Schoology Reviews

Engagement Promotes Student Retention

Comments: While Facebook has had some bad press regarding privacy here lately, the overall impact and popularity of social media in general and Facebook in particular is undeniable and has become a permanent part of online culture. Why? Because Facebook is, by design, set up in such a manner that it is both extraordinarily easy to use and navigate around, and because it has a well-documented tendency to "suck you in" - it keeps you engaged with the platform. It's easy. It's interesting. It's fun. It's entertainment. So what does that have to do with Schoology, you ask? Immediately after registering for my Schoology account provided by my grad school (MBA student), I was very surprised to see what looked and felt just like Facebook, but with an academic focus. The main feature is the user's feed, which looked and felt exactly like any social media feed. It contained posts from the school admin and financial aid, posts from instructors with information, videos, etc., pertinent to the current material, and posts from fellow classmates asking questions so classmates and the instructor could all interact on the thread. Users are able to "Like" a post or even direct message others in a private, Messenger-style chat feature. Surrounding the feed are links to everything the student needs for college success, from financial aid to wellness. Simply put, Schoology's brilliant adaptation of a popular technology makes studying easy, interesting, fun, and entertaining.

Pros:

Schoology is academia's answer for engaging with today's social media obsessed generation of students.

Cons:

I can virtually ALWAYS come up with something that I didn't like, Schoology however is one of those few exceptions. For the sake of entering a "con" however, I will say the one lacking feature I did wish users had would be an option to switch from the blaring white to a dark mode type theme. Helpful for battery life when using mobile devices and also more conducive for night-time study and eye health. After all, many students are working while studying, leaving night time as their only option to get their classwork done.

Schoology - Powerful, but User Friendly LMS

Comments: Schoology has been a game changer for us. As a district that previously used an open source alternative, we really took a risk by rolling out a new product that was not free. Teachers have really embraced the platform, which is allowing us to move toward a model where learning is individualized and focused on the needs of the learner.

Pros:

Schoology feels like a social media platform. It's easy to use and makes sense when you're using it. It has a tremendous ability to be extended with integrations with Google, Microsoft, etc. and connects well with other learning platforms that are important in K-12 settings.

Cons:

At the enterprise level, sometimes support the can be lackluster when dealing with things such as the synchronization between Schoology and PowerSchool. On the positive side, we anticipate with PowerSchool's purchase of Schoology that this might improve over time.

The gradebook makes everything take longer than it should for teachers.

Comments: I have no choice; my school district makes me use it. Yes, it allows us to post and accept work online, but many more improvements to the gradebook should have been made in the six years that this has been used by the second-largest school district in the USA. It may be better than other LMSes in certain aspects, but the gradebook sucks, as detailed above.

Pros:

It's better than nothing. I have never used another complete LMS, but there HAS to be a better one when based on the gradebook, which is what teachers use the most. I also work with teachers who say they've used Canvas and it's much better. Previous to this, I used EasyGradePro and Illuminate, both of which had gradebooks that were far more customizable. I am literally writing this right now because, in my 5.5 years of being forced by my district to use this LMS, not ONCE am I aware of any teachers being asked for product feedback--and only a couple times have any noticeable improvements been made. I find this intensely frustrating, as I have a long list of improvements that should be made and nowhere to share them. I arrived here, not at the product's website, after Googling "Schoology+feedback" And so I will post them here in their entirety in hopes that Schoology designers might actually care one day.

Cons:

--NO SEATING CHART--should allow teachers to save pre-set comments in Resources to save time--teacher should be able to set a default to show comments to student instead of having to click the box every time they want the student to see the comment--comments should be dated--system should be able to mark empty cells missing automatically once due date has passed (regardless of grading status)--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 should be accompanied by the option of “except ones with submissions”--submissions should be time stamped--should have the ability to sort assignments in order of date of late submission--score for quiz needs to update automatically if student takes it late--should be able to sort students by who has most ungraded submissions--Bulk Edit should allow you to change the lock date--I should be able to type in a LAST name to send a message--Teacher should be able to merge rosters so that students on different rosters (i.e. SpEd) can respond to same discussion topic instead of having separate boards--Copy Rubrics should not make endless duplicates; should notify when they are duplicates --read receipts for messages--in Mastery tab, should be able to display assignments by alpha order, number order, etc.

