DigitalChalk, by Sciolytix vs. Senior Systems

Digital Chalk is perfect for organizations who are looking for an easy to use Learning Management System and don't need all the bells, whistles, and bulk of the LMS giants, like Cornerstone or SuccessFactors. Digital Chalk doesn't require an administrative specialist to learn a whole new language and environment with endless options and settings. It's very easy to use for both learners and administrators, and yet at the same time provides the exact functions you need.

Incentivized

Senior Systems school software is great for small schools looking for a software package that can be implemented across many departments in the school at a reasonable price. Senior Systems does offer on boarding and training to help learn the system but continuing training is difficult though also necessary. Senior's admissions software modules leave much to be desired though they have purchased Ravenna which offers a top-of-the-line option that blends very well with Senior.

Incentivized

• While I used the platform, it improved its integrations with PowerPoint, making it easy to convert slides to the DigitalChalk format.
• The editing layers for audio underneath the slides is very user-friendly and easy to use.
• While we didn't use the quiz randomization, I liked how there was a structure built to it so that those who had more robust usage situations than ours would be able to improve engagement and assess learning at a higher level.

Incentivized

• A broad-based, unified platform that can be used in many areas across campus.
• Robust database that is very customizable.
• A web-based platform that can be used on any device.

Incentivized

• The administration of Digital Chalk is very easy. The function I think may be missing is an easy way to add revisions and assign them to the students who need them. For example, when you update a piece of a course it would have an indication that it is version xxx and would ask who would like to assign it to - everyone who has taken it before or just new students.
• It would nice to have the system recognize when a student has already completed an element of a course that may be used in another course. For example, if video A is part of courses 1 and 2, and the student already watched it in course 1, it would ask the administrator if they should get automated credit for it in course 2, as well.

Incentivized

• Outdated look and feel for internal and external customers.
• Somewhat complicated and tough to learn; it's not very intuitive.
• Customer service response times and support leave something to be desired.

Incentivized

As I mentioned previously, Digital Chalk's customer support is excellent. I also got a reply back within an hour, and it was usually the same person. So, they were familiar with our needs and how we were using the system. Honestly, most of the time we had to contact their support, it was an issue on the user's side, not in the software. Yet, they still helped identify the issue and consulted on how to fix it.

Incentivized

DigitalChalk gave the organization the hands-on ownership of content creation and delivery while meeting our usage case of hands-off course management on a daily basis and extending the reach of the course content and certificate to as many people as possible. It's easy to use, very cost-effective to implement, and the overall experience means that the course participants get what they need out of the course without a lot of effort on their part.

Incentivized

On the admissions front, SchoolAdmin beats the Senior Admissions module hands down for ease of use, performance, customer service, and reliability. We have had no downtime issues with Senior but regularly experienced downtime issues with Senior. School Admin is also very intuitive and easy to learn and use. Senior has a much steeper learning curve.

Incentivized

• DigtialChalk's ROI is positive - the cost model of low up-front costs to get started, then paying a small amount per course participant means that organizations implementing DigitalChalk as their platform get more than their money's worth from it. It returns profit quickly and on a consistent basis.
• The asynchronous nature of the platform, combined with the targeted usage situation of hands-off course delivery and management, means that resources to create, deliver, and maintain courses can be held with either one person (like an instructional designer) or even an outside contractor. This means that there's little impact to the fixed operating costs involved with hiring someone else to manage it.

Incentivized

• A fairly priced system.
• [The] convenience of having to manage only one system and database.
• Senior is long overdue for an update and refresh to make it look modern and to make it more easy and intuitive to use.

Incentivized