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Schoology Learning

Schoology Learning

Overview

What is Schoology Learning?

Schoology aims to combine as many parts of the learning process as possible into a single platform for K-12 students. By doing this they aim to simplify the learning experience for students, parents, and teachers.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Schoology is a versatile Learning Management System used by school districts, educators, and students to enhance the learning experience …
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Quick unbiased view of Schoology

10 out of 10
May 16, 2020
Our school uses Schoology as a Learning Management System. As teachers we submit our lesson plans on there. We use the resources to store …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 11 features
  • Course authoring (38)
    7.6
    76%
  • Assignments (40)
    6.8
    68%
  • Mobile friendly (38)
    6.6
    66%
  • Learning reporting & analytics (37)
    6.0
    60%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Schoology Basic

Free

Cloud

Schoology Enterprise

Contact sales team

Cloud

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.schoology.com/sign-up-now

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Features

Learning Management

Features of LMS and LCMS systems, related to designing, administering, and consuming learning content in an educational, corporate, or on-the-job context.

7.3
Avg 8.2
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Product Details

What is Schoology Learning?

Schoology, now a PowerSchool Unified Classroom product, is a learning management system (LMS). Schoology’s platform is built specifically for the needs of K-12 students, teachers, and administrators. Schoology aims to combine as many parts of the learning process as possible into a single platform. By doing this they aim to simplify the learning experience for students, parents, and teachers.

The Basic Package is free for instructors and includes features such as an Academic Activity Dashboard, Instructional Tools, and a Native Document Grader. The Enterprise Package includes the Basic Package and additional features such as Systemwide Administration, User Management, and Workload Planning.

PowerSchool acquired Schoology in late 2019.


Overview of Schoology Features

Schoology focuses on student mastery of learning objectives by offering a proficiency model of grading and traditional numeric grades. Through their online platform, it is simple to deliver assessments to students regardless of their location. Assessments are flexible and can be quick quizzes, locally-created benchmarks, or district-wide assessments.


Through Schoology’s built-in data and analytics, educators can determine what is working and what is not at several different levels. The reports generated give information at both the class and school level and can be used by teachers to determine how their students are doing, as well as administrators to ensure that all students school-wide are on track. Reports can be shared via a secure URL, and access is filtered based on staff permissions

Schoology aims to ensure effective communication between parents and educators. Teachers can send weekly digests about classroom activities. Parents can instantly access their students' grades to get an idea of their child’s full learning experience.

Per the vendor, Schoology is easy to use in combination with other learning tools and comes with over 200 native integrations. Educators can use said tools to quickly create assignments. Courses can be built from scratch, or educators can use Schoology’s content library that contains over 300 applications. Courses can be easily shared with other teachers or can be re-used across multiple academic years.

Collaboration is encouraged between teachers through the Public Groups pages on Schoology. These are community pages where educators can share ideas, ask questions and learn from each other.


Tailored Education Solutions

Schoology aims to create a highly tailored educational experience for students that ensures that they meet learning objectives in the way that works best for them. By offering personalized pacing, students can work through the material at the speed that suits their individual needs.

Educators also have the option of creating lessons that give students a choice in how they learn the material. Students can select the tasks that suit their learning style, and a grade for that lesson appears in the grade book, regardless of which task was selected.

Schoology also emphasizes the importance of collaboration between students, even in a remote learning environment. The Groups feature allows students to communicate and store resources about sports, clubs, etc. outside of their course modules.


Schoology Learning Features

Learning Management Features

  • Supported: Course authoring
  • Supported: Course catalog or library
  • Supported: Learning content
  • Supported: Assignments
  • Supported: Learning administration
  • Supported: Learning reporting & analytics
  • Supported: eLearning
  • Supported: Assessments
  • Supported: Live online learning
  • Supported: In-person learning
  • Supported: Video learning
  • Supported: Social learning

Schoology Learning Screenshots

Screenshot of Example of Schoology’s course dashboard.

Schoology Learning Video

What is Schoology?

Schoology Learning Technical Details

Deployment TypesSoftware as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Schoology aims to combine as many parts of the learning process as possible into a single platform for K-12 students. By doing this they aim to simplify the learning experience for students, parents, and teachers.