Great for older learners

Comments: Overall, my experience is good! I’ve been pleased with it.

Pros:

I love being able to have quizzes or tests self-correct. I also like being able to link my grad book (PowerSchool) and having a centralized place for my students to view and work on assignments.

Cons:

It is not the most user friendly software. I consider myself pretty tech-savvy, and it took me a bit to understand each part. I teach elementary school, and some of my students still do not quite understand how to use the software. There’s a lot to it.

Excellent LMS with a variety of features

Comments: I love Schoology. The few times I needed support, the individuals I spoke with were amazing. The features and ease of Schoology outshines other Learning Management Systems on the market. Other than the couple of quirks I mentioned above, this is a product good for a wide range of ages and courses.

Pros:

I have been using Schoology for approximately five years now and I find it to be the easiest LMS with the most features of all the other ones I’ve tried. It is so easy to organize in whatever way is most convenient for you and your course. It supports video uploads from multiple different kinds of sources whether be YouTube or Loom or Edpuzzle. Students love the use of badges where teachers can send “gold star” encouragement to students like “most improved” or other distinctions. Students can easily email their teachers through Schoology. Course updates allow for whole class communication. The pro list goes on and on.

Cons:

The biggest con I have experienced occasionally rears its head when I try to sync Schoology to PowerSchool. I find that some assignments will not sync. Even after I go through all of the usual troubleshooting details such as having a due date or the assignment title being too long, nothing will get it to sync. This is not a huge problem maybe one assignment and 50. What is frustrating, is that when you go into the sync page the error listed doesn’t tell you what to look for us just simply says “failed the sync. Another frustration I have is when I want to unpublished material to students In Schoology that unpublished material is then unpublished in PowerSchool. Just because I want to on publish it in Schoology does it mean I want their grades in assignments to be unseen in PowerSchool.

Virtual Learning Made Easy

Comments: Overall, it's an inexpensive program that our district has adopted to use for virtual learning options. When the pandemic hit, students had to access their work through Schoology, and teachers had to use it to upload assignments. As a program, it is fairly simple to use. It takes a few tries at first, and then you get used to it. It has a wide range of options for uploading content including: documents, videos, YouTube and HTML links, and quizzes/tests.

Pros:

Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to create quizzes using Google Forms and upload them into Schoology as an assignment. You can also directly create an assignment in Schoology itself which is pretty easy to do. I frequently create math tests on here, because it is so easy and has different options like multiple choice, sequencing, etc.

Cons:

I had to take an initial training course to understand this software better. There are a few confusing buttons when creating an assignment - but after a few tries, you get used to it. (I would recommend watching some YouTube videos about how to use Schoology if you're interested in buying this software for your school. They have some very helpful ones on there.)

Easy but not.....

Comments: During the early days of our school, we used Schoolology. Although it was very convenient for teachers to use, students had difficulties combining various contents.

Pros:

One of the strengths of Schoolology is how easy it is to use. The user interface is intuitive.

Cons:

However, it can be tricky to combine various platforms. Google Classroom allows multiple activities with one account, but Schoolology has limits.

Love this LMS!

Comments: This is a great product, and is super easy to use for almost anyone, it is lacking in some features but overall great product.

Pros:

This is the best possible LMS that I have found out there-has several features. Organized folders, quiz giving ability and integration with ExamView, discussions, and district wide setup ability.

Cons:

It is very spendy if you want to implement it into your school-hard to justify when Google Classroom is free. I wish the integration with google was more seemless, and the lockdown browser option was free for quizzes/tests.

Faulty application

Comments: This application needs some serious debugging and updates in order to fix all the issues in which I've stated prior.

