Why Schoology? Let me start off by saying I have needs. It is hard to know what those needs are until you spend a few year battling my friend named Angel.
What I learned about myself is what ever I use, it needs to be simple and straight forward. Like when I buy a cell phone for my 81 year old mother. She doesn't need web browsing, texting or even a camera! She needs SIMPLE!
Now, I can deal with techno-complicated. My iPhone is loaded with apps....3 different web browser alone! I have no problem using complex programs that are rich in content and are intuitive. Angel is neither.
I want intuitive....my students NEED intuitive! I have colleagues who believe the young generation who graces my classroom should be able to deal with the high-tech, complex world of bleeding edge technology. Reality is they can find the newest Fred Video on youtube but many can't even attach a file to an email...email....wuts email?
Schoology, as many modern LMS's are these days, is completely cloud based and works with all browsers. Cloud based is a no-brainer. There are other options of course.
A colleague of mine introduced me to Edmodo. Interesting for sure.
I love the Facebook-esque look and feel.
Simple...straightforward...
Even intuitive for a student!
So why was Edmodo not the best fit for me? It is no doubt created with a K-12 environment in mind. Edmodo is squarely focused on providing a safe classroom community. Edmodo gives simple parent interaction opportunities which is so important when you are dealing with a social network and younger kids especially.
Edmodo also emphasizes creating connections within "a global network of educators". Awesome but something I'm not currently looking for.
In addition, there are a few basic features I want to retain from my Angel experience that Edmodo does not currently provide. Most important of which is categories and weighting in the grade book. Edmodo's grade book is simple, nice, but a little too simple for my needs. Edmodo also allows no integration with a Google Calendar which I'm sure will happen in the near future if requested.
Schoology retains the intuitive Facebook look and feel that Edmodo offers.
OK then, what does Schoology offer that Edmodo doesn't?
Obviously categories or weighting in the grade book.
Also, notifications of course changes to students come via email and optional texting. Texting is good for my students. As an example, all but 1 of my current student have unlimited texting and check them many times throughout the day, only a few check their email even 1 time per day.
Schoology has Google docs integration and Google calendar integration...well kind of. If you link the Google calendar to the Schoology calendar, the Google calendar updates based on changes to the Schoology calendar. If you link the Schoology calendar to the Google calendar, it will update once when it is imported but will not keep a live sync. So, it is almost perfect.
If one had content in Moodle or Blackboard, there is an import option for content which puts it into your resources area. I have not yet tried however I know Angel can export in BB lingo so I will give it a shot.
One downside to Schoology is they recently removed the student blogs. Evidently if you have administrator access you can control that but then you have to buy an Enterprise Level account. It was done in response to privacy concerns I guess. Hopefully I can bring those back for my students.
Well I'll give it a first road test this coming quarter. Wish me well!
