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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Jenzabar SONIS

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/AJenzabar now offers SONIS, a student information system (SIS) oriented around the needs of smaller higher education institutions. Jenzabar supports the former SONISWEB product since its acquisition of original developer RJM Systems in 2015.N/A

    Nearpod

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/ANearpod is an education-focused learning management software solution offered by Nearpod.

    $159

    per year

    Pricing
    Jenzabar SONISNearpod
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Gold
    $159
    per year
    Platinum
    $397
    per year
    Silver
    Free
    Premium Plus
    Get quote
    per year
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Jenzabar SONISNearpod
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Nearpod has a free version for all teachers. There are paid options for individual teachers, as well as schools and districts, for increased features and access.
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Jenzabar SONISNearpod
    Student and Faculty Administration
    Comparison of Student and Faculty Administration features of Jenzabar SONIS and Nearpod
    Feature
    Jenzabar SONIS
    8.8
    2 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Nearpod
    -
    Ratings
    Integrations with 3rd-Party Education Technology7.32 Ratings00 Ratings
    Online Registration Management9.12 Ratings00 Ratings
    District Communications, such as messaging and alerting4.52 Ratings00 Ratings
    Roster Management7.32 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform Customization8.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Teacher Self-Service10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Student Data Security10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Community Support9.12 Ratings00 Ratings
    Class Scheduling10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    State and National-level Reporting10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Compliance Support10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Teacher and Parent Mobile Application10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Jenzabar SONISNearpod
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Freckle by Renaissance
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Edmodo (discontinued)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Edmodo (discontinued)
    Score8.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Jenzabar SONISNearpod
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Jenzabar SONISNearpod
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Jenzabar, Inc.
    We often had students who came and took a class or completed a program, left, and then came back for something else at a later time. It was nice to be able to have someone in Jenzabar SONIS with multiple statuses. They could be in as a Student for the current class while still being in as an Alumni for the program they had graduated from. Most of our programs are set up so the students within that program are all taking the same courses at the same time. The bulk registration feature made it easy to enroll one student and then use that student's enrollment to quickly enroll all of the others in the program. That was a huge time saver. We had letters and emails that we wanted to send out at specific times in the application process. The Activity tool in Jenzabar SONIS made it easy for us to have some things that were automatically added to a person's record and others that we could add as needed. We could then run timed letters or emails and get our communication sent out. We had some challenges with Jenzabar SONIS because we have a number of certificate programs that are only one semester in length. We often had students who would complete one certificate (program) in the fall and then complete another one in the spring. Many of the reports pulled data only for the active enrollment so we had to go back and manually pull the data for the enrollment from the other semester if we needed something for the full school year.
    Incentivized
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    Renaissance Learning
    Nearpod is great for teachers who want data to help gauge how engaged students are during lessons. Additionally, teachers in one-to-one schools can better use these tools with a lesson delivery system like Nearpod. Nearpod is especially effective when a presenter has to deliver information to a large class.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Jenzabar, Inc.
    • Great value
    • Built in reports are great, but it also has add on reporting that is fantastic.
    • Hosting they offer is phenomenal nearly no downtime, ever!
    Incentivized
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    Renaissance Learning
    • Provide timely and individualized feedback.
    • Allow for the teacher to check for understanding, for the entire class, in one view.
    • Present an array of different interactive lesson items, at the fingertips of every student.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Jenzabar, Inc.
    • SONIS sorts my advisees by class and then by name. This is NOT useful. There should be an option for sorting by name only. I advise almost fifty students. It wastes my time looking for them in the sophomore listing, then the junior listing......
    • When registration of a student for semester courses is complete, there should be an option to print out only the courses scheduled, NOT the entire page which shows available courses at the bottom.
    • SONIS sometimes kicks me out for no reason.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Renaissance Learning
    • I would love Nearpod to have more free activities.
    • I would love Nearpod to be free for educators.
    • I would love if teachers could assign homework on Nearpod.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Jenzabar, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Renaissance Learning
    Goal is to continue our subscription for the 2019-2020 school year
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Jenzabar, Inc.
    It's Easy to use and navigate through. It gets the job done for daily tasks. Sometimes it may require a small amount of manual work. You can handle student records, housing, and check-ins without needing multiple systems. After staff are trained, they can move through tasks pretty quickly, which saves lots of time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Renaissance Learning
    While there is some learning curve to fully understand and know how to lead a lesson with Nearpod, once mastered successfully, Nearpod lessons are simple to create and deliver. When leading a lesson, it is relatively simple to see how everyone in the class performs and how well they participate and understand.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Jenzabar, Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Renaissance Learning
    The support staff for Nearpod is top-notch. I have not had technical issues, but I did have a concern about my bill and they reached out to me nearly immediately to address the problem. I was very satisfied with how they handled the interaction from beginning to end. They did a great job.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Jenzabar, Inc.
    We changed databases in 2011 because the company we were with was going to quit supporting our software. We evaluated a number of different SISs available at the time and felt Jenzabar SONIS provided the best tools for our school. Most of the others were either geared more for adult education, individual course offerings or for schools that primarily had degree-seeking students. We needed something that could address both needs.We felt Jenzabar SONIS did that best of the ones we reviewed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Renaissance Learning
    I don't know of a product off hand that does what Nearpod can do. Between the library of pre-made lessons, the ability to create your own lesson content, the ability to add interactive content, Nearpod offers a unique engagement platform for instruction
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Jenzabar, Inc.
    • Facilitates grade input by faculty.
    • Facilitates course enrollment by students.
    • Facilitates viewing student records and determining progress to program completion.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Renaissance Learning
    • The impact is awesome. It gives students a digital option other than PowerPoint for presentations.
    • The feedback tool allows you to follow students in realtime.
    • The shallow learning curve made it easy encourage other faculty to try it.
    Read full review
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