Pros:

I don't have a lot of good things to say about this software. It does allow you to keep up with updates from your child's school such as; grades, attendance, and direct messaging to staff.

Cons:

The application won't allow you to view course outlines, grades, or any other information regarding your child's classroom and majors. If you use the website instead you can access everything you need.

Polished LMS and SIS System

Comments: Streamlined student management and blended learning, as well as integration into current existing systems makes using Schoology a breeze.

Pros:

Comprehensive SIS system which functions and integrates perfectly with the rest of the Schoology eco-system.

Cons:

Adding additional components can become pricey

Wonderful Course Management Platform

Comments: My overall experience with Schoology has been fantastic, and I would definitely recommend it to other instructors who are willing to give it a try.

Pros:

What I like most about Schoology is its ability to allow the instructor to compile all necessary course information into one easy-to-use online portal. Via this portal, I am able to create and post assignments, mark down due dates, grade the aforementioned assignments, among a plethora of other essential tasks, such as attendance tracking, progress report generation, and managing regrade requests. I am also able to communicate with students directly through the portal, which is great just in case the students want to keep their personal email addresses private. Lastly, customer service is very friendly, convenient, and helpful any time I need them, (which is infrequent, as the platform lives up to its expectations on a regular basis without any mishaps, which is fantastic, especially for efficiency's sake).

Cons:

There is honestly very little that I dislike about Schoology, as it really does help me manage my classroom in an efficient manner, eliminating all of the hassle I was occasionally confronted with prior to my implementation of the platform, (the same applies to the students' perspectives on the matter, according to a mini-survey I provided them with). With all that being said, however, if I were to choose one aspect which could be further improved upon, it would be the performance of the app on both Apple and Android devices. I occasionally receive complaints from students pertaining to random crashes of the app, assignments not being able to be submitted, and various other technical issues. I must add that these issues are rare, but it would be nice if they could be eliminated in their entirety. Other than that, there is really not much else I can report as being a negative.

BEST LMS experience for teachers, students, admin and community!

Comments: Moodle. Blackboard. Edmodo. Google Classroom. Each year of teaching seemed to bring with it another piecemeal LMS until we found Schoology! Schoology allows our teachers, students, admin and community to stay informed and connected. As a teacher, Schoology was easy to figure out due to its intuitive platform. I love the various features and app integrations that allow students to do much of their online learning within the platform avoiding third party site visits and lots of extra clicking. As an Enterprise user, I also appreciate the SIS integration with PowerSchool that automatically transfers student grades from Schoology. The group feature allows me to easily send updates about One-Act and Speech practice schedules or leave time reminders that can be routed to students' phones, and the groups also provide excellent PLNs for various topics. Admins have begun harnessing the power of online professional development modules via Schoology as well. Students enjoy the calendar view, which we have taught them to use like a planner and appreciate the quick feedback from assessments. Parents enjoy more transparency about what is going on at school and the media albums work great for capturing all of the awesome learning that needs to be recognized and celebrated. As a BlendEd Learning leader, Schoology is integral to day to day planning and organization. I also appreciate that Schoology is very responsive to user issues and requests. Their Client Success team is there to answer questions and trouble shoot when you need them, and the product developers are always taking suggestions and creating new features to make the platform more user friendly for teachers and students. Unlike previous platforms, Schoology is my one-stop shop that is here to stay! After four years of use, I couldn't imagine teaching without it!

Pros:

-Ease of use -Groups provide online PLNs -Supportive client services -Excellent BlendEd Platform -Can align with CC or state standards -Allows for competency-based grading (Mastery via Enterprise) -Parent log in options (one log in for all of their kids) -App works well on Mac and Android devices

Cons:

-Can't create reoccurring events or assignments (yet) -PowerSchool Pro and Schoology integration in beta only (Enterprise)

Soar with Schoology

Comments: Schoology is by far the best educational tool for students, even in Elementary School. The program is so easy to use, one-stop-shop for teachers to house all their materials, and a great way to keep parents informed and aware of their student's academics! I have used Schoology for 2 years and I have led the drive for this tool for elementary classrooms in my district. Schoology has changed the way I teach and how I personalize learning for my students! So easy for students to understand as well! I am extremely happy with Schoology and I would reccommend Schoology to be used in all districts across the world!