Canvas, Edmodo, and Google Classroom are common alternatives for Schoology Learning.

Reviewers rate Learning content highest, with a score of 9.1.

The most common users of Schoology Learning are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(146)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Schoology is a versatile Learning Management System used by school districts, educators, and students to enhance the learning experience and streamline communication. Teachers rely on Schoology to create and share resources, post assignments, and assess student progress. It also serves as a platform for coordinating school groups, athletic activities, and building school culture. With Schoology, educators can easily communicate with families, manage events and assignments, collect feedback, generate discussions, and facilitate formal assessments. Students benefit from Schoology by accessing course materials, assignments, study materials, and participating in interactive class discussions. Parents appreciate the platform's ability to keep them informed about their child's progress through regular updates and messages from teachers. Additionally, Schoology has been widely adopted by entire school districts as their preferred LMS due to its effectiveness in addressing differentiation, collaboration, and communication needs. Beyond the classroom, Schoology is also utilized by organizations for professional development, communication, collaboration, and training purposes. Overall, Schoology offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies the transition to paperless classrooms while providing valuable tools for both educators and students alike.

Users commonly recommend the following actions when using Schoology as an LMS:

  1. Experiment and customize: Users suggest taking the time to learn how to use Schoology effectively, exploring its various capabilities, and customizing it to meet specific needs. They recommend creating a committee to evaluate Schoology or any other LMS and piloting Schoology with real students before fully implementing it. It is also recommended to build a customized course in Schoology, utilizing features such as videos and modified LMS settings to enhance engagement.

  2. Integrate with other tools: Users find it beneficial to integrate Schoology with other tools like Office 365 or Google Classroom. They recommend exploring Schoology's integration capabilities with platforms like PowerSchool and Google Drive. Some users mention that Schoology seamlessly integrates with products like Kami, enhancing the overall user experience.

  3. Organize and communicate effectively: Users appreciate Schoology's features for organizing classes and sharing information among instructors. They suggest utilizing the platform's folders feature and announcements for easy organization and communication within the learning environment. Archiving courses for future use is also recommended. Additionally, users find that keeping educational resources organized in one place makes it easily accessible to students.

