4 Reasons Educators Should Check Out Schoology

Learning Management Systems (LMS) are becoming more popular in today's educational environment - I believe it's because of the increase in digital learning and technology initiatives.  I've had experience with Moodle, Blackboard, and Canvas.  This week, I looked into a new LMS called Schoology. 

If you're not familiar with Schoology (or LMS in general) take two-minutes and watch this video:

Here are some features of Schoology that I found helpful!

1. It's FREE!
   Schoology has a free version that is full of features that make classroom implementation easy and worthwhile.  There is a paid version, but I think free version does the trick.  To see everything the free version has to offer, click here. 
2. It looks like Facebook
   Students and teachers are pretty familiar with Facebook.  Once materials and assignments are added, the feed resembles Facebook..  This isn't going to revolutionize the teaching and learning process, but students understand the flow - newer items are at the top and older items are near the bottom.  The comment feature allows students the opportunity to ask questions directly, too.
3. Folders, On Folders, On Folders
   One struggle many teachers face is how to organize all of the 'stuff'' that comes will being a teacher.  Probably my favorite feature of Schoology is the ability to organize the resources.  I like the fact that I can store, in sequential order, files, links, assignments, quizzes, etc. for a unit.  Here is a screenshot from my folders - I would do more organization, but this is just a start.
   
   
4. Media Album
   Like Facebook, Schoology allows users to create albums.  This feature has potential because I could see creating pictures of slides and posting them in the album - questions could be posed on the pictures and students could answer them in the comments section.

 There are many more reasons that educators should check out Schoology, these are just some that were important to me and my classroom.  To see how Schoology can make a difference in your classroom, head over and sign up for an account today!