Google Classroom vs. PowerSchool Unified Classroom

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Classroom
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
N/A
$0
per month
PowerSchool Unified Classroom
Score 6.2 out of 10
N/A
PowerSchool Unified Classroom is a learning management and classroom collaboration solution suite. It aims to empower teachers with real-time student interaction inside and outside the classroom, bringing in more social and collaborative learning. Teachers can quickly create and deliver rich engaging lessons, electronically collect, annotate, and grade work, and easily collaborate and share with other educators. Unified Classroom includes PowerSchool solutions Assessment, Gradebook, Learning,…N/A
Pricing
Google ClassroomPowerSchool Unified Classroom
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 ClassroomPowerSchool Unified Classroom
Free Trial
YesNo
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.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google ClassroomPowerSchool Unified Classroom
Considered Both Products
Google Classroom
Chose Google Classroom
Paid solutions such as Powerschool Learning do provide a wider range of features and integrations, but Google Classroom is still a very powerful tool. If you're already a G-Suite user, it is a no-brainer. It's free, and is ready to use once your Google Users are created. It …
PowerSchool Unified Classroom

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Google ClassroomPowerSchool Unified Classroom
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Google Classroom
7.7
53 Ratings
7% below category average
PowerSchool Unified Classroom
8.1
2 Ratings
2% below category average
Course authoring7.545 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Course catalog or library7.536 Ratings6.72 Ratings
Player/Portal8.234 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Learning content8.038 Ratings8.32 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.851 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications7.440 Ratings7.92 Ratings
Assignments8.352 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Compliance management7.329 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration7.640 Ratings8.32 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics7.637 Ratings8.92 Ratings
Social learning7.846 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Gamification6.95 Ratings00 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning8.57 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Google ClassroomPowerSchool Unified Classroom
Small Businesses
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Jenzabar ONE
Jenzabar ONE
Score 9.5 out of 10
Jenzabar ONE
Jenzabar ONE
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.2 out of 10
Schoology Learning
Schoology Learning
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google ClassroomPowerSchool Unified Classroom
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(73 ratings)
8.9
(4 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.0
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
3.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.9
(14 ratings)
8.9
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google ClassroomPowerSchool Unified Classroom
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
- During the pandemic, the college needs a fast and easy solution to conduct Google Classroom. The integration with Google Accounts and Google Meet allows the university to run and access the Classroom on a large scale. - The teacher wants to conduct some exams in third-party software like Moodle. But we have not found any plugin for this famous open-source learning platform. The exam system in Google Classroom is so poor that it doesn't even fully screen the test when students are writing their exams.
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PowerSchool Group LLC
In the classroom it is very well suited. For classroom teachers, and for school systems in general. It is appropriate in this capacity because it creates a streamlined sense of communication for all stakeholders: teachers, parents, students, and administration. It makes parent meetings very easy, it makes interventions for students easy, and it helps administration keep tabs on overall progress
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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.
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PowerSchool Group LLC
  • Hand in/Hand Out Assignments
  • Standards Based Assessments
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Cons
Google
  • Although usually in the discussion with other LMS apps such as Schoology and Canvas, Google Classroom doesn't possess as in-depth of a platform. There is no ability to set individual learning paths, pace student work with completion settings, or embed other apps directly into teacher-created assignments.
  • The assignment creation options are limited. Teachers can only choose from creating an assignment (usually a link with directions), a material (usually a doc/slide/website, etc), a question, and a quiz.
  • With gamification taking on a new lens in education, there really isn't any way to use gamification elements with Google Classroom. There isn't any way to create Individual learning paths, or use badges and micro-credentials within Classroom. Outside programs would have to be used.
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PowerSchool Group LLC
  • The user interface is a little blocky and not entirely user-friendly.
  • It does take more training than we'd like with new staff.
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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.
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PowerSchool Group LLC
No answers on this topic
Usability
Google
This is only a product I would recommend to a humanities teacher. Math and science teachers cannot use this product the same way that I can as an English teacher. It is great for word process and for reading, but unable to handle the demands of math and science. Therefore, I would highly recommend this product to English or Social Studies teachers, but NOT math or science teachers
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PowerSchool Group LLC
No answers on this topic
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.
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PowerSchool Group LLC
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.
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PowerSchool Group LLC
They are very responsive to the issues that we have and follow through with their assistance. Having a live assist that is available when our teachers need it is essential too. They also seem to listen to suggestions on making improvements and have been transparent with us when renovations are done.
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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.
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PowerSchool Group LLC
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.
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PowerSchool Group LLC
I have used markbook and gradebook. Each system had good features that were slightly different but the fact that this one is web based and accessible makes it the best of the 3 I have used. The learning curve to using the program is similar to the other 2 and overall has allowed me to save time reporting to students and parents.
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Scalability
Google
It is very easy to push out this program across our buildings. Teachers are able to use it without much trouble.
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PowerSchool Group LLC
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
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PowerSchool Group LLC
  • Positive impact- i don't know how much it costs but every teacher spends probably 1-4 hours on powerschool every week but it streamlines communication
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ScreenShots

PowerSchool Unified Classroom Screenshots

Screenshot of Discussion in LMSScreenshot of LMS student portalScreenshot of LMS student portfolio