Overall, users recommend taking the time to familiarize oneself with Schoology's features, explore integrations with other tools, and leverage its organizational capabilities for effective online teaching and learning experiences.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-5 of 5)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
Philip Pulley | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Fieldcrest currently uses Schoology as a district wide Learning Management System (LMS). We switched to Schoology last year and I use Schoology for almost all of my course work. I teach using the flipped classroom model and Schoology's platform allows me to share my lecture videos, conduct assessments of student knowledge and understanding, to give assignments, and to provide communication with students and parents. All of my content is available to my students through Schoology 24/7, I can make it available in a variety of ways, and I can make updates in real time. Recently, Schoology's introduction of the Google Assignment App has me excited about our switch to Chromebooks. This app allows you to attach a Google Doc (say a study guide) as part of an assignment. When students open the assignment the document is copied, renamed, and added to their Google Drive. No more students opening or copying a new version of the document each time they go back to the assignment instead of to the copy they made but didn't actually rename like the directions stated. The document is 'tied' to the assignment and updates no matter where they work on it from (inside the assignment or through their Google Drive.) Still to come, a cleaner looking interface with differentiation for elementary students!
  • Google Assignment App - this is a game changer for schools using Google and Chromebooks but grading is a scrolling nightmare for teachers and not intuitive.
  • Open LMS - it integrates with outside apps and programs but they have done little to improve the functionality of the product.
  • New interfaces on the way - a cleaner look for all and an elementary version of the interface. This took YEARS longer than promised and looks completely different. They updated the user interface (UI) again for other users and now have some icons used for different features.
  • More question types coming for assessments including labeling. These are now available, but the promised equity with the old assessment feature has never happened. New users only get the new assessment and while it looks nice, it lacks many basic features and is a grading nightmare.
  • Options are available for assessment monitoring for schools and districts. All third-party paid apps unless you have Chromebooks.
  • Microsoft OneDrive Integration and Assignments.
  • Google Drive Integration
  • So many promised features have not been added as promised. Flaws in existing features have not been (and based on my experience with the highest levels of support and development) never will be.
  • Grading Google Drive Assignments is a scrolling nightmare. Assessments that have short answer/essay questions do not show up on your list of things that need to be graded.
  • Known pain points for teachers are never addressed. Support since they were bought by PowerSchool has become nothing but, "Huh, we will escalate that" and then escalated, then escalated again, then to the top level and nothing happens.
  • Updates to fix issues, forget about it. If you look at their roadmap for Schoology, it is all about integration with other products PowerSchool owns. Nothing on the roadmap was about fixing anything in Schoology outside of a new UI which simply changed the look slightly.
  • I wish I could move and resize pop-up editing boxes. I create complex and visual landing pages with hyperlinks for my students. I wish that box were able to be made bigger and many pop-up boxes cover information on the page that would be helpful when working in the box.
  • Settings and due dates for assessments are in two completely different places when creating them. One is in a tab in the content area, the other is in the creation "gear" menu. If both are not set correctly, your assessment will not work.
I'm a bit of a cynic; almost nothing is perfect, I supported Schoology, was an Ambassador, and Ambassador of the Year. However, my opinion of Schoology has changed since PowerchoolS bought it. Schoology no longer continues to work to become better and user-friendly. From a full 1:1 district to use by an individual instructor, there are multitudes of uses for Schoology. Some may think an LMS is not useful for the elementary level, but with its Google integration, Schoology provides a way to share Google or Microsoft content with students and to get content from them. For middle school to secondary, all content and assessments can be managed through Schoology in traditional, blended, or fully online environments. For elementary, a new interface is in the works geared to those levels, but basic course materials can be shared and housed in the system. Additionally, its ability to integrate apps and LTI content within its framework means improved ease of use for all students as they can stay within Schoology while accessing content outside of the platform. Assessment options are not increasing and those features are now only available with the additional $$ assessment management platform (AMP).
