school not as much as the younger divisions. It was not setup in a way that teachers of younger kids could use. It …
    Incentivized
    Chose Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Senior Systems products were evaluated. Blackbaud was not specifically chosen, our school is a legacy Whipplehill school and we decided to continue with Blackbaud. This decision was due to the length of time we were with WH and our investment in the software both economically …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    78%
    Would buy again
    14 Answers
    73%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    82%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    85%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    72%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    87%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    67%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    88%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    Features
    Blackboard Learn by AnthologyBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Learning Management
    Comparison of Learning Management features of Blackboard Learn by Anthology and Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Feature
    Blackboard Learn by Anthology
    8.6
    30 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions
    -
    Ratings
    Course authoring9.024 Ratings00 Ratings
    Course catalog or library9.024 Ratings00 Ratings
    Player/Portal8.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning content6.127 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile friendly9.030 Ratings00 Ratings
    Progress tracking & certifications7.024 Ratings00 Ratings
    Assignments9.030 Ratings00 Ratings
    Compliance management9.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning administration10.025 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning reporting & analytics9.026 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social learning9.022 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning9.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Blackboard Learn by AnthologyBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Small Businesses
    Google Classroom
    Score8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Schoology Learning
    Score8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    D2L Brightspace
    Score7.8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Blackboard Learn by AnthologyBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.9
    (58 ratings)
    7.0
    (120 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    4.6
    (11 ratings)
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (5 ratings)
    6.5
    (7 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.7
    (14 ratings)
    7.0
    (115 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (21 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Blackboard Learn by AnthologyBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Anthology, Inc
    A school with a well-established technology imprint with their students (for example, ours is a BYOB school where every student has their own laptop and must bring it to school every day and where over 99% of our families have reliable broadband at home) is a reasonable scenario for using The arrogance and intransigence of the sales force is quite disconcerting… They are no longer the only game in town and don't yet realize it. Less well-off schools/families may find it a challenge if students must be on campus or at a public library in order to use the technology. Obviously, during the pandemic, this became problematic for some districts.
    Incentivized
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    Blackbaud
    A good, and constantly improving solution for private schools. I don't know that a lot of its functionality would be well suited to public schools, but maybe? The integration with other Blackbaud software is a huge plus for us, as we have several of their other products including their flagship Raiser's Edge. Smaller schools may not need the sophistication of Blackbaud solutions, and it is not an inexpensive option.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Anthology, Inc
    • Blackboard Learn makes submitting assignments electronically simple and provides a variety of built-in Web-based tools like e-portfolios, wikis, and blogs that our students use to create their own content.
    • Blackboard Learn is intuitive and easy to navigate from a students perspective
    • Blackboard Learn has many integrations available for connecting this LMS to other tools we use at our institution.
    Incentivized
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    Blackbaud
    • Seamless integration between the LMS, EMS and SIS modules
    • Real-time, effective chat support helps me not only with urgent needs but also to work through possibilities for increasing how we use the product.
    • Feature upgrades monthly that respond to voiced needs from users
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Anthology, Inc
    • Blackboard Learn has some limitations when it comes to submissions
    • It is not that user friendly, I had to spend some time to get a hang of it in the beginning
    • I have been struggling a bit with deletion of manually added courses
    Incentivized
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    Blackbaud
    • Forms - lack of conditional questions
    • Gradebook -lack of links to assignments
    • Not being able to customize displays, for example, Grading tab - we just finished 1st semester and teachers could only see the current quarter but not the 1st one which is still part of the first semester. Lack of customization in assessments.
    • Scheduling- even though re-running generating schedules, we're still getting a high number of unscheduled students. Lack of being able to limit the number of scheduled classes in a row for teachers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Anthology, Inc
    There are several aspects of Desire2Learn that outweigh the benefits of using Blackboard. I find that the Desire2Learn system is a bit more user friendly and looks more up-to-date. However, the decision to renew systems is not up to me because the entire University uses the same system. Regardless, I think I would choose Desire2Learn over Blackboard because of its improved user interface.
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    Blackbaud
    It is a solid product. We have some issues with the capabilities of the website building components and the out dated technology behind its communications software but overall Blackbaud Education Management Software services to combine numerous functions into one product.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Anthology, Inc
    It is very usable for both faculty and students. The interface is pretty intuitive and most students can use it without a lot of additional training. Faculty do need some training to effectively use the interface, but they usually get it pretty quickly. We have had to create some additional programming to give faculty a way to delve deeper into the content.
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    Blackbaud
    Blackbaud EMS is very usable from my perspective. I am a power user and get lots of valuable functionality. It is, however, a complex system. Sometimes necessarily complex to accommodate flexibility for diverse customer needs. Some complexity seems unnecessary and/or hold-over functionality from earlier versions; nice to see this type being evolved away from over time. It is valuable to receive regular updates to the system along with good release notes of what changed and notices of significant changes in advance.
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    Support Rating
    Anthology, Inc
    My Blackboard support comes from the university I work with. They are responsive--eventually... but it takes them sometimes a week to respond to a reported issue. For example, I reported 2 issues last week and one was resolved and I was contacted about one still open option today. That is too long for a tech issue. I have not contacted any support offered directly by Blackboard, which may be a completely different experience altogether.
    Incentivized
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    Blackbaud
    Decent support however the chat feature can take a great amount of time out of the workday. If for instance you are waiting for someone to respond in the chat and there is a fire drill, if you are not responding within a few minutes, you are disconnected and have to start all over again. It would be great if you could submit your problem and then whoever has the most experience, can respond. The training in the Blackbaud University is good but also time-consuming - a 3 hr training in the middle of a workday is a lot to ask. I like the 90-minute sessions. It would also be great to offer a shorter webinar to update on any changes implemented. Other than the email I subscribed to, there is no information on how these updates actually work.
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    Implementation Rating
    Anthology, Inc
    Blackboard's Managed Hosting was top-notch in getting us up and running quickly.
    Incentivized
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    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Anthology, Inc
    Coursera offers a variety of modules in which a team is able to work on then, but [Blackboard Learn] offers more options to understand how are the team members developing and which tasks have offered a harder challenger for them. [Blackboard Learn] also offers a variety of reports that can be generate by a team lead.
    Incentivized
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    Blackbaud
    Blackbaud K-12 is very similar. I feel like I would be trading one set of issues for another so it's kind of a wash. We are very much hooked into the Blackbaud website with our Google SSO, SmartTuition, and Schooldoc integrations. It would be difficult for us to transition. That is the main reason I haven't really entertained other web firms.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Anthology, Inc
    • At one of the institutions that I worked for, the ROI was excellent for the number of users we were serving; however, I could not speak to other instances as I was not aware of the overall cost of the contract.
    Incentivized
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    Blackbaud
    • Negative - The rollout is brutal. Blackbaud said it could happen in 6 months, but that is definitely not a reality. It will take well over a year, and one complete school cycle to actually integrate everything correctly.
    • Positive - The amount of time saved in data processing has allowed our office to become more involved in other areas of the school.
    • Positive - The ease of having everything in [one] place, from inquiry to application to contracts and course registration, has been a HUGE benefit to our applicants and their families.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Blackboard Learn by Anthology Screenshots

