We performed a comparison between Blackboard Learning Management and CYPHER Learning based on our users' reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Features: Blackboard Learning Management is a highly efficient platform for consolidating grading information and monitoring student involvement. CYPHER Learning distinguishes itself with its training videos, gamification, personalized content, and user-friendly interface. Blackboard Learning Management could better manage large files, monitor student activity, incorporate video feedback, and improve the assignment viewing pane. CYPHER Learning should focus on enhancing its grading system, integration, reporting options, and mobile app integration.
Service and Support: Blackboard Learning Management has a well-staffed customer service team. CYPHER Learning is praised for its accessible support team, prompt responses, knowledgeable staff, and commitment to implementing customer suggestions.
Ease of Deployment: Blackboard Learning Management has a straightforward initial setup, but some faculty members have encountered issues. CYPHER Learning has received positive feedback for its easy initial setup and excellent onboarding training.
Pricing: Blackboard Learning Management is considered an expensive option, whereas many users describe CYPHER Learning's price as competitive and reasonable.
ROI: Users did not see any return on investment with Blackboard Learning Management. CYPHER Learning resulted in cost savings, reduced workforce, and increased efficiency and productivity.
Comparison Results: CYPHER Learning is generally preferred over Blackboard Learning Management. Users value CYPHER Learning's product training videos, personalized content, and gamification. CYPHER Learning has an intuitive interface, and the cloud-based platform requires minimal maintenance. Users also praise CYPHER Learning's customer service and support. The pricing is competitive, offering good value for the features provided. Users consider CYPHER Learning a more efficient and cost-effective solution for managing and tracking learners than Blackboard Learning Management.
"The modules and courses are flexible."
"Blackboard enables instructors to collectively gather all the grading data into one place. If students upload content or post it to a Google Doc, I can do my grading and calculate the grades. It is an excellent holding place for all of that data"
"It encompasses various components, including course delivery modules, content management, community engagement features, digital classrooms, and mobile integration."
"It is scalable."
"One of the most important features is the possibility of creating unlimited subdomains."
"The ability to integrate it with a lot of our third-party service providers like Turnitin, through a plugin, is helpful. There aren't many learning management systems that integrate so well with different APIs and LTIs, especially when a school has various tools in its tech stack."
"One of the features that is very good is the automation for setting trigger rules that show or hide specific class sections or assignments."
"Compared to other platforms, it is very user-friendly and intuitive, and both teachers and students can easily find what they need and use the functions without extensive training."
"One of the things that we are really excited about is being able to tie the state or national standards as competencies. Then, when students complete a course, they are awarded certain competencies or standards that we have aligned with the course. This shows schools evidence that students are meeting standards. Right now, we are not tying any of our courses with how schools are testing and assessing students. However, our company goals are to provide access to STEM for all students and help schools engage with communities to develop the STEM talent and workforce, which then impacts a community's economic development."
"For as long as I have been working with MATRIX (for a few years now), they have the social aspect with groups. The thing that they did not have for years, until earlier this year, was a reply-all feature. I had been asking for that for years and they finally added it this year. That has been helpful because now our students are less frustrated."
"CYPHER Learning is a user-friendly platform that makes it easy for me to manage my instructors and track my learners."
"E-commerce is still one of the exotic features, meaning that not all LMS providers offer it. It is critical for us. We have had no trouble implementing payment gateways with this system and it works out-of-the-box without any special tricks."
"This platform not only allows you to transmit the content in an agile and interactive way, but you can also interact with the students and keep them up to date. It is a platform that provides communication with the student, not only academically but also personally."
"Blackboard has limitations in terms of delivering content and assessing student assignments because it can't handle large file sizes. It's also limited in its ability to track student activity. Instructors can see the student's most recent login, but they can't follow the activity."
"It would be ideal to create a more responsive or more intuitive template for access from telephones or tablets."
"The solution must provide better integration with third-party software."
"The solution is not flexible."
"The system falls short in terms of managing assessments and exams effectively."
"I have one team member who is in charge of monitoring and checking students' progress. She is very tech savvy and has really dove into the reporting feature in CYPHER Learning. If I had one complaint, it would be the reporting. It is so robust and detailed that it is hard to obtain some of the specific things that we want. That has been her response to me, and I have found the same thing. If I just want to know how many students have completed a course in a specific organization, then it is a little bit too daunting and difficult to obtain exactly what we use as our key indicators."
"There are some tools that facilitate dialogue but not many that help produce continuous interaction. There is room for improvement in the area of interaction. I'd like to see more ways for the student to communicate with their classmates."
"The parents' training was not adequate. Parents say that it wasn't user-friendly for them."
"One thing that has been a problem is that CYPHER Learning doesn't save the students' work while they are doing it. For example, if you are on a Google Doc, and you close your Google Doc, then you come back, the work that you did has been saved. However, in CYPHER Learning, if for some reason the student clicks out of CYPHER Learning and goes back in, whatever they typed isn't saved. That is an area that they need to improve. A lot of my students may write an essay, but if they are two paragraphs in and their iPad crashes or something, when they go back, they are like, "All my work is gone." So, this would be an area that I would recommend for improvement in CYPHER Learning. It needs to auto save, and it doesn't auto save. That is definitely a weakness."
"There is further work to be done on the translation accuracy of international languages. It is really a challenge to have a system for perfect translation, especially as there are unique dialects embedded in different languages. In the future, the platform can have an integrated application that can "precisely" translate languages."
"Improvement is needed to the reporting options and system because sometimes it's not very accurate. We feel that there are not enough aspects to report on. We need some more advanced reporting."
"I would like to see better integration of the platform with Zoom or Meet so that programming of video conferences would be much more interactive within those platforms. Currently, if we have to do a conference in Zoom or Meet, we have to leave the platform because we cannot do so directly within it."
"CYPHER Learning should definitely offer live video conferencing integration."
More Blackboard Learning Management Pricing and Cost Advice →
Blackboard Learning Management is ranked 7th in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 6 reviews while CYPHER Learning is ranked 1st in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 50 reviews. Blackboard Learning Management is rated 7.8, while CYPHER Learning is rated 9.0. The top reviewer of Blackboard Learning Management writes "Expandable with good real-time live interactions but is very expensive". On the other hand, the top reviewer of CYPHER Learning writes " Rules engine allows us to automate aspects of our training, and we get full visibility into individual students' progress". Blackboard Learning Management is most compared with Google Classroom and ELITE LMS, whereas CYPHER Learning is most compared with Moodle, Canvas LMS, TalentLMS, Cornerstone Learning and Google Classroom. See our Blackboard Learning Management vs. CYPHER Learning report.
See our list of best Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors.
We monitor all Learning Management Systems (LMS) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.