Another year, another system to learn.
Per an email sent by the San Ramon Valley Unified School District on April 30, the district has decided to switch learning management systems (LMS) to Google Classroom for the next school year.
After several years of School Loop, a year of Google Classroom, and now three years of Schoology, teachers and students alike are forced to switch their system for grades, assignments, and communication yet again as the district’s three-year contract with Schoology expires in September.
The switch to Google Classroom is the best option. Many students use Google Docs and Google Slides to take notes, type essays, create presentations, and work on group projects. Similarly, staff, teachers and students use Gmail as a standard form of communication.
Schoology, on the other hand, has no similar work creation products and has fewer ways for students to contact their teachers.
These Google tools are not easily compatible with Schoology, while all of them are directly created within the same overarching framework as Google Classroom. A switch to Google Classroom allows students to create and submit work in the same system and would facilitate communication between students and teachers.
But add-ons are not the only place Google Classroom prevails over Schoology.
Schoology does not allow students to mark assignments as complete (a beloved School Loop feature), leading to an overhaul of “overdue assignments.” Google Classroom does offer such an option.
On Schoology, students cannot unsubmit assignments, even before the due date. Meanwhile, on Google Classroom, students who accidentally submit assignments can still unsubmit, edit, and resubmit them with no repercussion or additional work.
But Schoology does have one feature going for it: grades. Gradebooks are seemingly easier for teachers to manage and easier for students to view.
With the Schoology Plus extension, students can calculate the grade they need on a test to pass a class, how a bad score on a test could affect their overall grade, and much more. Google Classroom does not to have this ability.
Nonetheless, the compatibility of Google Classroom makes it superior.
Beyond the immediate concerns of the switch, there are also more long-term ones. In the last four years, the district has moved through three different LMSs and is switching again this year.
This constant flux has forced students to learn and relearn different systems, only to be forced into another one without any say in the decision-making process. Now that the district has chosen an LMS, it should remain.
The transition to Google Classroom is a welcome change for students and staff alike.
