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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Classroom

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AN/A

    $0

    per month

    Lightspeed Filter

    Score9.9 out of 10
    N/ALightspeed Filter (formerly Relay), from Lightspeed Systems in Austin, offers insights to help understand and maximize the use of 1:1 classroom devices, keep users safe and increase the educational return on technology investments. Lightspeed Systems aims to help users make decisions to enhance technology use, report up administrators, present to your board, reassure concerned parents, empower teachers, and direct students on appropriate use. According to the vendor, Lightspeed Filter powers…N/A
    Pricing
    Google ClassroomLightspeed Filter
    Editions & Modules
    Education Fundamentals
    $0
    per license/per month
    Google Workspace for Education Standard
    $3
    per student/per year
    Teaching and Learning Upgrade
    $4
    per license/per month
    Google Workspace for Education Plus
    $5
    per student/per year
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google ClassroomLightspeed Filter
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsEducation Fundamentals Version - 30-day free trial for qualifying institutions.Priced per student device. Quote available upon request.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Google ClassroomLightspeed Filter
    Considered Both Products
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    Lightspeed Systems
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    37 Answers
    83%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    37 Answers
    80%
    Delivers good value for the price
    4 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    34 Answers
    67%
    Happy with the feature set
    4 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    19 Answers
    67%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    4 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    29 Answers
    80%
    Implementation went as expected
    4 Answers
    Features
    Google ClassroomLightspeed Filter
    Learning Management
    Comparison of Learning Management features of Google Classroom and Lightspeed Filter
    Feature
    Google Classroom
    7.4
    60 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Lightspeed Filter
    -
    Ratings
    Course authoring8.752 Ratings00 Ratings
    Course catalog or library7.639 Ratings00 Ratings
    Player/Portal6.538 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning content8.141 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile friendly7.757 Ratings00 Ratings
    Progress tracking & certifications7.144 Ratings00 Ratings
    Assignments7.158 Ratings00 Ratings
    Compliance management6.934 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning administration7.346 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning reporting & analytics6.842 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social learning8.751 Ratings00 Ratings
    Gamification3.98 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning9.812 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Google ClassroomLightspeed Filter
    Small Businesses
    Teachable
    Score9.5 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
    Google ClassroomLightspeed Filter
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.1
    (80 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.1
    (11 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.9
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google ClassroomLightspeed Filter
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Google
    Google Classroom allows teachers to post for daily lessons and assignments. It also allows teachers to be able to communicate with students easily outside of class. Students are able to stay connected and know where to find all information and resources easily in a streamlined manner for all of their classes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    Lightspeed web filtering using the Chromebook Relay agent is amazing and does a great job for a cloud filtering solution. The reports that are available are great and can be customized and retains data for 90 days. Reports are easily shared with staff and/or parents for transparency and disciplinary reasons. The agent for Lightspeed (Relay) does not work well with OSX and works okay in Windows, but doesn't allow you to access local IP addresses in the web browser. There needs to be a way to bypass filtering for local network access. This can make it unusable in some cases.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Google
    • Student-teacher communication - I love using Classroom for this because my students can always go back and check what was on Classroom by looking through the stream. This way they don't have to go dig through emails to find what they're looking for.
    • Posting to multiple classes - I can post the same announcement or assignment to multiple classes at once without having to repeat the process or send separate emails.
    • Streamlining grading - when students turn work in on Classroom, it all goes to one place and then when I'm grading I can open their documents directly from Classroom or my Drive folder. This way, I'm not looking through emails and Google Doc shared files for their assignment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    • Reduces bandwidth consumption.
    • Improves network performance.
    • It is compatible with a variety of operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.
    • It can be implemented in both wired and wireless networks.
    • It can be installed in minutes and you can configure its settings with a few clicks.
    • Learning environments work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Google
    • The content management of the Classroom is not that good. The sub-section for notes, syllabus, or discussion is missing.
    • It doesn't have parental control feature.
    • It converts the excel output into a normal file. All the formulas and pivots got changed into plain text.
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    • It sometimes takes longer than expected for new filtering rules to apply.
    • Sometimes a site is blocked due to sub-sites or links, but it does not easily identify the source of the block if it is buried in the site.
    • They have several reports included, but it would be nice to create custom reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Google
    Testing is particularly important in online learning, and Google Classroom falls far short of other learning management systems in this regard. Security is also a concern: while account control is reasonable for the account used with Google Classroom, the person controlling a particular account is often able to, for example, forward or download proprietary materials.
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Google
    Simple design and seamless integration with Google tools and drive, but missing some key features. However, since it is limited in overall functions and ability to truly personalize / customize, it is quite user friendly and easy to set up and get going, other than sending out the code to your course or dropping students in via their gmail account. Users of Google Forms and sites will find the layout similar in design.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    It is unreliable and does not function as it is supposed to do so. As previously mentioned, there is a glitch when creating a block list.
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Google
    We have had very little trouble in accessing Google Classroom. Our issues, if any, have risen from our server and not the Google servers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Google
    Since this platform is provided by Google, the technical support is better than any others, and we are not required to bother about the space constraints for adding the contents. If we have a good uninterrupted internet facility we can access Google Classroom without any delay or lag. They have app support in both Android and iPhone.
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Google
    It was relatively easy to implement due to the simplicity of the platform. Even our more technology challenged teachers found it easy to get started with Google Classroom.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Google
    I haven't tested or evaluated another digital classroom website or application. I feel like Google Classroom is convenient for many reasons such as compatibility to Google docs, slides, etc. I also love the ability to link to YouTube and other sites. I don't know if there would be a site that is easier to maneuver.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    We were already a [Lightspeed] customer so the transition was seamless to Relay. Their support and team at [Lightspeed] are top-notch. We have been with Lightspeed for over 20 years and have evaluated on occasions other options and [ended] up back with [Lightspeed] each time. Their price point, ease of use, great team of engineers, and overall customer focus keep them on top in my eyes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Google
    It is very easy to push out this program across our buildings. Teachers are able to use it without much trouble.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Google
    • Students are able to continue learning in a remote environment
    • Parents have a single, consistent organization structure to make it easy to track assignments and progress for multiple children
    • Much better solution than the quickly assembled Zoom-and-gloom of the previous spring when school abruptly went remote with no planning
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Lightspeed Systems
    • Very costly per year
    • Does a great job with 1:1 filtering on Chromebooks
    • Safety Check checks student for possible self harm and alerts staff
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Lightspeed Filter Screenshots

    Screenshot of Relay dashboardScreenshot of Relay apps reportScreenshot of Relay blocked contentScreenshot of Sample Relay parent reportScreenshot of Screenshot of Classroom, free with Relay for a limited timeScreenshot of Screenshot of Classroom, free with Relay for a limited time