Whether in Michigan or Colorado, every district has the pressure of selecting a user-friendly, compatible, and appropriate Course Management System (CMS) for their schools. My district uses Schoology at the middle and high school levels.
Schoology has many features for students, teachers, parents, and other professionals in education.
Students can easily submit, upload and view assignments, check grades and announcements, message their teachers, and join Groups (or Clubs) using Schoology. Another way students are now viewing Schoology, in 2020, compares to a daily agenda. Their homework is listed on the calendar, their teachers are posting assignments and reminders, and the best part, is the student just has to look!
Teachers use Schoology to post assignments, update their students and parents with announcements, check student activity and analytics, write comments directly attached to student work, as well as save assignments to a Resources folder for safe keeping.
While us teachers are grateful for the multitude of features, we're also a bit overwhelmed. I've utilized the ability to post announcements, message students and parents, view student activity and data analytics, save assignments to my Resources, create discussions and quizzes, and many other incredible opportunities, I've been intimidated by the Assessment feature offered by Schoology. The various question options, point options, differentiation options, ability to upload images, files and videos kept me using Google Forms, Kahoot!s, and paper tests as my modes of assessment. However, the week came and opportunity presented (forced) itself, for me to tackle Schoology Assessments.
This feature is a game changer. I am a new (Schoology) teacher. While creating the assessment took twice as long to develop, my Assessment Design Checklist, Colorado State Standards, and Schoology Assessment tutorials encouraged me to stick it out. I believe this CMS is incredible effective for both me and my students. Communication is enhanced and expectations are clear.