Learning Management (11)
60.90909090909091%
6.1
Course authoring
50%
5.0
Course catalog or library
50%
5.0
Player/Portal
90%
9.0
Learning content
60%
6.0
Mobile friendly
70%
7.0
Progress tracking & certifications
80%
8.0
Assignments
50%
5.0
Compliance management
100%
10.0
Learning administration
20%
2.0
Learning reporting & analytics
50%
5.0
Social learning
50%
5.0
  • Update: the changes to Schoology since PowerSchool bought them have been minimal and several features have been taken away. Support is hardly worth creating a ticket.
  • The administration and counselors are also utilizing the platform.
  • More parents are accessing their student's coursework and communicating through Schoology that in the past.
  • For us, more staff members are using Schoology than with our old LMS.
Schoology no longer provides all of the features of Canvas for a lower cost. In fact, as someone who now uses both LMSs, at different jobs, I can no longer recommend Schoology as features are disappearing and support has become almost worthless.
500
Elementary, middle and high school staff.
2
Only one is a classroom teacher with actual knowledge of how to use Schoology.
  • Courses
  • Groups
  • Some communication
  • Limited to no professional development use.
  • None.
  • Poor training has resulted in under utilization.
  • Hopefully for professional development.
Only because switching would mean big upfront cost from whatever new platform is chosen. It is if they don't fix problems because they know it is hard to switch.
Yes
My Big Campus. Lightspeed stopped MBC.
  • Integration with Other Systems
Except that is does not sync with either of the SISs we have had.
Initally, I picked a different option. I did support them, became a Schoology Champion, then an Ambassador, and even Ambassador of the year. Since PowerSchool bought them...I can't recommend.
  • Online Training
Too surface level with no follow-up. A
Sit and get with very little hands-on time. 5 minutes to try out a feature/question type, etc. is not enough time. Once your training is done, there is no option for new employees to get that training without having to rebook and pay for the training again. If you pay for basic training, that should be available to a district to use in the future.
Since they were bought by PowerSchool, with a promise to have more funding for support and development, things have gone in the opposite direction. Support tickets can't get solved so they get escalated multiple times until they hit the development team. Then nothing happens. No follow-up, no follow-through. Users had been looking forward to the day that the Assessment feature has full feature parity with the Test/Quiz feature but it is clear now that this will never happen. Also, any problems do not get addressed.
No. We are a small, rural district. The platform is expense enough.
Yes
Almost never.
Since the last long-time head of support left, no. They used to even help me help other districts with problems, but while they listen and agree something needs to be addressed or fixed, nothing ever happens anymore.
Features have been taken away and while some of the new options (Google Drive Assignments, OneDrive Assignments, and the new question types in Assessments) are nice, they come with functionality issues that Schoology/PS acknowledge but never fix.
  • Basic, simple assignments except the button to begin is labeled "Submit"
  • Updates/Announcements
  • Grading Google Drive Assignments
  • Item Banks - so many issues
  • Grading - Assessments with short anwer questions do not show up on your "Needs Grading" list
Yes
I rarely use it outside of sending an update/announcement. It is clunky and looks nothing like the online version.
We use it 5-12 so scalability is not an issue but sharing materials between departments including common assessments is difficult without paying for add-on features.
Generally good, but issue self-reporting has become a problem. When there are issues, it can be 20 minutes to an hour before it gets noted on the status page.
Course saves or transfers can take several minutes and up to an hour.
This was 7 years ago. Like most vendors, they promise a lot and at first, mostly followed through. We had a great working relationship with both the support and training staff. However, since their acquisition by PowerSchool that has all gone downhill. Training is still okay but mostly limited to sit-and-get-training. Support has gone completely downhill, so much so that it is almost not even worth putting in a support ticket.
