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Freckle by Renaissance vs. Google Workspace for Education

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Freckle by Renaissance

    Score9.4 out of 10
    N/AFreckle’s differentiation platform is designed to makes it easy for teachers to reach each student at their own individual level—without having to spend extra time preparing many different lessons every day. The Freckle platform was designed by Freckle Education in San Francisco, and was acquired and is now supported by Renaissance Learning (acquired May 2019).N/A

    Google Workspace for Education

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Workspace for Education includes Google products like Classroom, Meet, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, to create an online ecosystem for learning. The Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals edition is available at no per student cost to available institutions.

    $3

    per month

    Pricing
    Freckle by RenaissanceGoogle Workspace for Education
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Google Workspace for Education Standard
    $3.00
    per student, per year
    Teaching and Learning Upgrade
    $4
    per month per license
    Google Workspace for Education Plus
    $5.00
    per student, per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Freckle by RenaissanceGoogle Workspace for Education
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Freckle by RenaissanceGoogle Workspace for Education
    Considered Both Products
    Renaissance Learning
    No answer on this topic
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    6 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    18 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    19 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    91%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    10 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    88%
    Implementation went as expected
    14 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
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    User Ratings
    Freckle by RenaissanceGoogle Workspace for Education
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.4
    (30 ratings)
    9.5
    (6 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    9.0
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Freckle by RenaissanceGoogle Workspace for Education
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Renaissance Learning
    Freckle is a fantastic online learning platform. I think it works well in multiple learning environments. Last year I used Freckle in a distance learning model and this year on individual iPads in class. I love that it is a quick platform to assess student achievement. I haven't experienced a scenario where Freckle would fail however, lack of access to the internet is always a factor.
    Read full review
    Google
    Google [Workspace for Education (formerly G Suite for Education)] is pretty darn good [at] meeting the needs for educators and students. It is not designed to run your business office, transportation group, or lunch services. It doesn't need to be good at those. Focus on teachers and students. They do that really, really well. The Google folks continue to add features that help serve teacher and students. For example, they have really done a good job of adding Google Meet features such as polling and breakout rooms. Those features required a paid subscription to Workspace, but it makes sense since those features compete with Zoom, which requires a subscription for those services.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Renaissance Learning
    • “Kids don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”
    • One of the very first things I learned my first five years of teaching, except that student teaching does not really prepare you, is that it is my job to help my students succeed, not to just give them a grade. In the beginning, I taught the lesson, assigned work, administered tests, and took grades. I did that because that is how we are supposed to determine efficiency. Right? No, Wrong. I learned this the hard way and, sadly and regrettably, at the expense of my students at that time. Over time, I noticed how sometimes it took re-teaching along with small group instruction and interventions for students to understand and master the concepts. Since then, I have allowed for them to fix, re-do, and re-re-do their work, as needed.
    • I focus on my interventions just as much as I do my initial teaching of the objective. Making sure that they truly understand and master the content before moving on to another objective helps me just as much as it helps them. It saves me from continually re-teaching. Slow and steady does win the race. This approach allows me to help the student master objectives with more efficiency.
    • Accelerated Math has allowed for me to individualize my instruction and interventions. I love this program. Truly! I have three types of students; above, on target, and below. This program allows for growth in each area. However, I have found the most growth in my bottom quartile. Why? I believe it is because I am able to recognize a problem or issue with a particular objective immediately. I, then, can address that issue immediately before the bad habits or wrong approach is repeated.
    • This program is masked as a whole-group classroom approach, however, the most important components are found under the mask. One-on-one instruction is how I describe it to educators. My students are actively engaged in their own learning. They are also actively engaged in the learning of their peers, as well. I use a lot of peer tutoring techniques. They have access to knowing who is also working on mastering the same objective(s) they are working on plus they know who has already mastered said objective. This allows them to know who to go to for effective help. They are able to steer their own learning to a point. They can ask a peer or me. They can get on Accel math and look at the objective and see completed answers for a reference. This also boosts the confidence of their own understanding. They feel confident in having control of the path they want to use for gaining knowledge. Peer-tutoring and peer-discussions give them the opportunity to say out loud what they are thinking/feeling about a concept and rationalize their approach to evaluating said concept. As the teacher, I play various roles. I can teach, facilitate a small group, or just be an observer. A lot of times, I just ask open-ended questions to jump start their own questions.
