Lenovo LanSchool vs. Skyward Student Management Suite

I have recommended it across campus and would not hesitate to do so again. It has been great in our lab environments and would like to continue using it for years to come. In the future as we move away from physical labs I will be investigating to purchase for BYOD devices, however I know that I will face pushback from students on this. However we must weigh privacy & security vs. using BYOD devices and integrity on exams.

Incentivized

There is nothing specific that I would say sets it apart from any other LMS, but once you are used to the user interface and various features, it does everything that is needed and integrates well enough with other software to function. Probably isn't necessary in a smaller setting, but for multiple building districts, it is certainly robust enough to handle data collection and storage.

Incentivized

• Lenovo LanSchool has a very easy to use and easy to learn interface. With software, the hardest thing to do is to teach new teachers or veteran teachers how to use technology in their classrooms. Being able to easily teach teachers to use this software is one of the best aspects of the [Lenovo LanSchool].
• Something that LanSchool does well is to monitor student actions. On the screens, you can see all the linked computers of all students. This feature lets you see every student on one screen. The alternative is walking around the classroom or scrolling through pages of student screens, with LanSchool you can guarantee that you are seeing all screens at once.
• Overall classroom management is a key feature on the platform. You can share files, freeze student screens, blank out student screens and share another screen to the entire class. There are far more options in terms of engaging the students than a conventional method of asking students to pay attention. Installing LanSchool is a huge asset for teachers to engage and update their lessons.
• A cool element I seldom use is the speaking software, being able to speak through their computer screens is great to give direction or get attention quickly.

Incentivized

• Flexibility. This multitude of fields available makes it easy to capture data the way we want or need to.
• Quick response to trouble tickets. The company strives to reach out to the customer within an hour and start the process of resolution.
• User focused. Improvements to the system always look at how the end user experience can be enhanced.

Incentivized

• Messaging could be improved for notification when messages are sent.
• When multiple users use the same computer, sometimes LanSchool needs to be restarted to show changes in usernames.
• You can save layouts, but I would like more options for how to arrange the layout you see the computers on your screen.

Incentivized

• Confusion when it comes to student grades- sometimes there are two different letter grades for a student for what is posted as "TR1" and "PR1." How does a teacher know which of these grades will be posted to a student's report card? How does a teacher know what the student's actual grade is for a particular course?
• Switching between the Educator Access Plus and Student Management tabs can be complicated, especially for those new to the system. Why can't everything be in one place?
• I recognize that Skyward logs out after a certain period of inactivity to preserve privacy of users, but is there a way to change those settings so that Skyward does not log out as frequently? It is difficult to keep having to log back in completely again.

Incentivized

It is the system I am most comfortable with, so having to learn a new system outweighs any problems I have with Skyward.

Incentivized

It takes some time to get used to navigating the features and layers, but once you know your way around it, it's pretty good.

Incentivized

Overall great job, issues were taken care of. People in support do care.

Incentivized

Yes, I was part of the implementation team.

Incentivized

VNC Connect required you to manually add the "client" workstations to the "dashboard".

Incentivized

I, personally, have not used other Student Management Systems, but having used Skyward, I do not necessarily feel any overwhelming desire to seek out the competitive software programs. Skyward does what it says it will and provides my school district with an easy and organized way to share and access all of the relevant student and family information we need. It serves it's purpose well and meets our needs.

Incentivized

• Helps us serve thousands of students each year
• Has helped us improve classroom management
• Saves us time with technology set up (e.g. being able to do all from Lanschool, not having to set up each individual computer every day)

Incentivized

• Overall, Skyward has had a positive impact. One way is the student information that is shared and available to see. If I need to know something about a student’s academic history, Skyward has it.
• Another way it has impacted our district is the way it has streamlined all of our payroll information. I can see check histories, different parts of my salary, and the year-end totals all in one place.
• Skyward has also made a big impact on our district by making it easier to communicate with parents. All the parents’ contact information is available and email is even included in the program.

Incentivized