Again, this was good prior to the PowerSchool buyout. We used to get input and even see results from that input. Now, it is "that's a good idea, put it in the portal." Which is rarely looked at and is considered by users who have used the product for more that a couple of years as being the place good ideas go to die.
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Schoology is used as a platform for giving assignments, scoring them, and providing feedback to students. All teachers in my school district are mandated to use it to keep track of student grades. There are benefits in general to electronic gradebooks over paper ones, of course, but that said, this system has so many problems it's hard to know where to begin.
  • allows teachers to upload Google docs, sheets, etc. as assignments
  • allows integration with our school's report card system (grades in gradebook are automatically imported to report cards for families)
  • allows different teachers to save and share materials by saving them to Resources
  • In general, the system is NOT intuitive and there is a lack of customization across all aspects of it. Far too much clicking is required for many tasks. Some examples follow...
  • When typing comments on assignment, the default is to NOT show the comments to students--for students to see, you must click a box before submitting and there is no way to change that setting.
  • There is no way to create a bank of frequently used comments (e.g. "This is plagiarized", "Good job!", "You need to edit more carefully", etc.), so the teacher must type comments manually for each assignment.
  • Once assignments are marked missing, late submissions are still marked missing and there is no automatic way to change this. Teachers must go in and manually remove the "missing" marks from any assignments submitted late. This is a huge hassle, considering our district does not want us to refuse late work.
  • In consideration of the movement towards mastery grading, there is no way to customize the value of a missing assignment; it can only be zero. Any equity-focused district encourages teachers NOT to count missing assignments as zeroes. The value of missing work was customizable in the Illuminate gradebook that my school previously used.
  • "Mark empty cells missing" (bulk feature) does not mean "all cells without a submission"; it means "all cells without a grade." You cannot easily mark multiple assignments missing at the same time without then going to manually remove the missing mark from those students who HAVE submitted something that you have not yet had time to grade.
  • There is no way to sort students by who has the most ungraded work, which would be very helpful in prioritizing.
  • If a student takes a quiz late, their score does NOT automatically populate. Teacher must go in to view the score and then manually enter it. This is incredibly annoying at a school with a high absence rate.
  • Assignments submitted late are just marked "late" instead of time-stamped and there is no way to sort late assignments by the order they were submitted. I do not want to grade the work of students who turned in everything the last week of the semester before those who only turned things in one day late.
  • The Bulk Edit feature does not allow you to change the lock date (last date an assignment will be accepted). Lock dates for assignments must be set and changed individually, which I learned the hard way.
  • My experience with the mobile app was so frustrating that I never use it. It would be amazing if I could grade student work from my phone, but it's totally confusing.
There HAVE to be better-designed learning management systems out there. My suspicion is that this company was the lowest bidder. I have been forced to use it for four years and I have seen few improvements during that time. Teachers are never asked for their input on the system or how to make it better, which is what brings me here. I literally have no idea whom to approach with these issues.
  • It allows off-campus students to access work when not present at school.
  • It allows integration with out district's report card system.
  • It creates an individual copy of posted Google docs for each student, and these are automatically stored in the teacher's Google Drive.
Learning Management (5)
52%
5.2
Course authoring
60%
6.0
Assignments
60%
6.0
Learning administration
60%
6.0
Learning reporting & analytics
30%
3.0
Social learning
50%
5.0
  • It does allow shy students to share their thoughts on a discussion board without talking.
  • It allows parents to view grades, although very few parents at my school do, mainly due to not being very tech-savvy.
  • Motivated students are able to monitor their own grades.
I did not select this system; my district bosses did and the only reason I can think of is that it was probably cheaper than the other bids. It has been more than four years since I used any other system, but I do remember both EasyGradePro and Illuminate being more customizable for teachers.
25000
All elementary and secondary teachers are required to use it.
