Google Classroom Fits High School Education Better

“Ok class, open your computers to Schoology!”

This seven word phrase most likely brings anger and annoyance. Throughout the first day, week, and first month of school this phrase was repeated over and over by teachers all throughout HUHS.

On the first day of school, Schoology was introduced across the school and every student became accustomed to it. Replacing Google Classroom, Schoology was new and weird to many people. Students didn't question this change, but after a month of near constant use through eight classes a day it has become clear that Google Classroom is better.

A downfall of Schoology is the fact that it does not accept Google documents/ slides/ sheets/ etc. The only form of assignment it accepts is a PDF, if the assignment is not linked.

Instead of a quick submit button, students must email a photo copy to themselves, put the photo into a Google document, convert that document to a PDF, and then finally submit the test.

For starters, Schoology is more unorganized than Google Classroom. In Schoology, there are too many folders and too many links. Just like Google Classroom, all of the classes are in one place, but there is an overwhelming amore of classes found on the Schoology homepage.

To find one assignment, a lot of clicking is required and when there are countless other links, it can be hard to find the right one.

Because there is so much running on Schoology and every student in the school uses it, it becomes slow and very hard to complete work, so if the wrong assignment is opened, it can take up to a minute to open the correct one.

From a teacher's perspective, Google Classroom is easier to navigate and it is more organized.

According to author Authur Zuckerman, “Consistency makes [Google Classroom] more straightforward for teachers and educational institutions to send out announcements, find questions, and keep track of each lesson they give out to students.”

Zuckerman believes Google Classroom makes communication easy, and it is better wired than Schoology.

“Students and teachers can communicate about tasks within the platform thanks to its social-media like interface that makes it easier for users to navigate the software,” said Zuckerman.

While Google Classroom is an easy, organized, and free tool for students and teachers to use, Schoology has a yearly cost. There is a $1,000 - $4,000 set up fee, and an additional $7.5 to $10 per student each year. On top of this, there is usually a three year plan, so Schoology is not going away anytime soon.

Looking from a students angle, Google Classroom is also the more accessible and better choice.

The large room for error that Schoology creates can add a lot of stress on top of an already extremely stressful year. Sometimes the internet fails and something goes wrong, causing the assessment to get lost and not turned in.

Since Google Classroom is linked directly to Google, everything a student needs is all in one place. Documents can be found in Google Drive and turning in assignments is easy and there are rarely errors. For a majority of assignments, only one button needed to be pressed to submit it.

When students are required to take extra steps to submit their assessments, the 45 minute class period can seem overwhelming and less than a full class period. If the assignment is not linked directly from Google Drive to Schoology, or students are required to complete the test on a sheet of notebook paper they have more to do to submit it.

Due to the easier submission for assignments, more organized layout, and faster speed, Google Classroom is better for school usage.