    Screenshot of A modern and intuitive learning management system (LMS) designed in collaboration with the global education community, providing students and faculty with a more inclusive, flexible, and insightful experience.Screenshot of Fostering a sense of belonging is essential to student success. To truly create an inclusive learning environment requires a holistic approach, and Blackboard Learn leads the market in many critical areas which allow your institution to meet students of all backgrounds where they are. Built to be mobile-first, Blackboard Learn is the only LMS that provides the same great experience on PC, tablet, and smartphone. And we're proud that Blackboard Learn was the First LMS to achieve accessibility Certification from the National Federation of the Blind and all of our interfaces undergo rigorous accessibility testing. Learn also has the best integration with our market-leading accessibility product, Ally, of any LMS. Learn also ensures that every user has an experience which reflects – and celebrates – their unique identity. To take just one example, users can record their name pronunciation, and choose their preferred pronouns.Screenshot of Blackboard Learn supports instructors with multiple formative and summative assessment methods, and features capabilities that reduce stress for students. For example, we’ve recently released features that allow students to use different test-taking strategies and understand their progress through assessments – including a timer that can be hidden – to maximize their result and minimize anxiety. Grading workflows have been designed to increase efficiency for instructors and give more insightful feedback to students. For instance, we’ve recently revamped the overall grade functionality to make it easier for instructors to change weightings between tasks and tailor to individual students. Blackboard Learn also offers deep integrations with hundreds of partners to create even more interactive and engaging courses, including the deepest interaction of any LMS with Microsoft Teams.Screenshot of Blackboard Learn presents insights embedded right into instructor and student workflows - making useful information readily available, and making it easier for instructors to help students where and when they need it most. Learn's progress tracking tools help students and instructors always know how they're tracking to achieve their goals - and where there is opportunity for improvement. Quick actions are tied to these insights, like following up with students in groups or individually. Blackboard Learn also provides built-in value with Blackboard Data Reporting to help leaders understand how the LMS is being used, student performance, and surfacing opportunities for continuous improvement.

    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions Screenshots

    Screenshot of Topics pages help organize units of learning throughout the year in the Learning Management SystemScreenshot of Blackbaud's education management solutions come with strong reporting tools to get the information you need quicklyScreenshot of Schedule view makes it easy for teachers to manage their daysScreenshot of Blackbaud Enrollment Management System Admissions Checklists help applicants track their progress in the admissions processScreenshot of Blackbaud's education management solutions come with strong reporting tools to get the information you need quicklyScreenshot of Keep track of all the key information about your students in one place