Likelihood to Recommend The Coursera platform can be a useful part of your overall learning content portfolio if utilized correctly. It's fantastic for asynchronous courses that don't necessarily need a dedicated faculty member (though I'd highly recommend at least having some discussion moderators/student workers) and for offering MOOCs. The ability for the learners to contribute translations really makes it ideal for the international learning community - I am always amazed to see a course we launched with 2-3 languages to quickly have 10-12 more added. This feature really helps expand the audience reach and Coursera has such a large following already that it can grow seemingly overnight.
Read full review Schoology does the job well enough, but there are enough areas of contention that make advanced use of the system unwieldy. District staff does not have easy reporting ability to determine adoption and use of the platform without having to export to another program for analysis. The reliability of the system is a huge pain point as we need to deliver the curriculum but cannot count on it being available when we need to use it.
Read full review Pros Interaction: the student learns by doing. For programming courses, this means programming! Assessments: the courses I'd taken ask students to grade each others work with a rubric. This is hugely effective and permits tests and quizzes to be other than multiple choice. Creativity and enthusiasm of the instructors. Some of the approaches demonstrated real out-of-the-box thinking by the instructors. For example, the Rice Python course was a self-contained website requiring no installation of IDE on one's computer, and the final project was a working version of Asteroids. Low cost of entry: most of the course I enrolled in were free, with an optional fee for certifications. This really gives people the freedom to explore learning. It's almost like a Public Library of Learning. Coursera forces a weekly discipline on the user with lectures and assignments and this really motivates one to put in the effort. Read full review Assessments - Much more interactive and have more grading options than Google Forms Auto-rostering - We are able to use Infinite Campus to automatically roster classes and there are no extra steps Family/Guardian access - Schoology allows families to have a sign in and see student grades & work. Read full review Cons Some of the courses (very few) have some old information (more than 2 years), and in some areas like technology the information has to be very new and updated. Some professors or people doing videos are not good in front of the camera, they should train their people a little bit more for those things. Read full review While this product constantly seeks to make improvements, certain features need tweaking. As educators enroll in various courses, these course tend to accumulate. If the educator is not an administrator of the course, it is next to impossible to get out. Switching from one course/group to another course/group takes several steps. Not always easy to find the course/group needed. Read full review Likelihood to Renew Constantly renewing already. One of my favourite MOOC platforms.
Read full review While we have taken time to re-evaluate our selected 1:1 devices, Schoology's impact on student learning is unquestioned. Students are able to connect with other learners, create and share products of their learning, and develop their digital fluency through their use of Schoology.
Read full review Usability User-friendly and developer-friendly Web UI.
Read full review It's very easy to use Schoology. As with any LMS, it helps to learn some tips and tricks prior to getting started. But, each item is clearly indicated within the platform. If I want to add materials, it is right at the top of my screen. If I want to view the calendar, it is indicated to the right of my screen. Navigating a course and the platform is quite straightforward. Additionally, the benefit of Schoology's help center and user community makes asking and answering questions quick and easy.
Read full review Reliability and Availability Generally good, but issue self-reporting has become a problem. When there are issues, it can be 20 minutes to an hour before it gets noted on the status page
Read full review Performance Course saves or transfers can take several minutes and up to an hour
Read full review Support Rating I’ve used it a couple of times and... that did great. They take their time, but in the end they solve your issues.
Read full review We have county-level support and district-level support, but their HELP page offers everything that is needed to answer questions and to find "how-to" information for staff. This includes video and written directions for every available feature. Schoology has also worked with our district to improve their product.
Read full review In-Person Training Too surface level with no follow-up. A
Read full review Online Training Sit and get with very little hands-on time. 5 minutes to try out a feature/question type, etc. is not enough time. Once your training is done, there is no option for new employees to get that training without having to rebook and pay for the training again. If you pay for basic training, that should be available to a district to use in the future.
Read full review Implementation Rating Coursera is familiar, intuitive, compatible and easy to use and implement.
Read full review Alternatives Considered I think Coursera has the best overall interface. I think you will find that different platforms go in different directions, and have different specialities. For the most part the differences are more in the types of courses they offer than one being particularly better than the other, so it comes down to content for me.
Read full review I have taught using both
Edmodo and
Google Classroom . While both were easier than Schoology was to get in the beginning, Schoology is infinitely more powerful than either of them was. I can do so much more, and differentiate so much easier using Schoology than I could with either of my previous LMSs.
Read full review Scalability We use it 5-12 so scalability is not an issue but sharing materials between departments including common assessments is difficult without paying for add-on features
Read full review Return on Investment The greatest benefit of Coursera is access to quality courses on various subjects that you can either browse or dive in deeply. Customizable, flexible and accessible. Helps our department to recommend trainees courses on this website and gain important knowledge. Also, the courses are provided by big-name universities which helps students in their careers Developing and exploring professional skills. Read full review Using Schoology to build a foundation for a blended learning model has helped increase my students ABC rate between 15-20% in all classes! Using Schoology is forcing my students to become responsible for their own learning! The only negative thing I have encountered is the students resistance to change! Read full review ScreenShots Schoology Learning Screenshots