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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Sakai

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ASakai is an open source learning management system provided by the Apero Foundation. The LMS provides what it calls Core and Expanded Features. The Core Features encompass an integrated tool set that is tested by the Sakai community members and is then included with each new release. The tool set can be configured by: instructors, students, research investigators and project leaders. The other set of tools, known as “Contrib Tools” are specific to Sakai tools and innovations that are developed…N/A

    Schoolmint Hero

    Score9.7 out of 10
    N/ASchoolMint Hero is student behavior management software for K-12 schools and districts, from Schoolmint. Hero's goal is to enable consistent redirection of negative behavior, reinforcement of positive behavior and communication between educators, students, parents, and administrators across classrooms school and district-wide. Features include positive behavior tracking tools, referral and tardy management, school event management, behavior analytics data, etc.N/A
    Pricing
    SakaiSchoolmint Hero
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SakaiSchoolmint Hero
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsMust contact vendor for pricing information.—
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    SakaiSchoolmint Hero
    Learning Management
    Comparison of Learning Management features of Sakai and Schoolmint Hero
    Feature
    Sakai
    7.9
    5 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Schoolmint Hero
    -
    Ratings
    Course authoring8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Course catalog or library7.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Player/Portal8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning content8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile friendly7.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Progress tracking & certifications8.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Assignments10.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Compliance management7.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning administration9.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Learning reporting & analytics6.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Social learning9.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    SakaiSchoolmint Hero
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    Google Classroom
    Score8 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Schoology Learning
    Score8 out of 10
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    Score8.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    D2L Brightspace
    Score7.8 out of 10
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    Score6.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SakaiSchoolmint Hero
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (14 ratings)
    9.7
    (28 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    7.4
    (3 ratings)
    7.3
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.1
    (3 ratings)
    8.7
    (5 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SakaiSchoolmint Hero
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Apereo
    I've used Sakai to supplement my Public Speaking class. Public Speaking is very much a F2F type course, so I didn't use Sakai much for course content delivery. However, I did use it to post my syllabus, post my lecture slides, communicate any class announcements, and to conduct a final exam for the class. Building the final exam was very simple and I was easily able to swap out questions to vary it from term to term. Before I was a staff member and lecturer, I used Sakai as a student. My instructor used Sakai to varying degrees. I really appreciated it being the one-stop-receptacle for all-things class related. If I somehow lost an assignment instruction sheet, I could rely on it being posted there. For multimedia work it was lacking, at that time, but I know Sakai has been updated over time and I hope that part of it has improved. If I was ever frustrated by Sakai, it was because faculty used it in a piecemeal way. It's fine not to want to use the gradebook, but don't enter some grades and not others. It's wonderful to upload class documents to it; but don't do some and not others. Whatever way you're going to use Sakai, commit to it and use it well. Your students will thank you.
    Incentivized
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    Schoolmint
    Hero is a great time saver for any busy school administrator. Students are able to use technology to earn positive points and also track and manage their own discipline. It is user-friendly and adaptable to the specific needs of the school. I love writing my own tracking codes and setting the action thresholds.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Apereo
    • Sakai is flexible, providing a way for our customers (instructors) to customize their courses while staying in line with consistency and continuity of course design. This has allowed our courses to be far less cookie-cutter and stale. This is mostly accomplished through Sakai's LTI functionality and it's Lessons tool. This is particularly notable because not every course is the same, nor should it be. Our faculty and course developers can draw from OER resources, course text publisher assessment quiz banks and pull in content from sources from our library databases and services like YouTube.
    • Sakai is customizable, allowing us to pair it with our student information system to automatically create and track with student registration data - including adding new students and removing students who have elected to drop a course. The customization features also include being able to create course templates for individual schools or courses using specific tools or sequences of tools as well as a way to personalize content for students when they engage with each lesson.
