Likelihood to Recommend Freckle is a fantastic online learning platform. I think it works well in multiple learning environments. Last year I used Freckle in a distance learning model and this year on individual iPads in class. I love that it is a quick platform to assess student achievement. I haven't experienced a scenario where Freckle would fail however, lack of access to the internet is always a factor.
Read full review - During the pandemic, the college needs a fast and easy solution to conduct Google Classroom. The integration with Google Accounts and Google Meet allows the university to run and access the Classroom on a large scale. - The teacher wants to conduct some exams in third-party software like Moodle. But we have not found any plugin for this famous open-source learning platform. The exam system in Google Classroom is so poor that it doesn't even fully screen the test when students are writing their exams.
Read full review Pros Freckle does a great job adapting lessons. Freckle does a great job motivating students and participation. Freckle is very interactive with students and teachers to support continued participation. Freckle provides DOK challenge questions that support students' understanding after standards are met. Student inquiry and problem-based questions are also new additions to Freckle that help support led activities. Read full review Student-teacher communication - I love using Classroom for this because my students can always go back and check what was on Classroom by looking through the stream. This way they don't have to go dig through emails to find what they're looking for. Posting to multiple classes - I can post the same announcement or assignment to multiple classes at once without having to repeat the process or send separate emails. Streamlining grading - when students turn work in on Classroom, it all goes to one place and then when I'm grading I can open their documents directly from Classroom or my Drive folder. This way, I'm not looking through emails and Google Doc shared files for their assignment. Read full review Cons My students get bored with just answering questions the whole time. They complain about having to get on to Freckle. I would like to see open ended or open response questions. I would like for Freckle to be able to assess fluency. Read full review Although usually in the discussion with other LMS apps such as Schoology and Canvas, Google Classroom doesn't possess as in-depth of a platform. There is no ability to set individual learning paths, pace student work with completion settings, or embed other apps directly into teacher-created assignments. The assignment creation options are limited. Teachers can only choose from creating an assignment (usually a link with directions), a material (usually a doc/slide/website, etc), a question, and a quiz. With gamification taking on a new lens in education, there really isn't any way to use gamification elements with Google Classroom. There isn't any way to create Individual learning paths, or use badges and micro-credentials within Classroom. Outside programs would have to be used. Read full review Likelihood to Renew Freckle is an excellent educational tool. The platform supports students and provides them with the opportunity to be successful in mathematics.
Read full review Testing is particularly important in online learning, and Google Classroom falls far short of other learning management systems in this regard. Security is also a concern: while account control is reasonable for the account used with Google Classroom, the person controlling a particular account is often able to, for example, forward or download proprietary materials.
Read full review Usability user friendly
Read full review This is only a product I would recommend to a humanities teacher. Math and science teachers cannot use this product the same way that I can as an English teacher. It is great for word process and for reading, but unable to handle the demands of math and science. Therefore, I would highly recommend this product to English or Social Studies teachers, but NOT math or science teachers
Read full review Reliability and Availability We have had very little trouble in accessing Google Classroom. Our issues, if any, have risen from our server and not the Google servers.
Read full review Support Rating Such an excellent program that is a hidden gem at no cost for teachers to use with students.
Read full review Since this platform is provided by Google, the technical support is better than any others, and we are not required to bother about the space constraints for adding the contents. If we have a good uninterrupted internet facility we can access Google Classroom without any delay or lag. They have app support in both Android and iPhone.
Read full review Implementation Rating It was relatively easy to implement due to the simplicity of the platform. Even our more technology challenged teachers found it easy to get started with Google Classroom.
Read full review Alternatives Considered We have used
IXL for many years at our school and always liked it and the kids enjoyed it. We used this program as it worked with the testing results we would get from MAPS testing (our previous standardized testing platform). I would say Freckle by Renaissance has exceeded our expectations when we were relating it to
IXL . Freckle by Renaissance is much more engaging and entertaining for the students and in turn they want to use it more and therefore learn more.
IXL is very redundant and has the same layout and overall look for all questions and subjects. We have been greatly impressed with Freckle by Renaissance when comparing it to
IXL .
Read full review I haven't tested or evaluated another digital classroom website or application. I feel like Google Classroom is convenient for many reasons such as compatibility to Google docs, slides, etc. I also love the ability to link to YouTube and other sites. I don't know if there would be a site that is easier to maneuver.
Read full review Scalability It is very easy to push out this program across our buildings. Teachers are able to use it without much trouble.
Read full review Return on Investment I used Freckle in the free version and was very pleased with the opportunities it offered my students and the engagement is achieved. I currently use Freckle premium and continue to enjoy the benefits that Freckle provides to my student's growth, more so it now provides weekly reports and other analytical reports to support students. Read full review Students are able to continue learning in a remote environment Parents have a single, consistent organization structure to make it easy to track assignments and progress for multiple children Much better solution than the quickly assembled Zoom-and-gloom of the previous spring when school abruptly went remote with no planning Read full review ScreenShots