8 Great Google Classroom Alternatives (2023): Weighing the Pros and Cons

n a world where technology is constantly evolving, it's no surprise that the way we learn is changing too. Increasingly, classrooms are integrating technology into their lesson plans and taking advantage of the many resources the internet has to offer. Google Classroom is one such tool that is becoming popular in schools. However, it's not the only option out there.

If you're looking for Google Classroom alternatives, you've come to the right place. There are a variety of apps like Google Classroom that can offer similar or even better features. Each of them has its unique features and benefits. Here are the top Google Classroom alternatives to check out:

We’ll discuss these platforms in greater detail but first let’s take care of the basics. 

What is Google Classroom? 🤔

Google Classroom is a free teaching and learning service for schools, non-profits, and anyone with a Google account. Classroom allows teachers to put up and organize assignments swiftly, give feedback efficiently, and communicate easily with their classes. The platform had around 150 million users worldwide in 2021, which is almost a 100% increase from 2019.

Classroom turns Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides into a powerful learning platform. By creating a Classroom, teachers can easily post assignments and announcements, create projects, and keep track of students' progress. Students can use Classroom to access their assignments and course materials, submit work, and communicate with their teachers and classmates. They can also turn on Google Classroom notifications to easily keep track of things.

Google Classroom is integrated with G Suite for Education, so teachers and students can use Classroom alongside other G Suite tools such as Gmail, Drive, and Calendar. It is available for anyone with a Google account, but some Google Classroom features are only available to G Suite for Education users.

You can use Google docs in Google Classroom to support the learning process. Google Classroom opens up a world of possibilities for educators. It is suitable for high school and college classrooms, as well as for distance learning and flipped classrooms.

💚 Advantages of Google Classroom

Some of the advantages of using Google Classroom include:

• The Google team is always developing new features and working to make the platform more user-friendly.
• Classroom is very intuitive and easy to use. Even if you are not familiar with Google products, you should be able to figure out how to use Classroom with ease.
• Google Classroom integrates with many other Google products, making it a very powerful tool for educators. For example, you can easily embed YouTube videos or Google Docs into your class.
• Classroom is free to use! This is a huge benefit for schools who are tight on budgets.

🔴 Disadvantages of Google Classroom

• Google Classroom does not have as many features and tools as some other learning management systems.
• It can be difficult to use on mobile devices.
• The built-in messaging system is very basic and does not offer much in terms of customization.
• Google application services have limitations when integrating with external services, and in some situations there is no support between the built-in services.
• It lacks automated quizzes and tests, neat transcripts, forums, and real-time discussions to increase student-teacher feedback.
• If you run into any problems with Google Classroom, it’s difficult to get direct support from Google. You will have to rely on third-party forums and documentation.

Alternatives to Google Classroom and What Makes Them Successful Learning Management Systems 

As an instructor, you have many options when it comes to using technology to facilitate learning. 

While Google Classroom is a popular tech platform for that purpose, there are many alternatives available that may better suit your needs. 

Consider the features that are most important for you and your students before settling for one of these alternatives. 

Here are a few of the most popular alternatives to Google Classroom:

EducateMe

EducateMe is a modern, user-friendly LMS platform that lets you organize your cohort learning programs. The platform can be used to run live sessions, so it's very flexible for users. You can integrate Zoom or embed Jitsi on the platform, depending on your preference.

The platform allows instructors to automatically record meetings, track student progress and provide insights through in-built analytics tools. It also allows Students to send feedback, making the process more effective and helping instructors improve their teaching.

EducateMe's cohort-based LMS platform is designed to help instructors create hitch-free collaborative learning sessions and students learn simultaneously. It has proven to be an excellent alternative to Google Classroom.

Pros of EducateMe

• It's an all-encompassing platform that provides instructors with all the tools they need to teach their classes from one location.
• The platform offers students a remarkable cohort-based learning experience through an analytics-powered process. It analyzes student dropout rates and instructors can use the resulting reports to provide better support for students, thus increasing the completion rates of courses.
• EducateMe has great instructional design tools for creating eLearning courses.
• It allows the seamless integration of communication tools to guarantee a high level of student engagement.

Cons of EducateMe

• It doesn’t have an app for mobile devices.

TalentLMS

TalentLMS is a cloud-based LMS platform that users can install in minutes and upload their learning materials in a snap using any device that is connected. TalentLMS gives you a personal domain that you can completely customize with your choice logo and style. 

