Edsby

"It is exactly what I've been looking for. "

Puntos a favor: The ease and familiarity of a social media platform with the security and transparency of educational software. I can respond to my students questions from anywhere in the world at anytime and I know that our interaction is transparent for their security and mine.

Contras: The gradebook takes some getting used to and doesn't have all of the functionality of a dedicated platform.

"K-12 Social Networking Based LMS"

Comentarios: Overall, the Edsby platform excels at social communication and K-12 school management. I wouldn't necessarily call it a proper LMS just yet because it only recently added the functionality to build asynchronous courses and import SCORM based learning modules.

Puntos a favor: The company is based in Ontario, Canada and focuses on K-12 education which is exactly where my school lands. As a result, many of the changes and customization are geared towards my school. Most the major LMS companies are based in the US so their focus is naturally there.

Contras: It seems like the number of customer service staff has not grown at a rate that can accommodate the number of clients that Edsby is accumulating. This has resulted in excruciatingly slow response times, especially around September and October.

"Worst LMS I have used"

Comentarios: Very poor.
If we were not required to use this for our school district we definitely would not

Puntos a favor: The ability to make online quizzes/tests that auto-grade and enter into the gradebook

Contras: Where to begin...
I'm amazed that any LMS software does not have an import/export feature for it's test bank.
I've had numerous times that multiple choice test questions had blank answers when the students took the test - although this should be 'impossible' since when MANUALLY typing in each question and answr choices, it will not let you save a blank answer.
When cross-posting assignments, some propagate when edited and some do not. But nothing on the entry screen tells which ones.
There is no way to enter in a test/quiz grade manually for students that require alternative testing methods - unless you change the online submission type to 'none' - which then deletes the info for all of the students that took the online test.
and there are NO UNDO options.
On many screens where an information bubble pops up - it remains there no matter what is clicked on and you have to reload the page to make it go away.
For assignments with a letter grade - there is no option to give a ZERO - and a U does not calculate in as a zero.
New pinned items go at the bottom when they should show at the top - or at least give an option without having to manually drag it.
Anytime I have opened a ticket with support - I either get no answer, an answer that is later contradicted when I ask for more detail, or a "working as designed" with absolutely no offer to consider that ALL of our teachers would logistically prefer a feature to function differently

"Default Sort By First/Last Name"

Comentarios: Over all I believe Edsby has a TON of wonderful features and could only be improved with some minor tweaks.

Puntos a favor: I like that I can change the Sort order of the students to sort the list by First Name instead of Last Name.

Contras: I don't like that I have to set the SORT order EVERY time I go into my student gradebook - it should be either defaulted to the last setting or let me set my preference globally and have it stay that setting. I also think if I set it to sort by First Name the list should show the names as First Last - instead even though I select to sort by First Name it displays the names in Last First order. :(

"The Best Educational Management Tool Solution"

Comentarios: I find Edsby is the ideal all in one classroom management tool. Edsby allows me to present lessons with a variety of image and video formats, evaluate, post results with comments in a way that resonates with students and is accessible to parents.

Puntos a favor: 1. Intuitive layout
2. Very user-friendly for both teachers and students
3. The ability to incorporate various attachment formats such as .jpeg hyperlinks and .wmv files

Contras: I wish when accessing assignments for marking in the grade book the list on the right-hand side would show I have marked it and not require I click on the assignment on the list on the right in order to affect the number of unmarked assignments. I open the assignment and add comments by clicking on the assignment from the list on the grade book screen.