We performed a comparison between Blackboard Learning Management and Google Classroom based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Our users prefer Google Classroom over Blackboard Learning Management because of its flexibility, convenience, and affordability. Users appreciate Google Classroom's ease of use and native integration with other Google apps. They value the ability to reuse materials and access them on the cloud. Blackboard has been faulted for its inability to handle large file sizes and shortcomings in student management. While users say that Google Classroom is cost-effective for educational institutions, reviewers found Blackboard to be expensive, and it requires frequent updates.
"The modules and courses are flexible."
"It encompasses various components, including course delivery modules, content management, community engagement features, digital classrooms, and mobile integration."
"One of the most important features is the possibility of creating unlimited subdomains."
"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 is scalable."
"What I liked most about Google Classroom is it was very easy to communicate with the students and simple for me to learn even though it was the first time I was using it. I was able to learn the features very well by navigating through the different discussions forums and becoming proficient, not necessarily a master but knowledgeable in using the solution. The ease of use was the best feature."
"Google Classroom is simple to use."
"I find Jamboard to be a great tool for supporting classroom activities."
"When a teacher uploads material, all students connected to that class will receive the same information at the same time. I have found this to be a valuable feature. I also like that the material remains in Google Classroom until the teacher removes it. The UI is user-friendly, and you don't have to have prior experience to use the solution."
"I can see all the submissions in a central place."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to share my lectures with many students, assign tasks to be completed, and overall student engagement."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability for the lecturer to put in work. Additionally, the work can be graded after completion, and there can be feedback provided through the system which has a good interface."
"I like that Google Classroom is free and integrates with the entire Google Suite, which includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, etc. I also like its flexibility, which makes it perfect for synchronous, asynchronous, and blended courses, and including live and archived webinars, as well as other kinds of content."
"The system falls short in terms of managing assessments and exams effectively."
"The solution must provide better integration with third-party software."
"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."
"The solution is not flexible."
"It would be ideal to create a more responsive or more intuitive template for access from telephones or tablets."
"Google Classroom could improve by being easier to use. For example, making it functional with only a few buttons. It's difficult to know how to connect with students and make a link and share it with them. I found it difficult, and this is why I didn't continue using it. Additionally, it should be available to be downloaded to the desktop for use, similar to Zoom."
"It would be useful if this solution had its own online teaching platform with an integration with a Google video conferencing tool."
"The user interface of Google Classroom could improve by being more user-friendly."
"There are some websites where you can create activities and guide students to do them in a sequence. You can guide them to do an activity first and then go to the next one. You can automatically link activities, and there is a flow, but in Google Classroom, you don't have that feature. All you can do is put the material and tell students what to do. For example, I have an assignment, but I want my students to read a particular text before that. They need to tick it, or they need to click next before they start doing the activity. After that, I want them to do comprehension questions or something else. In Moodle, there are activities such as assignments, quizzes, etc. There is a lesson module in which you can put all of the activities in a flow. So, you can decide what they need to do first. If students answer a question incorrectly, you can decide and design to which page do they need to go next, and which part do they need to review. This is currently missing in Google Classroom."
"The solution's GUI is an area of concern currently that can be considered for improvement in the future."
"The stability could be improved."
"Students used to have points that were accumulated and the letter grades, such as A's, B's, C's, et cetera. Google Classroom should add a feature by which you can toggle in between both of them. It's more than only accumulated points, which are not going to mean that much for students unless there's a prize at the end or some type of reward for the effort. However, if there's a way to toggle in between allocating points versus allocating a grade, it would be nice."
"There are a lot of things that need to be fixed in order for it to be called a learning management system. I think that's where a lot of people are very confused in terms of what Google Classroom actually does. Google Classroom is not a learning management system. A learning management system allows teachers to grade with authenticity and doesn't provide only one grade for a particular document or assignment."
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Blackboard Learning Management is ranked 8th in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 6 reviews while Google Classroom is ranked 3rd in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 23 reviews. Blackboard Learning Management is rated 7.8, while Google Classroom is rated 8.2. 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 Google Classroom writes "It's free and integrates seamlessly with many tools". Blackboard Learning Management is most compared with CYPHER Learning and ELITE LMS, whereas Google Classroom is most compared with Moodle, Canvas LMS and CYPHER Learning. See our Blackboard Learning Management vs. Google Classroom report.
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