    • Sakai is stable in the market. We have been using Sakai for almost 10 years and continue to see it improve; responding to changing trends in browser technologies, mobile platforms and accessibility requirements. Multiple programs offered over the years have been recognized by outside organizations like BestColleges.com for our programs and given high marks by students taking the courses offered in Sakai.
    • Sakai allows our faculty to inform it's continued evolution. We work closely with the developers, having a front seat to how things can work and function for our faculty. There have been multiple occasions where faculty ask, "Can Sakai do this?" and the answer is never "No."
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    Schoolmint
    • Allows ALL students to earn points at the push of a button.
    • Connects with infinite Campus so student schedules and info are always accurate on the Hero site.
    • Allows teachers to create their own groups for after school programs or even small groups in their classrooms.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Apereo
    • The coming upgrade will address many issues, the visual presentation of sites and courses
    • The Forums (discussion) tool is not natively integrated into the Gradebook, but needs another step to connect the two.
    • The Wiki tool is awkward and not WYSIWYG. But I understand that is common with wikis in most platforms
    • The Help documentation could use some focus on student needs rather that course developer needs
    Incentivized
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    Schoolmint
    • Hero had the Hero Homeroom where teachers could collaborate and receive rewards but that was discontinued. I think that a similar reward system for those who are supposed to be inputting information would be helpful, where consistency for the required input is rewarded. For example: teachers were to be recording points for all their students every period every day - if they received points for completing their input & could then choose to spend those points on rewards that would help encourage participation to make it more successful overall.
    • Too hands-off in making sure that implementation is as successful as possible.
    • Too techie for non-tech savvy people.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Apereo
    Sakai is a good general learning management system - it is not leading edge but rather a stable system with standard learning management system features. It can be fairly easily customized and is fairly easy to learn from both student learning and faculty administrative vantage points. New paradigms for online learning though are emergent so the current field should also be investigated with competitors.
    Incentivized
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    Schoolmint
    It is a great product
    Read full review
    Usability
    Apereo
    When faculty are preparing courses from term to term, a portion of the content is static within a specific discipline. The time it takes to import past lessons into new versions of Sakai can be an inefficient use of my time. When I want to add new content and edit from the old content, it's reliant upon me to cut and paste the content from term to term rather than simply import and edit from a backup.
    Incentivized
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    Schoolmint
    again. for the day to day usage, adding points is a bit of a chore but I keep doing it because the students respond
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Apereo
    Since Sakai is open-source their documentation is often lacking and support is absolutely needed onsite. Internal documentation is more important with Sakai than other services. The Sakai community is fun, passionate, engaged, and absolutely doing their best, but it's an uphill battle against the current market and trends.
    Incentivized
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    Schoolmint
    Someone is always available. I like being able to call, chat, or email as needed. There are also a lot of tutorials and webinars provided. Hero does a good job of providing tools for onboarding new users and customers as well. It is easy to find whatever information you are looking for.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Apereo
    No, I don't
    Incentivized
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    Schoolmint
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Apereo
    As an adjunct professor, I didn't pick Sakai for the university. I have experience with Moodle, Blackboard, eCollege, iBoard and now Sakai. I would have to say that Sakai is one of my all time favorite LMSs to use as it is very easy to navigate.
    Incentivized
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    Schoolmint
    We used a tardy tracking system a couple years ago but it wasn't as efficient as Hero. It did not keep track of any positive behaviors. I don't remember the name of the system but I know it only focused on the negative behaviors and giving out consequences for those negative behaviors.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Apereo
    • Sakai makes it easy for students to monitor grades which puts their minds at ease.
    • Sakai makes it easy for teachers to assign and receive assignments from students.
    • Communication is one of the most important and one of the most taxing parts of an educational system. Sakai makes this process just a little bit easier.
    Incentivized
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    Schoolmint
    • Definitely worth the money. The kids are happy, they're using the program as often as they can, and they appreciate the opportunity to be rewarded for their good behavior.
    • We've been able to sustain a store, and that's super awesome. I know we wouldn't be able to without the help of Hero and the ways in which we keep the hype.
    • I think I need more help with teacher adoption. We have a lot of initiatives at our school, so we're trying to take on a little more than we can chew at this point. We're getting there though!
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    ScreenShots