One of the biggest changes coming into this school year was the announcement that both Schoology and Google Classroom are to be used at State High. Schoology, which has been used previously for summer classes such as PE and Health, is being incorporated into the school year with plans to fully integrate it by next year. However, Google Classroom, a longstanding digital classroom platform, has been in use for the State College Area School District since some students were in elementary school. After all, modern-day students in the State College Area School District begin using Chromebooks and online resources such as Google Classroom as early as kindergarten. There are pros and cons to each, but using them simultaneously is harming State High.
Plans to use both systems this year had been in the works since spring, according to Spanish Teacher Steve Klebacha.
“Next school year, it will be mandatory for all teachers to use,” he explained, mentioning how this future adjustment was one of the reasons why he decided to switch this year. “To me, it’s better to learn it now while it’s still an option, so that next year when it is required, I’m comfortable with it and know what I’m doing.”
Therefore, using both Google Classroom and Schoology is not permanent, but this unique circumstance prompted contrasting decisions among teachers.
“Google Classroom is missing a lot of features that teachers would want, and it doesn’t always sync really well with PowerSchool,” Klebacha continued. “If you wanted to check the grades in Google Classroom against PowerSchool to ensure accuracy, you had to download your grades as a spreadsheet, delete all of the assignments that weren’t relevant to the marking period you were looking at, and only then could you verify that the grades were accurate.”
“Some of their teachers are putting everything in Schoology, some are putting everything in Google Classroom, some may be doing a mix of those things, and I think that could potentially be confusing for students,” he acknowledged why the changes create difficulties for students.
Student opinions vary from teachers. Sophomore Rishi Patel stated that he prefers Google Classroom because it is simpler.
“Schoology just doesn’t work sometimes,” Patel said. “Nothing works. Google Docs doesn’t work. Slides don’t work…Using only Schoology is fine, but a mix of both isn’t good.” Therefore, students have their own reasons why they prefer Google Classroom.
In conclusion, both sides ultimately agree that using both platforms is inadvisable. If teachers choose to switch to Schoology this year, it’ll be tough at first. If teachers choose to use Google Classroom this year and switch later, then it’ll be tough to get used to it next year. There are pros and cons to each, but regardless, a system where both are used this year isn’t beneficial to students or teachers. It’s hindering students, and that is why it isn’t the best decision for this year or any year.