The platform has building pieces that allow you to scale your training to meet changing demands. Their services are designed to meet the needs of small to medium-sized organizations and larger ones as well. It is a one of the Google Classroom business alternatives that is focused on corporate learning.

Pros of TalentLMS

• Easy to use and deploy - TalentLMS is easy to administer and use. You won't need any demanding training to use it.
• Flexible - You can create multiple courses for different departments within your organization, or even create a separate course for each of your employees or clients.
• Good support - The customer support team is willing to help with any problems you might have with the system or with building your courses.
• Security - Your private information is protected on the encrypted channels of TalentLMS.

Cons of TalentLMS

• TalentLMS is designed for schools.
• Price point can be an issue for some organizations. The Price range is from $69 to $459.

Canvas

Canvas is an open-source LMS owned by Instructure Inc. It is easy to use and enables educators to create and deliver online courses quickly and easily. Canvas LMS also supports a variety of Course formats, which makes it easy to customize courses to meet the needs of each individual student. With over 30 million users worldwide, it is one of the fastest-growing LMS in recent years.

Pros of Canvas

• User-friendly interface: Canvas LMS features a simple, clean interface that is easy to navigate.
• Variety of features: Canvas offers a wide range of features, including course creation tools, assignment management, grading, and discussion forums. The platform makes it easy for instructors to create assignments and provide feedback on student work. The system includes tools such as an online whiteboard (where teachers can draw or write on their computer) and an online grading system.
• Flexibility: Canvas LMS is highly customizable, allowing instructors to tailor their courses to their specific needs.

Cons of Canvas

Some issues that have hampered the teaching-learning experience on canvas platform are:

• If you don't schedule an assignment's due date for midnight, Canvas will automatically delete it after that time.
• The messages of students don’t automatically get recorded if there is no reply from the instructor.

Aha Slides

Aha Slides is an online presentation software and easy-to-use productivity tool that allows you to create, present and collaborate with your team in a simple way.

With this Google Classroom alternative, you can:

• Create beautiful presentations in minutes. With the drag-and-drop editor, you can create professional-looking slides with just a few clicks.
• Share your content with friends and colleagues. Share your presentations as PDFs or send them directly to recipients via email or Dropbox. You can even export the slides in various formats like PDF, Microsoft Visio, and more!
• Collaborate on projects with others in real time. Create presentations for groups of people at once using Slack integration or invite just one person to join your presentation using the Invite Work Space feature.

Aha Slides provides the tools needed for creating high-quality slideshows such as:

• A huge library of templates with different themes.
• Multiple layouts for each slide.
• Easy ways to customize your slides.
• An integrated social collaboration platform.

Pros of Aha Slides

• Aha Slides is incredibly easy to use, even if you’ve never created a presentation before.
• With Aha Slides, you can easily add multimedia content, animations, and transitions to make your presentations more engaging.
• Aha Slides makes it easy to collaborate with others on your presentations, so you can get feedback and make changes in real-time.
• Aha Slides presentations look great on any device, so your audience will be able to view them perfectly no matter where they are.

Cons of Aha Slides

• There are limited options for getting your text and photos positioned in the exact spot you need them within the slides.
• You cannot preview the presentation that you create.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a cross-platform communication platform that lets you communicate with your coworkers and clients, no matter where they are. It is a great tool for teams who want to keep in touch with the entire company and collaborate on projects.

Microsoft Teams is available on PCs, Macs, iPhones, Android devices, and Windows 10. It also supports many third-party apps such as Slack, Asana, Trello, Github and Zoom.

Teams can be organized into channels, which are groups of people who share an interest or topic. Channels can be private or public; if they are public, everyone can see them unless they choose to make them private again.

Microsoft Teams is a great way to improve communication and collaboration within a team. It's easy to use and has all the features you need for team collaboration, including team chat, video conferencing, and file sharing. Microsoft Teams is one of the top Google Classroom competitors.

Pros of Microsoft Teams

• Easy access: Microsoft Teams provides both web-based and mobile apps so you can always be connected no matter where you are. You'll have access to all of your teams, files, and conversations no matter what device you're on.
• Security: The Teams platform is built on Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure, meaning that data is securely stored in the cloud and data access is controlled through a central authorization system instead of having to manage user accounts manually like other platforms do.
• Interoperability: Teams integrate with many other Microsoft products including Office 365, Outlook, Skype for Business, OneDrive and more; this allows teams to leverage the power of Microsoft’s ecosystem to create new integrations between different applications that weren’t previously possible until now.
• Multiple communication channels: With Microsoft Teams, you can use multiple channels to communicate - voice calls, video calls, group chats, messages via email or text message. You use whatever works best for your team.