Pros:

- Syncs straight to your Google Drive. - Nearpod and EdPuzzle syncs right into Schoology courses. - Syncs with District Gradebook for easy grading. - Individualized folders and assignments is great for personalizing learning. - Student completion tool to keep student's accountable for their work. - Allows for embedding teacher videos so student's don't have to navigate away from Schoology. - Add personal touches like course pictures, profile pictures, color folders, Bitmoji interactive classroom announcements, interactive buttons, etc. - Great calendar feature to put in meetings and share with other students or educators. - Great for all ages!

Cons:

There are a lot of districts across the world now adopting Schoology so sometimes the software could be slower than usual. I would also like to be able to change the colors of the folders to my own options.

Schoology Efficiency

Comments: I wanted to see if there was a difference in doing school work online and doing school work the traditional way using pen and paper. While you can get more distracted doing school work through Schoology since you are online and you have more access to other applications, I felt encouraged to finish my work faster and more efficiently since it was easy to access and it was quicker to type in my work instead of writing it. Also, it was motivating to see my progress in each class so I know what I need to work on and how well I’m doing. Overall, it was a good experience and if I had more professors utilizing this application/software, I would like it.

Pros:

It was extremely convenient not only as a student but for staff and teachers that manage a large amount of students. For students, they are more encouraged to finish the school work quickly due to its convenience since they are only required to have a technological device such as a tablet or phone and internet in order to finish their work. They can access this in school, home, or anywhere as long as they have access to the internet. The app or website is easy to navigate through as well. The same goes for teachers and other staff since they are able to go through each student’s work efficiently since they are listed under their respective classes. Both student and teacher are able to track the progress of their work and they are enabled to see how they are faring in each class which encourages each student to improve and teachers are able to see which topic a student needs to work on. Teachers are also able to post take-home quizzes and lectures online which students can conveniently access.

Cons:

If the student does not have access to wifi or internet, they are unable to see their homework/school work and they won’t be able to submit their requirements.

Best Educator Software

Comments: This software allowed me to finally free up time and focus on my teaching instead of paperwork! Even better, all the tests and assignments I make can be saved to assignment bank, and I can reuse them for years to come. Absolute game-changer.

Pros:

I am a teacher and school district I work for recently rolled out schoology and mandated all teachers to use it and I think this has been the best move in years. Schoology is AMAZING. First, it's very user-friendly (homepage looks like Facebook news feed, and grade books mirror many early-stage online grade books). Gradebook is easy to use and my school district has embedded an option where grades can automatically transfer and post in the district database every 5 weeks. That alone takes hours of work away from teachers when grades are due! Second, students can submit assignments on schoology - everything from exit tickets and papers to discussions and even tests. No more stacks of papers to take home and grade - I can literally access those online from any device and grade at my spare time. Even better - tests and quizzes can be created manually and correct answers programmed in, so when the student submits it, Schoology grades it and posts the grade for you (you have an option to review to verify it).

Cons:

I am a math teacher and I would like for the option to allow students to create graphs themselves when doing tests. Schoology does not yet have such options, and instead I have to create graphs and and insert those pictures into tests, and make any graphing question a multiple choice one.

Schoology - Empowering Blended Learning

Comments: Schoology has transformed my own teaching and assessment strategies, and I have seen it greatly impact the classrooms of my colleagues. It remains one of my top recommendations for any educators across the educational technology spectrum.