I don't even know, and that's the problem. Our school has two technology employees, but they usually can't answer my "Why doesn't Schoology _______?" questions, either. If there is a way to do something on Schoology, they are usually able to explain how to do it; the problem is that there are too many things that Schoology DOESN'T allow you to do.
  • assigning work
  • grading/scoring work
  • submitting grades/marks for progress reports and final report cards
  • I can't think of anything innovative, but it allowed teachers to assign work remotely during COVID-related distance learning. (Unfortunately, many of our families did not have internet access at home in 2020.)
  • It will probably continue to be used for the same purposes; I can't see much other use for it.
I have no choice. If I continue to teach in this school district, I am required to use it.
Not intuitive and not customizable enough: There should be pre-set comments to save time (teachers can add them and save them in a comments bank)--Teacher should be able to set a default to show comments to student instead of having to click the box every time.--When student submits an assignment, missing mark should disappear--Missing mark value should be customizable (not always zero)--”Mark empty cells missing” should be accompanied by the option of “except ones with submissions”--System should have an option to mark empty cells missing automatically once due date has passed (regardless of if assignment is graded yet), instead of teacher having to do this manually--System should allow sorting assignments in order of submission time--Score for quiz needs to update if student takes it late--Teacher should be able to sort students by who has most ungraded submissions--Clicking on a certain kid’s assignment used to take you directly there, but doesn’t anymore (no idea why, but requires even more clicks to get where needed)--Bulk Edit should allow you to change the lock date of multiple assignments at once.
  • I wouldn't call any of it easy. It all required training, and I still have so many unanswered questions.
  • I just listed all of these in a previous question.
  • I can't speak from a student standpoint, but I can name at least ten improvements that should be made to make the teacher experience easier. (And I did in the previous question.)
Yes
I've tried using it and it's quite different than the desktop version. I was never provided any training on the mobile version and I could not figure out how to easily score student work using it on my iPhone, so I no longer even try. Having a more intuitive mobile app would definitely make me less annoyed by Schoology.
Saloni Hemani | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Schoology is used by our entire school- all teachers use Schoology to upload homework assignments, tests, quizzes, class work etc. It addresses the need to have electronic access to assignments and gives teachers the chance to have one location to post assignments and grades. It eases the grading process as all submissions are in one location- also making it easier to see late assignments, etc.
  • Posting Assignments
  • Grading Assignments
  • Using Schoology Rubrics to grade
  • Time management for students as it shows due dates and upcoming assignments in order by date
  • It is hard to find a student by name
  • The loading takes a very long time when grading submitted papers
  • The formatting of Word documents is messed up when using the viewing feature. I always have to download the paper to view the formatting correctly
Any teacher who needs Schoology to post and grade assignments, this is a great time to use Schoology. It allows the teacher to store all assignments, and go back to archived classes from previous years as well, which can be very helpful. It is won't be as appropriate if the teachers want the parents to be able to view their grades. There is no functionality of parent access which can be hard.
Learning Management (11)
22.72727272727273%
2.3
Course authoring
N/A
N/A
Course catalog or library
N/A
N/A
Player/Portal
30%
3.0
Learning content
40%
4.0
Mobile friendly
50%
5.0
Progress tracking & certifications
50%
5.0
Assignments
80%
8.0
Compliance management
N/A
N/A
Learning administration
N/A
N/A
Learning reporting & analytics
N/A
N/A
Social learning
N/A
N/A
  • Eases grading
  • Eases student submission
  • Doesn't help with parent communication
I haven't used anything but Schoology since I've started working.
  • Uploading Assignments
  • Creating Rubrics
  • Entering Grades
  • Format of submitted Word documents
  • Search function when looking for a student
  • Viewing archived classes
Yes, but I don't use it
As mentioned, I think Schoology is great for posting assignments, allowing students to submit different assignments, allowing students to comment on submissions, giving teachers one consolidated area to grade all assignments, and entering grades immediately after reaching assignments. Sometimes it is hard to grade quickly because it takes a while to load submitted documents.
February 23, 2018

