Due to Covid-19, countless new changes have been implemented within the school system. But one of the biggest and most complained about is the new education platform known as Schoology.
Students were forced to say goodbye to the fan-favorite platform, Google Classroom. Classroom was incredibly user-friendly and had an easily manipulated interface.
However, during last year’s months of virtual learning, many parents struggled with being “in the loop” of their students’ school lives because of the way Google Classroom operated. Because of this, Sylvania Schools chose Schoology as a way to help both teachers and parents.
Unfortunately, students have a love-hate relationship with Schoology. Big changes are typically an inconvenience to teenagers, especially during a pandemic where it seems like everything is changing. But we promise we aren’t being dramatic this time. Schoology can be a real burden.
During the Red Plan, assignments can get overwhelming. A great part about Google Classroom was that it always marked submitted assignments as ‘completed’. Schoology, however, does not. Even if a student submits their homework, the assignment still resides in the “upcoming” section. This can get extremely confusing, especially when each class has mounds of homework due that week.
On the bright side, Schoology does have a wider variety of uses and even includes its own gradebook. This system connects to PowerSchool, which makes it easier for teachers to submit grades and for students to monitor their progress. But because of Schoology’s incredibly slow interface, the grades do not always automatically sync to PowerSchool and it is frustrating for everyone involved.
Learning from home and spending the majority of the day online sounds like a dream until the platform you are supposed to be using just…doesn’t work. Schoology is constantly ‘down’, which makes virtual learning even more difficult and confusing. As a student who is always adjusting to changes at school, I believe that we will finally adapt to Schoology’s platform, but like anything these days, it will just take time. And a whole lot of patience.
by Regan Fordham, co-editor in chief
