We performed a comparison between Blackboard Learning Management and Google Classroom based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Our users prefer Google Classroom over Blackboard Learning Management because of its flexibility, convenience, and affordability. Users appreciate Google Classroom's ease of use and native integration with other Google apps. They value the ability to reuse materials and access them on the cloud. Blackboard has been faulted for its inability to handle large file sizes and shortcomings in student management. While users say that Google Classroom is cost-effective for educational institutions, reviewers found Blackboard to be expensive, and it requires frequent updates.
"One of the most important features is the possibility of creating unlimited subdomains."
"It encompasses various components, including course delivery modules, content management, community engagement features, digital classrooms, and mobile integration."
"The modules and courses are flexible."
"Blackboard enables instructors to collectively gather all the grading data into one place. If students upload content or post it to a Google Doc, I can do my grading and calculate the grades. It is an excellent holding place for all of that data"
"It is scalable."
"Google Classroom is simple to use."
"I would rate the initial setup a nine out of ten. It is very straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is security."
"The product's initial setup phase was easy."
"What I liked most about Google Classroom is it was very easy to communicate with the students and simple for me to learn even though it was the first time I was using it. I was able to learn the features very well by navigating through the different discussions forums and becoming proficient, not necessarily a master but knowledgeable in using the solution. The ease of use was the best feature."
"I like that Google Classroom is free and integrates with the entire Google Suite, which includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, etc. I also like its flexibility, which makes it perfect for synchronous, asynchronous, and blended courses, and including live and archived webinars, as well as other kinds of content."
"A teacher can send assignments and upload results using the product."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to meet people and it is online."
"It would be ideal to create a more responsive or more intuitive template for access from telephones or tablets."
"The solution is not flexible."
"The system falls short in terms of managing assessments and exams effectively."
"Blackboard has limitations in terms of delivering content and assessing student assignments because it can't handle large file sizes. It's also limited in its ability to track student activity. Instructors can see the student's most recent login, but they can't follow the activity."
"The solution must provide better integration with third-party software."
"It would be useful if this solution had its own online teaching platform with an integration with a Google video conferencing tool."
"There are certain things that I can do on PowerPoint that I cannot do on Google Presentations and Google Slides, such as using PowerPoint's animation feature, I have found that PowerPoint is generally more feature-rich and offers a wider range of tools that I can use to prepare and enhance my presentations."
"There can often be language barriers when you're not dealing with local technical support, which can be challenging."
"I would like to see a better user experience, a more engaging interface, and more templates. Google should develop templates or at least encourage developers to share them. You'll only get a basic framework when you create a new course. You don't have different themes to choose from like you do in Moodle."
"I would like to see a master list of documents with folder names so that it is more convenient for students to know whether they have submitted a particular document. At present, you need to go to each classroom to check what you have submitted."
"The product must provide different plans for different customers so that we can pay for only what we use."
"We found that Google Classroom is it is missing a lot in current engagement. We know it has got guardian access, where it sends the reports to the guardian at the end of either the week or the month, depending on how you set it. However, it lacks collaboration between the teacher, student, and parents. The engagement is mostly between the student and the teacher. If you have a school similar to ours, where you're dealing with little children where the parent is supposed to be engaged, you need a system that can engage them as well. It's good for senior students, but not for our students."
"Students used to have points that were accumulated and the letter grades, such as A's, B's, C's, et cetera. Google Classroom should add a feature by which you can toggle in between both of them. It's more than only accumulated points, which are not going to mean that much for students unless there's a prize at the end or some type of reward for the effort. However, if there's a way to toggle in between allocating points versus allocating a grade, it would be nice."
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Blackboard Learning Management is ranked 8th in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 6 reviews while Google Classroom is ranked 3rd in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 23 reviews. Blackboard Learning Management is rated 7.8, while Google Classroom is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Blackboard Learning Management writes "Expandable with good real-time live interactions but is very expensive". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Google Classroom writes "An easy-to-use and intuitive solution that can be used to facilitate excellent teaching and learning". Blackboard Learning Management is most compared with CYPHER Learning and ELITE LMS, whereas Google Classroom is most compared with Moodle, Canvas LMS and CYPHER Learning. See our Blackboard Learning Management vs. Google Classroom report.
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