Most popular features of all Education & Child Care apps
Requires iOS 9.3 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
25 reviewers had the following to say about Edsby's features:
It connects teachers, students, and administrators together in an effective way.
Pros
The overall look makes sense with grades on one side, the feed in the centre and the courses and libraries on the other side.
Cons
The inability for Edsby to change from day to day re: schedules - so attendance is often difficult to get correct.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Pros
most comprehensive learning and analytics platform available for K-12, engaging students, parents and teachers on all of their devices
Cons
combines social networking with class and student management features Not sure if it's appropriate for young children
Rating breakdown
Time used: Less than 6 months
Frequency of use: Weekly
This software merges all platforms a teacher could use into one, easy to use, succinct tool.
Pros
Grade book, attendance, announcements, calendar, parent and student records/communication, seating plans, library of course material and bulletins for overarching course goals.
Cons
I have to reupload my course material every time I teach the course, even if I'm teaching the same course twice in the same semester.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Roy, you should contact the Edsby prime at your school or our support team at support@edsby.com - you can INDEED re-copy class libraries, and any curriculum you've developed in Edsby, from class to class. No need to reinvent the wheel every time.
Pros
Students can get assignments and information from the class.
Cons
Sometimes students rely on the information on Edsby too much and don't take responsibility for their own keeping track of assignments.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Online test option, seating plan, calendar function, student and parent communication, attaching files/assignments for absent students, due dates, etc.
Pros
I like the fact that I can communicate with students and parents in terms of due dates, test dates, missed work (I post what I do in class everyday and attach any assignments), as well as progress in the course (missing assignments, marked assignments, etc.).
Cons
I also wish there were attendance sheets with dates at the top (not the blank mark sheets).
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Easy calculation of student grades as well as ease in matching assessments to expectations.
Pros
Gradebook, and the seating plan function. the attendance feature is great as well because you can send in your attendance from anywhere.
Cons
They prefer Apps like Remind and the good old student agenda.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 1-2 years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
News, coursework, attendance, school events and important dates - all right here in one place.
Pros
I love that teachers, students, parents, and school staff can easily get updates from school administration, check attendance, see grades and course material, all in one place.
Cons
Students want to know how many community involvement hours they have, and Edsby has no means of tracking and communicating this.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 6-12 months
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Easier tracking of grades and curriculum.
Pros
Students really enjoyed the wall.
Cons
Wish it would sync with report card program. Students are not able to easily put things in their portfolios the way they can in Seesaw.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 6-12 months
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
- Messages get pushed out to whatever email the parent and student register on the system - It integrates with Google Docs - Does attendance of course, including attendance resolution by the Office
Happier teachers and academic staff re. attendance, gradebook, and report cards.
Pros
Easy navigation and addresses most pressing needs a school has regarding communications and tracking. Plays nice with Maplewood!
Cons
Customer support is almost always excellent...but there are times when responses have been slow or problems lingered.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Communication.
Pros
Communication with parents, students, and staff is easy.
Cons
Seeing student marks is challenging; the print versions are poor as printing marks are not visible and print templates lack space to write information.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
The best part for me is the Course Plan with the daily organization allowing me to include PPTs, videos, notes, etc...
Pros
I like the organization of the Course plan as I appreciate the daily record of my notes and resources.
Cons
I would REALLY appreciate the ability to separate formative assessment from summative.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 1-2 years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Daily analytics, communications, LMS
Pros
Platform, report cards, features, interactivity, customer service (BOB), notifications, groups, platform, security
Cons
It is missing an important feature where teachers should be able to message students ONLY - That is a feature the company had and removed - promising to bring back and improve - has not happened yet.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Easy attendance
Pros
I like that it has pictures of the students. There seems to be lots of uses but can't figure out how to set it up for my program
Cons
Lack of tutorials, lacks back buttons to take you to the previous page - which the students pictures could be enlarged for better viewing
Rating breakdown
Time used: 1-2 years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Custom report cards. 3rd party LMS instead of internal LMS.
Pros
Pulls parent contact information, student contact information, teacher contact information, rooms and schedules from our SIS nightly.
Cons
Support department is only 2 people. Attendance is difficult.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Pros
It allows the user the flexibility of using it as a communication tool (blog and group/forum abilities), planner/organizer, assessment manager and tracker, and online file manager.
Cons
There are some minor limits with regards to how Edsby fits with our board database (Trillium). Mostly with regards to merging classes with different sections. This has been promised to be resolved in the near future and judging by how Edsby has already implemented a lot of user requests, we feel confident it will be resolved in the near future.
Rating breakdown
Time used: Less than 6 months
Likelihood to recommend
Recommendations to others considering Edsby
As per what our Board is doing, I would recommend testing out each feature as your comfort level allows. Starting with using Edsby as a communication tool with students, then test out planning lessons and assessment and getting students involved before giving parents access.
The best software package for attendance, grading, and communicating on the market.
Pros
everything you need is in one software package live adjustments allowed on attendance instant communication with students and parents
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Better communication with parents and students and more timely feedback.
Pros
I like that I can make observations about students and record anecdotal notes.
Cons
Uploading documents to attach to lesson plans rarely works--I often type a whole lesson and then when I try to attach resources it doesn't work and I have to eventually close and then my lesson isn't saved. I don't like that I can't print my lessons, either. I've asked several times for this to be an option.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
A great, convenient way to keep track of the student's progress. It can also facilitate communication among students, teachers and parents
It has become the communication tool of choice for students, parents and teachers.
Pros
Good features, mostly intuitive and easy to use.
Cons
I would like a bit more flexibility to customize to meet a specific community need.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Pros
We like the group options as well as the attendance.
Cons
Still need to do some work with providing opportunity to effectively document learning skills.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 6-12 months
Frequency of use: Daily
Pros
"One-stop shopping" for your educational communication: space for anecdotal and numerical grades, ability to communicate directly with students and or parents, attendance entry and communication with the office.
Cons
I am generally pleased with how Edsby works. Any complaints I have are with small details. For example, the reportcard portion of Edsby lacks some of the features of a dedicated gradebook program. Also, I asked the customer service message board if there was a way to print out the curriculum expectations that we select for assignments (which are already in Edsby) at the end of semester, but have not received a response - customer service was much more responsive a few years ago.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 2+ years
Frequency of use: Daily
Easy reporting system
Pros
Open platform to communicating with students, parents and teachers.
Cons
That it does not have an admissions and accounting piece to assist in the administration of the school.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 1-2 years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
Extra-curricular groups can be created easily, and teachers, students, and parents have come to recognize both class and extra-curricular groups as primary and reliable places to find the latest information on the goings-on at school.
Knowing that parents can view their child's progress realtime.
Pros
Simplicity of use, and a shallow navigation learning curve.
Cons
Just a thought: having your own or preferred backend for the data for schools starting to work with Edsby for the first time.
Rating breakdown
Time used: 1-2 years
Frequency of use: Daily
Likelihood to recommend