Pros:

Schoology's greatest asset is its ease of use. When my institution adopted Schoology as the LMS (to replace a previous, more complicated LMS), we saw a 2/3 increase in active users, effectively transforming our classrooms. Schoology excels at communication (to your entire course, co-workers, or individual students) compared to other learning management systems. Additionally, schoology is an LMS visibly built around a learning centered classroom, unlike the obvious content-centered approach favored by prominent, older learning management systems.

Cons:

Schoology's ease of use does mean some loss of complicated features. At first glance, schoology has a smaller feature set than some LMS's. However, if you are willing to be creative, the platform engages very cleanly with third party tools to accomplish any functionality that may have been lost.

Connect Learners and Content via Schoology

Comments: Schoology has been essential in our school's mission to be more agile and flexible when thinking about how we schedule and deliver courses to students. It is a major component of our success in meeting our goals.

Pros:

Schoology is a turn-key solution for any school, college, university looking to deploy blended/hybrid learning or develop online courses. Schoology allows for increased communication, collaboration, and connectedness among your class, content, and students. It is extremely easy to use, set up, and navigate for both instructors and students. Its integration with both Google and Microsoft365 increase the efficiency of assignment collection and grading than ever possible in a class without a Learning Management System. Schoology also provides a free version of their platform for teachers who may not be within an organization able to fund the full Enterprise version.

Cons:

Schoology needs to devote more of its engineers to expanding the platforms LTI integrations and UI to surpass its competitors.

Your Classroom Experience Will Change with Schoology

Comments: Schoology is an all encompassing learning management system (LMS) that allows teachers to expand the walls of the classroom beyond the school day. Students can easily log into their Schoology account and access class materials, watch embedded videos, practice skills, or respond to class discussions. Teachers can organize and create folders and build an entire course throughout the year. The interface has a social media look that can be appealing for students. However, students treat Schoology as a course and not Facebook. Restrictions can easily be enabled to ensure that student's post before they see other responses. The Schoology App works extremely well in a 1:1 iPad classroom. Students can easily add their Google Drive App and submit assignments from Google Drive directly to Schoology. Teachers have an easy toggle feature that allows them to score student work efficiently without opening new tabs for every student assignment. Rubrics can be easily created and directly attached to the assignment. Schoology does platform with Pearson, Powerschool, and many other online sources. Those services provided do cost money. Schoology is COPPA compliant and has signed the Student Privacy Pledge. Videos and tutorials are easily accessible, and the company is very responsive to questions and suggestions. I was using another popular LMS but found that my students treated it like Facebook. When I switched to Schoology I found that the interface and the assignment feed are easier to manage and sort through. Students treat Schoology as a course and not another form of social media. They respond appropriately and use it as a resource for their learning. Building on-line quizzes take time, but students respond well to receiving the instant feedback. Aa a teacher, I find the assignment feature and uploading from Google Drive seamless. I've been able to leave feedback and not feel overwhelmed reading 100 essays submitted in Schoology. The hardest feature of Schoology is learning and discovering all of the bells and whistles it offers. I would recommend using Schoology with a team of teachers or a colleague. It's much easier to bounce ideas off of each other as you tinker with its features. Once you maneuver through the first weeks of Schoology you won't turn back. I left everything I created on my old LMS and have had no regrets. Schoology is ideal if your looking to go paperless as well.

User Friendly for Students and Teachers

Comments: Often times during the course of a class mistakes are caught and need to be fixed. It is very easy and smooth to fix issues while the class continues to run smoothly. The integration with Google Drive is extremely helpful to make things seamless for students!

Pros:

I have used a lot of different Learning Management Systems and Schoology is by far my favorite! It is very user friendly on both the teacher and the student end. It is easy to build courses and manage them. It's easy to see student progress and grades. Using folders and all of the different content options, it is very easy to organize the content so that students can navigate it easily.

Cons:

Over the years of using Schoology, they have made many updates that have fixed the complaints I've had. My complaints come more from other systems we use, such as single sign on. And the issues isn't with Schoology, it's with students not knowing their login information to sign in.

Best LMS in the game!

