Renaissance myON vs. Udacity

myON is a good program for all students in the middle grades. Using the suggested readings, several of our EL students have increased their vocabulary as well as overall reading proficiency in English by at least 1/2-1 grade equivalent within a school year.

Incentivized

Udacity is great for working professionals who want to continue their education by learning relevant technical job skills. The platform offers a well-produced content library with new courses added regularly. Overall, Udacity is best suited for individuals who need to gain technical industry experience and certifications in order to better perform in their workplaces. Udacity is a very valuable resource, however, I would not recommend it for all organizations - as there are more cost-friendly options on the market.

Incentivized

• Helps students gain comprehension by suggesting reading materials at their level.
• Because the program has the capacity to read to the students, they get a to hear a good role model which helps develop fluency and accuracy in their reading.
• It is easy to access and helps keep students on track with their reading goals.

Incentivized

• Practical exercises and projects definitely helps you understand how you may apply the skills and knowledge in real-world projects.
• Strong Community where people are generally friendly and helpful for answering questions. Udacity has also made an effort to encourage engagement between all the people who are taking the same courses.
• You can watch a video, access reading materials and attempt an exercise without leaving the Udacity environment which is definitely a plus for me.

Incentivized

• I could never figure it out.
• Students levels from their STAR test did not translate into the books suggested on myON.
• The platform is cumbersome and inaccessible for students and teachers.
• I am fairly tech-savvy, but I could never navigate through and understand how myON worked. Eventually, I gave up and switched to Epic.
• The book selection was poor. Only the non-fiction books were interesting to my students. None of the popular titles and authors were available.
• It was a big disappointment and frustration for me and my students.

Incentivized

• Organization of courses is not very user-friendly, especially the sequence of courses to take should be more elucidated for a beginner.
• There are some courses which are completely tool based on using Alteryx. Instead, more focus on concepts can be given.
• The depth of the courses is another issue. The free courses are good for beginners but not to go to the next level.
• Nanodegree programs can be better priced.

Incentivized

For the most part, site usability is great. I would say the only shortcoming from my end was when I needed support. Support responses were typically very slow, the few times I needed it.

Incentivized

I believe this product provides students with faster and easier access to books. This increases their time spent on task reading. myON reader is a product that is great for students and teachers.

If there are any issues and concerns while using myON, there are many help resources available to offer assistance.

myON Reader works so well with the rest of the Renaissance Platform. This consistency is great for everyone!

Incentivized

I didn't personally have any issues with the program, but scheduling time to review the final project was easy, and the assistant was pleasant to work with.

Incentivized

All the Renaissance products are so user friendly and have the ability to fit into any educator's classroom needs. [Renaissance] myON [Reader] goes hand in hand with Accelerated Reader and easily links the quizzes for the students to access. My students have stayed so engaged while reading/listening to fun books on different topics for class. They love the fact that they can listen to the books while following along in the digital book. This helps my struggling readers have success.

Incentivized

Skillsoft has been utilized and powered by enterprise organizations while Udacity is more of a side benefit and not requiring much commitment to signup for. Skillsoft has more material in terms of e-books and videos to go through while Udacity is more to use while someone is ready and have been familiar with the topic already. We have Udacity a lot due to efficiency in terms of getting set up right away on individual use.

Incentivized

• Students continued to read on their level and were motivated by all of the books being an AR book with a quiz and points to earn.

Incentivized

• Taking the courses I took allowed me to list skills on my resume that have opened up conversations on jobs where previously I could not even have a discussion.

Incentivized