Google Classroom and Schoology are two learning management systems that target K-12 schools. Both solutions have intuitive content management and collaboration features, and they integrate with School Information Systems (SIS) and other third-party tools.
Here, we compare Google Classroom and Schoology on several factors.
What is the Difference Between Google Classroom and Schoology?
- Although Google Classroom has collaboration features, they’re limited to the classroom. Schoology allows students to use its Group features for sports and clubs.
- Google Classroom has a built-in Originality Report for checking plagiarism within assignments. However, Schoology requires integration with a plagiarism checking tool.
- Google displays its pricing for its paid plans on its site, but Schoology requires a custom quote for its Enterprise plan.
Product Overviews
The following excerpts from our Google Classroom and Schoology reviews summarize each software:
Google Classroom
Google Classroom targets teachers and students in both K-12 and higher education markets. One of its biggest benefits is it’s simple to use and encourages collaboration between students and teachers. Teachers can create a class and list educational apps, such as assignments, in a few clicks. They can add students by name or send them a code to join. Students can then see what assignments are due, participate in discussion forums or message the teacher (either in private or via group chat).
Schoology
Schoology, now owned by PowerSchool, is a learning management system (LMS) solution designed for collaboration between any kind of learner and instructor. A core focus of Schoology’s LMS solution is to allow collaboration, with frequent checkpoints to ensure learners are engaging with the material. The most recent addition to the solution is assessment management, which brings learning management features to assessments.
Features Comparisons
Content Development
Google Classroom
Teachers can set up assignments directly within Google Classroom, including uploading the necessary files. Not only does the software support other Google Apps (e.g., Docs, Forms, Sheets), but teachers can also upload videos, images or PDFs. Once the assignment is ready, students receive a notification. Additional content development features include the ability to distribute the same assignment to multiple classes, saved templates for future use and the ability to schedule a distribution date.
Schoology
Course authoring features are built into Schoology, so teachers can quickly create assignments. They can add materials to the course, such as packets, quizzes and discussion boards, and each assignment can be given both a grading and learning objective. Schoology integrates with over 300 apps, so teachers can pull in content from a third-party tool like Google or Microsoft.
Bottom Line
While teachers can upload third-party content with Google Classroom, it’s strongly recommended that students use the Google apps for completing their work. This isn’t the case with Schoology.
Collaboration
Google Classroom
Students and teachers can access the same Google file, such as Docs or Sheets, simultaneously (note that this is based on access permission settings), including leaving comments, sending chats or making edits within the file. In addition, Google Classroom has a Stream feature that works like a social media feed. In it, students can create a post where they can add an image, file, link or video, and other students can add comments to the post. Teachers can also use the Stream to make announcements. There’s also a Question feature for teachers to set up short questions for students to answer.
Schoology
Schoology’s Groups feature encourages collaboration not just within a class, but also for sports, clubs and professional learning development initiatives. Students and teachers can use it for questions or sharing ideas or advice. In addition, Schoology has a Public Groups feature that lets teachers continue their professional learning development by interacting with and getting tips and advice from other Schoology users worldwide. Finally, parents can have their own Schoology account to get insights into their child’s studies, including their assignments and grades. They can also receive notifications, send a message to their child’s teacher or even participate in Groups targeted to parents.
Bottom Line
Google Classroom’s collaboration features are limited to a specific class, whereas Schoology has groups that serve interests outside of a class (e.g., sports, clubs). Also, while Google Classroom lets parents receive information about their child’s schoolwork, they’ll only receive the information via email summaries rather than through an account.
Virtual Learning
Google Classroom
Teachers can host virtual classes via Google Meet. Google Meet allows them to record the sessions, enable captions for accessibility and receive questions from students via chats. Note that the basic Google accounts support up to 100 participants in one meeting, but depending on the pricing plan the school selects, Google Meet allows up to 250 or 500 participants per meeting.
Schoology
The integrated BigBlueButton’s Schoology Conferences app lets teachers set up and teach in virtual classrooms. They can record live training, chat with students, set up breakout rooms, share documents and use the interactive whiteboard. Note that this feature is only available on the Schoology Enterprise tier, and those users can host up to 25 participants per live meeting for free and can opt to host up to 100 attendees for a fee.
Bottom Line
Both solutions offer similar virtual learning features, but Google Meet’s captioning feature is provided during the live session, while Schoology users will need to add captions after the training is recorded. Also, Google Classroom users can host up to 500 participants if needed, while Schoology users are limited to 100 participants.