Comments: Schoology changed my classroom experience for the better. It is integral to my classroom and our school district since we are 1:1. Schoology isn't just a tool it creates a culture in your classroom that helps faciliate community in the classroom experience.

Pros:

*User Functionality - easy for teachers and students to use! *Consistency of Updates from Schoology - they are constantly improving the platform whether it be with new app integration or ease of use in design. *Support - Their support team is amazing, and client services are impeccable. * Number of Apps that integrate is growing all the time! *Google Assignment App stepped up the overall experience and use for Teachers. * Assessment update changed the game - appeals to all different subject areas.

Cons:

Honestly none because any issue that has existed Schoology has responded with an update if there was enough need for a change! That is one of their greatest strengths as a company.

Excellent LMS for Middle School

Comments: I enjoy using Schoology to provide resources for my students to use both in the classroom and outside. It is fairly easy to use, but can sometimes be time-consuming. The integration with G Suite is beneficial with reducing the time needed to edit content in multiple classes. It is easy for students to navigate and undersatnd.

Pros:

I like the ease with which students can navigate the platform and the way that it houses everything that students use. I also like the ability to collaborate with colleagues to create activities/assessments together and share then easily with each other. I also like that it enables you to provide feedback for students on assignments and communicate directly with students.

Cons:

There are some features (feedback for the new assessments, reporting features for the gradebook) that are missing that would be really helpful, particularly for remote learning.

Schoology Makes Teaching Easier

Comments: I have saved so much paper by moving to giving and receiving homework assignments through Schoology.

Pros:

I use Schoology on a daily basis. I am a big fan. I love everything that it has to offer. I assign all homework assignments through Schoology and expect my students to submit their assignments through Schoology. It's very easy to upload an assignment and to go through the submitted assignments. I also appreciate the Resources tab, which allows to to upload files, links, and more, making it easy for me to pull up materials I need to use in class.

Cons:

I really like this software and it has made my life much easier as a teacher. The only function I wish it had would be the ability to schedule publishing of an assignment. Right now I have to manually publish an assignment when I want it to appear to my students.

When we used it I was very happy with the product.

Comments: As a former English teacher, it was so nice to have students be able to speak their voice in a setting they may not have been comfortable with prior to using Schoology. We were able to do many of the same discussions with our Bible students as well. It really helped in studying scripture passages.

Pros:

I love the addition of the discussion board feature. Requiring students to post prior to seeing other students' post makes it easier to ensure they are not summarizing/rewording someone else's post. This was something that several teachers at my school requested and Schoology was very quick to implement it.

Cons:

I really have nothing negative to say about the software. Many teachers at our school had a real problem with handing over a copy of our drivers licenses to a company when we already had a full background check with our school during the hiring process. It felt like a violation of privacy.

Schoology Rocks!

Pros:

Schoology allows you to have the all encompassing digital environment for your students. You can house all of your digital materials in one easy spot for students. The platform has a simple layout- which I love for my elementary students. Perhaps the best feature is the assessments. The new assessments allow you to use multiple choice, drag and drop, paint tools, highlighted text, etc. This allows you to essentially recreate any assignment you would normally have in a much more engaging way. And another great feature is that it can self-grade so your students can get instant feedback.

Cons:

I really haven't found anything that I don't like about Schoology. They do have a "shared resource" section that could be easier to navigate.

In a 1:1 iPad classroom, Schoology was a lifesaver for assignments, quizzes, and organization!

Pros:

The ability to connect assignments with State Standards to create Mastery Grading. Connecting parents with their own log in meant that there were no surprises when it came time for grade reports and when parents were surprised, I could easily see if they had created a parent account. The time/date stamp on assignments was very helpful when a student tried to pit me against their parents. I also appreciated the option to personalize classes with photos, color code folders, and set announcement banners. I can't imagine teaching in today's Ed Tech world without Schoology.

Cons:

Some of the features (such as badges) do not show on the IOS app. This was frustrating for me when implementing "gamification". Students needed a laptop or PC to view badges earned.