    • Accel Math has assisted my math classrooms with tremendous gains. My test scores have gone up significantly. My students have a greater sense of accomplishment since they have been given the "driver's seat" for their own learning. This makes my heart smile! ;)
    Read full review
    Google
    • Email: The best email experience, period. It's fast, has the best mobile apps and tons of addons that extend it.
    • Office suite: The Google editors might not have all the features of their MS Office counterparts, but they have most of them and the apps are surprisingly performant.
    • Domain management: The Google Admin Console, coupled with the GAM command line tool, is very powerful, easy to use and simplifies any admin's work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Renaissance Learning
    • I would like to be able to choose specific math problems for my students to practice.
    • It would be beneficial to see more practice products on Freckle that address writing conventions.
    • My students could benefit from more leveled reading practice, so having multiple stories that address the same skills would be beneficial.
    Incentivized
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    Google
    • The admin console regularly feel sluggish
    • Require third party tools to make changes to bulk devices
    • Support could be a little better
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Renaissance Learning
    I have used Freckle for a long time, even before the premium version. If my district were not to renew the program, I would utilize the free options as a digital tool to assess standards. Love it
    Read full review
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Renaissance Learning
    As a tech savvy person, I found Accelerated Math to be easy to learn. There are a ton of options to display your data and integrate your students learning abilities into the program. It can, however, be a little overwhelming for a tech beginner and if they don't have someone to walk them through the initial steps and get them started, I can imagine it might be difficult for them to get going.
    Read full review
    Google
    Always up, never down. Compatible with so many different platforms, OSes, and tools. For instance, someone can be on a phone, tablet, laptop, and all of those tools are compatible with Google apps like Meet, Docs, Slides, and anything else Google based. It's flexiblity is fantastic and meets our changing hardware and software requirements
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Renaissance Learning
    It is consistently available with outages planned and communicated well in advance. The outages also seem to be planned to provide the least disruption to teachers.
    Incentivized
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    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Renaissance Learning
    It is easy to use and understand. Students have no difficulty finding their way around, and teachers easily understand the reports and data.
    Incentivized
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    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Renaissance Learning
    Such an excellent program that is a hidden gem at no cost for teachers to use with students.
    Incentivized
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    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Renaissance Learning
    I like the support I receive with Renaissance Accelerated Math. I like that I can quickly and easily print the problems I need for interventions. I like the hands-on lessons with Engage but it is too scripted for my tastes. I gave up on I-Ready years back because it was too complex. I still use Moby for filling in gaps. I use Study Island for my higher students after they work through Renaissance Accelerated Math.
    Read full review
    Google
    Google has a simpler approach to its apps. With all applications being online, things like auto-save being a default have been helpful for many staff in our organisation. Compare this to Microsoft where much of the admin has to be managed by the ICT Team, Google allows for a portion of control to the user to manage permissions of areas. This type of user empowerment helps people see how important ICT is to a business.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Renaissance Learning
    If there is going to be an outage for service, Renaissance does a great job of communicating that well in advance to allow the faculty to plan accordingly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Renaissance Learning
    • Freckle has been an asset by allowing me one more resource to use while trying to teach my students certain skills. I have been using it as a source for my students to practice skills in an attempt to strengthen their reading abilities.
    • Freckle is an asset to our entire school. By teaching my students how to read more effectively while using Freckle to strengthen their reading abilities, students become more successful in every area of education.
    • As students become better readers they tend to be more successful on the state test at the end of the year. Freckle plays a part in our success as a school. We tend to do well in our state. We were rated in the top 10 schools within our region. This is important in the financial stability of our school as it plays a part in our funding.
    Read full review
    Google
    • There has been a steady evolution of new features coming out that reduced the need for third party tools
    • We have been able to sign agreements to lock in annual renewal costs for up to 5 years
    • It's a ubiquitous platform, finding support is generally pretty easy
    Incentivized
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