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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    LanSchool

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ALenovo offers LanSchool, a classroom management platform supporting collaboration, monitoring student activity, chat, teacher broadcasting / screen-sharing, and other features.N/A

    Sakai

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ASakai is an open source learning management system provided by the Apero Foundation. The LMS provides what it calls Core and Expanded Features. The Core Features encompass an integrated tool set that is tested by the Sakai community members and is then included with each new release. The tool set can be configured by: instructors, students, research investigators and project leaders. The other set of tools, known as “Contrib Tools” are specific to Sakai tools and innovations that are developed…N/A
    Pricing
    LanSchoolSakai
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    LanSchoolSakai
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsMust contact vendor for pricing information.
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    LanSchoolSakai
    Learning Management
    Comparison of Learning Management features of Lenovo LanSchool and Sakai
    Feature
    Lenovo LanSchool
    -
    Ratings
    Sakai
    7.9
    5 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Course authoring00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    Course catalog or library00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
    Player/Portal00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Learning content00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    Mobile friendly00 Ratings7.05 Ratings
    Progress tracking & certifications00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    Assignments00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Compliance management00 Ratings7.04 Ratings
    Learning administration00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Learning reporting & analytics00 Ratings6.05 Ratings
    Social learning00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    LanSchoolSakai
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Google Classroom
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Schoology Learning
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Axonify
    Score10 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    LanSchoolSakai
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    9.0
    (14 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.4
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.1
    (3 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    LanSchoolSakai
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Lenovo
    I have recommended it across campus and would not hesitate to do so again. It has been great in our lab environments and would like to continue using it for years to come. In the future as we move away from physical labs I will be investigating to purchase for BYOD devices, however I know that I will face pushback from students on this. However we must weigh privacy & security vs. using BYOD devices and integrity on exams.
    Incentivized
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    Apereo
    I've used Sakai to supplement my Public Speaking class. Public Speaking is very much a F2F type course, so I didn't use Sakai much for course content delivery. However, I did use it to post my syllabus, post my lecture slides, communicate any class announcements, and to conduct a final exam for the class. Building the final exam was very simple and I was easily able to swap out questions to vary it from term to term. Before I was a staff member and lecturer, I used Sakai as a student. My instructor used Sakai to varying degrees. I really appreciated it being the one-stop-receptacle for all-things class related. If I somehow lost an assignment instruction sheet, I could rely on it being posted there. For multimedia work it was lacking, at that time, but I know Sakai has been updated over time and I hope that part of it has improved. If I was ever frustrated by Sakai, it was because faculty used it in a piecemeal way. It's fine not to want to use the gradebook, but don't enter some grades and not others. It's wonderful to upload class documents to it; but don't do some and not others. Whatever way you're going to use Sakai, commit to it and use it well. Your students will thank you.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Lenovo
    • Lenovo LanSchool has a very easy to use and easy to learn interface. With software, the hardest thing to do is to teach new teachers or veteran teachers how to use technology in their classrooms. Being able to easily teach teachers to use this software is one of the best aspects of the [Lenovo LanSchool].
    • Something that LanSchool does well is to monitor student actions. On the screens, you can see all the linked computers of all students. This feature lets you see every student on one screen. The alternative is walking around the classroom or scrolling through pages of student screens, with LanSchool you can guarantee that you are seeing all screens at once.
    • Overall classroom management is a key feature on the platform. You can share files, freeze student screens, blank out student screens and share another screen to the entire class. There are far more options in terms of engaging the students than a conventional method of asking students to pay attention. Installing LanSchool is a huge asset for teachers to engage and update their lessons.
    • A cool element I seldom use is the speaking software, being able to speak through their computer screens is great to give direction or get attention quickly.
    Incentivized
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    Apereo
    • Sakai is flexible, providing a way for our customers (instructors) to customize their courses while staying in line with consistency and continuity of course design. This has allowed our courses to be far less cookie-cutter and stale. This is mostly accomplished through Sakai's LTI functionality and it's Lessons tool. This is particularly notable because not every course is the same, nor should it be. Our faculty and course developers can draw from OER resources, course text publisher assessment quiz banks and pull in content from sources from our library databases and services like YouTube.
    • Sakai is customizable, allowing us to pair it with our student information system to automatically create and track with student registration data - including adding new students and removing students who have elected to drop a course. The customization features also include being able to create course templates for individual schools or courses using specific tools or sequences of tools as well as a way to personalize content for students when they engage with each lesson.
    • Sakai is stable in the market. We have been using Sakai for almost 10 years and continue to see it improve; responding to changing trends in browser technologies, mobile platforms and accessibility requirements. Multiple programs offered over the years have been recognized by outside organizations like BestColleges.com for our programs and given high marks by students taking the courses offered in Sakai.
    • Sakai allows our faculty to inform it's continued evolution. We work closely with the developers, having a front seat to how things can work and function for our faculty. There have been multiple occasions where faculty ask, "Can Sakai do this?" and the answer is never "No."
    Read full review
    Cons
    Lenovo
    • Messaging could be improved for notification when messages are sent.
    • When multiple users use the same computer, sometimes LanSchool needs to be restarted to show changes in usernames.
    • You can save layouts, but I would like more options for how to arrange the layout you see the computers on your screen.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Apereo
    • The coming upgrade will address many issues, the visual presentation of sites and courses
    • The Forums (discussion) tool is not natively integrated into the Gradebook, but needs another step to connect the two.
    • The Wiki tool is awkward and not WYSIWYG. But I understand that is common with wikis in most platforms
    • The Help documentation could use some focus on student needs rather that course developer needs
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Lenovo
    No answers on this topic
    Apereo
    Sakai is a good general learning management system - it is not leading edge but rather a stable system with standard learning management system features. It can be fairly easily customized and is fairly easy to learn from both student learning and faculty administrative vantage points. New paradigms for online learning though are emergent so the current field should also be investigated with competitors.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Lenovo
    No answers on this topic
    Apereo
    When faculty are preparing courses from term to term, a portion of the content is static within a specific discipline. The time it takes to import past lessons into new versions of Sakai can be an inefficient use of my time. When I want to add new content and edit from the old content, it's reliant upon me to cut and paste the content from term to term rather than simply import and edit from a backup.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Lenovo
    No answers on this topic
    Apereo
    Since Sakai is open-source their documentation is often lacking and support is absolutely needed onsite. Internal documentation is more important with Sakai than other services. The Sakai community is fun, passionate, engaged, and absolutely doing their best, but it's an uphill battle against the current market and trends.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Lenovo
    No answers on this topic
    Apereo
    No, I don't
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Lenovo
    VNC Connect required you to manually add the "client" workstations to the "dashboard".
    Incentivized
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    Apereo
    As an adjunct professor, I didn't pick Sakai for the university. I have experience with Moodle, Blackboard, eCollege, iBoard and now Sakai. I would have to say that Sakai is one of my all time favorite LMSs to use as it is very easy to navigate.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Lenovo
    • Helps us serve thousands of students each year
    • Has helped us improve classroom management
    • Saves us time with technology set up (e.g. being able to do all from Lanschool, not having to set up each individual computer every day)
    Incentivized
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    Apereo
    • Sakai makes it easy for students to monitor grades which puts their minds at ease.
    • Sakai makes it easy for teachers to assign and receive assignments from students.
    • Communication is one of the most important and one of the most taxing parts of an educational system. Sakai makes this process just a little bit easier.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots