Pearson Revel vs. Alta from Knewton, a Wiley brand

Pearson Revel is probably best suited for distance learning of large sections where there is little time for discussion and grading assignments manually is prohibitive. I would prefer not to use it with small classes and traditional classes.

Incentivized

It is appropriate as a learning system and helps your students gain mastery. I would not use it as much for an assessment system, although they have been slowly building up those capabilities.

Incentivized

• Ease of assigning reading
• Ease of tracking level of student engagement
• Ease of use for instructors

Incentivized

• Adaptive learning
• LMS integration
• Focus on meeting learning standards rather than just on grades
• Each student gets different questions so it can reduce cheating
• Explanations are included if students get problems wrong

• Unfortunately, there are some videos that do not play, or situations where the video does not match the question content. These are bugs that should be attended to by Pearson, but although I have reported them (along with students), they have not been remedied.
• Instructors who would prefer to use only the digital text do not have the option to purchase the text without the platform.
• Because the text and software are integrated, there are no "page numbers" as in other digital texts which makes it hard to reference a particular section in a lecture, assignment, or presentation.

Incentivized

• I have yet to run into something that Wiley reps did not handle well.

Incentivized

Easy to use

In my opinion, McGraw-Hill Connect is by far much better than Pearson Revel. It has more functionality. I think the McGraw-Hill SmartBook is better than the Pearson Revel (which is merely a reading app). The SmartBook allows instructors customization and it helps students to master the materials better than just a reading app. In my experience, McGraw-Hill provides exception customer support. They always reply to my questions in a timely manner. I have used both Pearson Revel and McGraw-Hill Connect and I will have to say that I will not be going back to use Pearson Revel.

Incentivized

alta from Knewton, a Wiley brand, is much less expensive than the other LMSes, not just for the students but for the institution, too.

• NEGATIVE: The platform is less expensive than a printed text, but students can use OER's for free. This is especially important at the community college level where students tend to have less financial resources for education.
• NEGATIVE: After the course completes, the student has nothing to use as a reference. They cannot go back and view the content, nor can they print any of the content.
• NEGATIVE: The student pays for the learning platform and content which includes a large number of activities and resources. While this seems to be a positive thing, students (and instructors) can get overwhelmed with the number of activities and resources available. Some students won't use any of the resources at all.

Incentivized

• Higher pass rates.

Incentivized