Schoology Review!

David Wallace | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Our district uses Schoology to provide online 24/7 access to course materials. Teachers use it to develop lessons, share resources, and assess students learning. We also use Schoology to coordinate many of our school groups and athletic activities.
  • Listen to users.
  • Provide consistent access.
  • Streamline the process of sharing resources for teachers.
  • Increased interactivity in the assignments.
  • Improve the reporting of data following assessments.
  • Improve question types in assessments.
I have had a hard time finding an LMS that has the full range of features from a gradebook and attendance to full assessment features, discussion boards, and assignments.
  • We are looking at ways to reduce the cost of textbooks by building our own content in Schoology.
  • We have developed a network of schools to share costs on professional development.
This is a far better product than Google Classroom. Classroom offers no options for assessments or discussions, two major features of Schoology. There is no way to create and store assignments from year to year in Google Classroom which was a major frustration.
1200
Nearly all of our users are teachers and students, we have seen increased administrative use over the last few years.
2
Our technology department has 3 members, two of us focus more on Schoology than the other. We make videos to support our teachers and provide them with resources to continue moving forward.
  • Organization of online materials
  • Location for student collaboration
  • Management of assessments
Yes
Over the past few months I have seen an increased success rate with support. I have focused many of my requests on the customer chat feature. From there issues can be resolved or passed along to the appropriate parties.
Yes
  • Adding/Removing Students
  • Creating assignments with Google Integration
  • Moderation of Discussions
  • Data Analsysis
Yes
It has improved over the last few years, but could be ready for an update.
Overall, compared to other LMSs I have looked at the ease of use combined with the numerous features leads me to believe it is the best LMS currently available.
Natasha Monsaas-Daly | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Currently, Schoology is the learning management system across our school district, EC-12. Although, in grades 9-12, staff has the option to use Moodle in addition to Schoology. Schoology is being used in all facets of our educational system from classrooms, site leaders, groups/clubs, professional development, district information, etc. It is truly our platform to house all resources and relevant information.
For us, it streamlines our workflow. In the past, we've had teachers/staff working from several different platforms. It was difficult for staff to manage which system housed which set of information. Schoology has allowed us to ensure a one-stop shop for all school/work related items. If staff need bus schedules, curriculum content, online professional development, etc., they will find it all on Schoology. Schoology has addressed an organizational and management piece that was missing from our school system.
  • Schoology allows for a variety of content to be embedded and uploaded into Schoology. From a teaching standpoint, this truly allows for personalization of learning. Teachers are able to offer multiple modalities of learning all through one platform. Students are given a voice and choice in how they want to demonstrate their learning, as a result of the aforementioned.
  • Schoology continually grows and changes with their clients. As users request features, Schoology spends time researching and vetting these within the platform. In the three years we have used Schoology, we have noticed several new and positive changes. The changes Schoology has made have not been just to make changes, but rather to address the needs of the clientele. This shows that Schoology is willing to listen to its users and ready to adapt.
  • Schoology is user friendly. We spent quite a bit of time researching and exploring other learning management system. We continually came back to the idea that Schoology would be easy enough for our staff to learn and adapt to. Most things are relatively straightforward, but Schoology has a robust help center, as well as a public resources center. The options to connect with other Schoology users are endless. As a result, it is easy to learn and continue to grow within the Schoology platform.
  • It would be great to see Schoology continue to develop their mobile app. Their web version is great, but the mobile app lags behind. As a 1:1 iPad (K-8) school district, increasing this functionality would truly allow our students to use the app to its fullest potential.
  • Schoology has a badging system which is perfect for gamification. However, those badges currently must be entered manually. While it is a not a game changer, automated badging would continue to improve the system. This would allow teachers/staff to create gamified and engaging courses.
  • There are some minor gradebook enhancements that would also help to improve the functionality of Schoology. Despite the fact that users can create separate grade categories, there is no way to view the overall grade for just one specific category. The basic functionality of the gradebook is there, but there are minor adjustments that would truly make the platform robust.
  • Schoology does not integrate with Campus, which is our current system for grading. This would be a huge help to us, as just another way to make workflow more efficient.
I cannot think of a scenario in which Schoology would not be well-suited. There are several teachers who have questioned how Schoology can be used in a primary classroom. However, we constantly see students in K-2 grade taking full advantage of Schoology. The addition of colored folders and the ability to upload images to the folders has been a definite help from a primary perspective. Schoology is great for classrooms, staff, clubs, groups, etc.
  • Prior to Schoology, our district used another LMS. At that time, only a handful of elementary and middle school teachers used the LMS. Some used websites, and many others avoided a digital platform all together. Since adopting Schoology, all of our 7-12 grade teachers have a presence in an LMS. K-6, nearly all of our staff use Schoology in some capacity. This is a huge shift from our previous LMS.
  • We have been able to offer professional development in an online environment. Staff are able to enroll in courses (that are also offered for graduate credit) via Schoology. We have been able to continue learning that might have only been done on a lone professional development day. We have offered three sessions of online/blended learning courses to our staff. Prior to adopting Schoology, we had not offered any.
  • It's hard to put it into numbers, but Schoology has helped our teachers/staff to transition into a 1:1 environment. We have been able to streamline the workflow, engage students, and offer a personalized learning environment. It is not that we could not have done this before, but Schoology has made these things easier and more efficient.
When we set out on the journey to adopt an LMS, we were looking for a system that would integrate with our current systems, allow for personalized learning and differentiation, user friendly, device agnostic, include online support/help, can integrate standards and learning objectives, allow for various types of assessments and measurements, progress monitor, employee empowerment, provide for equitable access to resources, create partnership opportunities, among others. With the exception of integrating with our Campus gradebook system, Schoology has done all of that and more.
  • Setting up a course and adding materials is very easy. With a few clicks of a button, and the rich-text editor, you can add quality content to any course.
  • Grading is very straightforward. Tests/quizzes, with the exception of short answer, are graded for you. The final result goes directly into the Schoology gradebook. Additionally, grading assignments and discussions is very simple. A discussion can be graded directly from the post. Assignments have the added functionality of given audio or text feedback.
  • There is a learning curve to section linking. For instance, if one doesn't know in advance, once you unlink sections you lose all information. It is important to understand just how section linking works and why you would want to use it before going forward with it.
  • When assignments/materials are in the past, there is no way to hide the content without also removing it from the gradebook. Teachers have to create a workaround in order to make this work for students.
Yes
The mobile interface works well. There are some needed adjustments, as it lags a bit behind the web version. I do believe that Schoology is always improving and updating, so I have seen vast improvements in the mobile interface since my first Schoology encounter. It would be nice if students could view badges and work on portfolios view the mobile app, but they instead have to go into the web version.
It's very easy to use Schoology. As with any LMS, it helps to learn some tips and tricks prior to getting started. But, each item is clearly indicated within the platform. If I want to add materials, it is right at the top of my screen. If I want to view the calendar, it is indicated to the right of my screen. Navigating a course and the platform is quite straightforward. Additionally, the benefit of Schoology's help center and user community makes asking and answering questions quick and easy.
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