Student Performance Tracking/Analytics
Google Classroom
With the Gradebook feature, teachers can see all of a student’s grades in one place, grade their assignments and share their feedback with the student. They can export the students’ grades to a Google Sheet or a CSV file. Google Classroom also has an unique feature called Originality Reports that detects plagiarism within a written assignment. Students can check their work for any recommended citations, while teachers can scan the piece for authenticity.
For more advanced performance tracking, Google Classroom integrates with Schoolytics, a student data platform. Educators can track student performance, compare competency patterns across different classes and measure grades against benchmarks. It has an early warning system that notifies teachers if specific students are failing or becoming disengaged with their courses.
Schoology
In the Schoology Gradebook, teachers can set up grading categories (e.g., Coursework, Homework), create grading scales or rubrics and add comments and grades to the student’s work. Teachers can use preloaded standards (e.g., Common Core) to track each student’s progress and identify any gaps in learning. The grades can be synced with Student Information Systems (SIS) or exported to a CSV file.
The analytics feature lets teachers measure their students’ class performance or usage with Schoology with reports and dashboards on metrics like total time spent on material, last date of Schoology access or assignment submissions status. School districts can also use Schoology analytics for measuring engagement at the school or district level.
Bottom Line
Google Classroom has built-in functionality (Originality Reports) that spots plagiarism, whereas Schoology will need to integrate with an anti-plagiarism solution (e.g., Unicheck). Google Classroom requires integration with Schoolytics for teachers who want access to advanced analytics, but the analytics feature is included in Schoology.
Mobile Learning
Google Classroom
Both educators and students can download the Google Classroom mobile app to their Apple or Android devices. Teachers can set up a course, post assignments, add comments and contact students, while students can see and complete their assignments, add comments to discussions and reach out to their classmates or teachers. Note that teachers and students will need to add on the Google Docs, Sheets and Slides apps to fully use the Google Classroom mobile app.
Schoology
Schoology has dedicated mobile apps for Android, iOS and Kindle Fire devices. Teachers can see, manage and grade students’ assignments, as well as provide feedback to them in written format or by video. The app also provides tools to help teachers grade the assignment. Students can also access the Schoology mobile app to complete, review and send in assignments and tests, as well as participate in discussions and groups.
Bottom Line
Both vendors offer similar mobile learning features. However, Google Classroom isn’t available for Kindle Fire devices, while Schoology is.
Pricing
Google Classroom
The Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals platform is free for qualifying institutions and includes Google collaboration tools (e.g., Docs, Sheets, Slides), communication tools (e.g., Meet, Gmail, Chat), data loss prevention for Google Drive and Gmail, and compliance with GDPR, FERPA and COPPA.
There are three paid plans:
- Google Workspace for Education Standard – This plan costs $3 per student, per year and includes all of the features of the Fundamentals platform, plus a security center, advanced device and app management features, Gmail and Classroom logs for export into BigQuery, and audit logs.
- Teaching and Learning Upgrade – This plan costs $4 per license, per month and includes all of the features of the Google Workspace for Education Standard, plus advanced Google Meet features (e.g., meetings with up to 250 participants, interactive Q&As, breakout rooms), unlimited Originality Reports and the ability to check for peer matches across a private repository.
- Google Workspace for Education Plus – This plan costs $5 per student, per year and includes all of the features of the other plans, plus live streams with up to 100,000 in-domain viewers, up to 500 participants per Google Meet session, syncing rosters from SISs to Google Classroom, personalized cloud search and prioritized support.
Schoology
Schoology has a Basic plan that’s free for teachers. They can simply sign up via the Schoology site. The Basic plan includes many of Schoology’s features, such as content tools, mobile learning, discussions and grading.
For schools, there’s an Enterprise plan with advanced features such as SIS integration, phone/chat support and system-level administration. Note that Schoology doesn’t provide pricing details, so schools would need to contact the vendor directly for a quote.
Bottom Line
Both vendors offer a free plan for teachers and students. However, Google provides up front pricing for its paid plans, while Schoology requires a custom quote.
Customer Support
Google Classroom
Google Classroom has the following resources for teachers and administrators:
- The Help Center knowledge base includes articles and troubleshooting tips on various Google Classroom topics.
- The Community forum is where users can ask troubleshooting questions and share advice with other users.
- There are dedicated IT guides for schools’ IT administrators.
Google Classroom also provides monthly updates to users with new features and other product upgrades.
Schoology
Teachers can access the PowerSchool Community to:
- browse a knowledge base of articles
- communicate with their peers
- get product updates and other news
Administrators on the Enterprise plan can contact support by placing a ticket or via phone or chat.
Bottom Line
Both vendors provide a knowledge base and community forums for teachers. However, Google doesn’t have additional support for administrators, while Schoology does.