gotFeedback vs. Google Classroom vs. the Learning Management System (LMS)

Teaching is not easy. Great teaching is even harder.  Many teachers start with the tools that have been provided to them by their schools or school districts. For 25 years the LMS has been a popular choice and in 2014 Google Classroom was launched. Each of these platforms provided an easier way for teachers to manage their classrooms online. 

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One of these three platforms was imported from higher education, another created to manage files using corporate cloud-based tools and the last was created by a K12 classroom teacher to meet the needs of each of his students.

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What are the significant differences between gotFeedback, an LMS and Google Classroom?

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Google Classroom is a free file-sharing tool widely used by teachers to create, distribute, and grade assignments online using Google’s popular Docs, Slides and Sheets.

Learning Management Systems (LMS) such as Schoology, Canvas, or Blackboard, originally developed for higher education, provide teachers with organizational tools to share content, manage assignments, and handle grading.

Both of these platforms are very good at providing organization to a class online.

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In contrast, gotFeedback, designed and built by classroom teachers, is a Collaborative Learning System. It focuses on capturing and communicating learning, between the student and teacher, as it happens. This important distinction gives gotFeedback a student-centered focus. gotFeedback is tailored for providing ongoing feedback, using formative assessment data, fostering student ownership of learning, tracking growth over time, setting goals, and facilitating reflection on learning.

Ultimately, gotFeedback not only assists in organizing class instruction, similar to Google Classroom and other LMS platforms, but it also uniquely enables teachers to address the individual needs of each student.

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Can you use Google Drive with gotFeedback?

Of course! The best way to use Google Drive is with gotFeedback. gotFeedback allows educators to do more than simply embed content from Google Drive; it enables teachers to share and copy individual files to students. Teachers can also provide feedback via text, audio or video and receive AI moderated feedback suggestions from gotFeedback - they can even store their custom AI prompts for easy access.
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You can provide content and assignments with an LMS and Google Classroom, how is gotFeedback so different?

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Well, that's the thing… teaching is more than just sharing content with students and asking them to demonstrate they understand it. So much more occurs in our classrooms and a lot of it happens at the individual student level. There are questions and answers, teachers and peers provide feedback, reteaching may occur, scaffolding may be offered, student’s revise and may receive more feedback. This cycle may continue as many times as necessary. This learning communication is what gotFeedback facilitates and captures.

 “As a teacher who relies on feedback and ongoing student interaction, gotFeedback is a game changer. It’s incredibly user friendly and saves me a ton of time. And students can easily curate a portfolio of their learning evidence as it happens. It’s the first platform that compliments my pedagogy.”
- Dave Frangiosa, Science Teacher Pascack Hills High School, NJ USA

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My teachers are resistant to change and are comfortable with Google Classroom and/or our LMS. What should I do next?

Resistance to change is a common challenge in education, particularly when teachers have established routines with tools like Google Classroom or their LMS. To navigate this, the key is to emphasize that our EdTech platforms not only need to meet the organizational and instructional needs of the teacher, but also focus on the  individual student.

Highlight to your teachers the advantages of gotFeedback in facilitating ongoing, timely feedback. This system is designed to streamline communication, allowing teachers to provide more regular feedback without the need to search through various platforms for student learning data. Explain how gotFeedback is a co-creation platform where the students have an important role in their learning journey. Both the teacher and student can see their learning throughout the learning cycle. No longer does a teacher have to wonder “Didn’t I provide the same feedback last time?”

Emphasize the benefit of having all student learning evidence in one place, which is a significant advantage of gotFeedback. This unified view not only saves time but also provides a more comprehensive understanding of each student's progress.

To ease the transition, consider the following steps:

• Approach your innovative teachers - those that use student feedback daily and have them pilot gotFeedback. If your school is ready, pilot the full school version of gotFeedback - this includes all other teachers, special educators, instructional coaches and school administrators the ability to participate in each student’s learning journey. 
• Provide demonstrations: Real examples of how gotFeedback simplifies feedback and demonstrates student growth over time.
• Highlight student benefits: the ultimate goal is student learning. A collaborative learning system that allows for more efficient feedback directly contributes to this goal.

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What Are Educators Saying About gotFeedback             How Does gotFeedback Work?