Schoology-
“Schoology is social network-based tool that
allows teachers to interact with students in a way that satisfies both
technological needs and curricular elements” (Manning, et al., 2011). With the
interface and functions similar to Facebook, this platform includes attendance
records, online gradebook, tests and quizzes, and homework dropboxes. Schoology
not only facilitates the connections among existing school reporting and
information systems but also among teachers, students and parents in a safe,
secure online environment.
According to International Business Times, in March 2012, Schoology was named as a finalist for the prestigious CODiE Awards given by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) in three categories: Best Classroom Management System, Best Education Community Solution, and Best K-12 Course or Learning Management Solution. Schoology reached 1 million users, raised $6 million to expand its social networking platform for schools in April, 2012. With continuous efforts to offer users the best mobile technology in November 2012, Schoology App Center was launched, this app was fully supported by iPhone 5, the 5th generation iPod Touch, and any mobile device using iOS 6.0.
There are many competitors in the learning management system space; primary services focused on education can be compared as the following table:
As
teachers, we can manage the class with ease due to numerous useful functions as
posting academic content, check student attendance, preview the class from the
student’s viewpoints and so forth. Schoology not only help us keep our teaching
styles updated to the twenty-first century, but it also provides a bridge for
teachers to connect to students’ learning styles. Schoology enables students to
fulfill classroom work while having the ability to seamlessly communicate and
collaborate with fellows through a safe and secure network. Parents are given a
code to follow their student’s learning process which can be considered the
most significant benefit in terms of parental care to their children.
References
Manning, et al (2011).
Retrieved from http://journals.library.wisc.edu/index.php/wej/article/viewFile/379/444
http://venturebeat.com/2012/04/16/schoology-hits-1-million-users-raises-6-million/
http://blog.schoology.com/2012/11/schoology-iphone-ipad-app-v2-3/
http://www.siia.net/
Not to forget that Schoology was launched in 2009 (initially for document sharing) and since then being edited. In 2012, Aug. they launched their own App- store.
ReplyDeleteHaving a resemblance to popular social media tools is a big advantage, because people are familiar to Facebook for instance, but it takes them time to realize how new things work.
You can use Schoology on Android systems too, as iPhone, iPad, iPod.. the disandvantage is that one will need constant connection to the internet to access it on any of the given device.
Scoology is a competitor to services like Blackboard, Moodle and Edmodo. This will increase the advantages of the user, the higher the competition, the better the quality.
Though there is difference among for e.g. Moodle, Edmondo and Scholoogy:
Edmodo- is a social networking platform with some assignment/quiz options included. Particularly suited to Primary/Elementary schools and for light duty in Secondary classes;
Schoology-leans more to being a Learning Management System, but still maintains a friendly ‘social networking’ feel. Suited to upper Primary/Elementary and Secondary school use;
Moodle- is a full-featured Learning Management System, suited to Secondary or Tertiary institutions where there is sufficient technical support available.
Thus each of them has own features. Though I think it would be too much to use all of them because you need one or another feature.
Hi Marina,
DeleteI totally agree with you that it would be too much or even overlap if we use all of them (Edmodo, Schoology and Moodle) as they all are Learning Management Systems assisting teachers in planning, grading and communicating with learners. I suggest that teachers should investigate all the platforms and decide to use which offers more features suitable with their own needs.