Cons of Microsoft Teams

• Microsoft Teams has confusing file structures which make files not easily searchable.
• You will have to pay an extra fee for the call element of Teams and also pay for the call itself.

Moodle

Moodle is a free and open source learning management system (LMS) that's available in over 100 languages. The software is used by over 30 million students around the world. Moodle allows trainers to create their own course materials and add them to a virtual library. Learners can access these courses through an online portal where they can view lectures and assignments. Instructors can also create quizzes and tests for each course they create.

It has a simple user interface which makes it easy for anyone to learn how to use it effectively. The software has several useful built-in features and other things like Google Classroom. For example, there are templates that allow users to create their own courses quickly without having to worry about programming language syntax or structure.

Pros of Moodle

• Moodle has a very active support community to answer your questions if you ever need any clarification.
• As an open source project, Moodle is constantly being improved by a community of developers.
• Moodle comes with a wide range of features that can be used to create powerful and engaging courses. From forums and wikis to quizzes and surveys, Moodle has many resources to help you create a rich learning experience.

Cons of Moodle

• Some users find the interface to be dated and not particularly user-friendly.
• Due to its open source nature, there are often security vulnerabilities that are discovered and exploited.

Excalidraw

Excalidraw is an online whiteboard drawing and collaborative tool that you can use to create simple or complex drawings. You can use it to create illustrations, diagrams, and logos. Excalidraw is easy to use and you don’t need any special skills to create beautiful drawings.

Excalidraw has several features that make it a great vector drawing tool. You can change the pen color, pen size, and background color. You can also undo and redo your drawings. Excalidraw also has a grid that you can use to help you create precise drawings.

Pros of Excalidraw

• Excalidraw facilitates easy collaborations.
• Its virtual whiteboard is very convenient to use.
• The end-to-end encryption offers a good level of security

Cons of Excalidraw

• You need to stay connected with a partner before a drawing collaboration is possible and that could be quite stressful at times.
• Some templates and libraries are missing.

Wordpress

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that enables you to create a website or blog from scratch, or to improve an existing website. WordPress is used by millions of people around the world, including many large organizations, such as The Guardian, Forbes, and The New York Times.

While Wordpress is not specifically designed as a learning management system (LMS), it certainly has the potential to be used as one. There are already a number of plugins and themes available that enable you to turn your Wordpress site into an LMS. In addition, Wordpress is highly customizable, so you can create a unique learning experience for your students.

There are many themes available that are specifically designed for use as an LMS. These themes typically include features such as course management, student profiles, quizzes and assignments, and integration with third-party learning tools.

When choosing a theme, be sure to select one that is responsive, meaning it will look good on all devices, including smartphones and tablets. You'll also want to make sure the theme is compatible with the plugins you plan to use.

In addition to a theme, you'll need to install plugins to add LMS features to your Wordpress site. Some popular plugins include LearnDash, WP Courseware, and LifterLMS.

Each of these plugins offers different features, so be sure to select the ones that best fit your needs. For example, LearnDash offers course creation and management tools, while WP Courseware enables you to create and sell courses online.

Pros of wordpress

• You can build a custom website to function alongside your LMS
• A lot available plugins make customization of your LMS easy
• Many of the plugins are free to install and use

Cons of wordpress

• WordPress is an open-source platform, which may make it more vulnerable to malicious attacks and exploits.
• To use some of the quality LMS plugins, you’ll need to have your server or pay for hosting. 

Conclusion

There are a number of reasons why you might be looking for Google Classroom alternatives. Maybe you're not happy with the features offered by Google Classroom. Maybe you're concerned about the privacy of your data. Or maybe you're just looking for something different. Whatever the reason, this blog post has shown there are several Google Classroom alternatives you can use for your educational/training needs.

Don't get stuck in the Google Classroom! 🤓

If you're looking for something completely different and excellent, you might want to consider EducateMe. EducateMe is a cohort-based LMS that is designed to facilitate collaboration between teachers and students, and help to deliver an exceptional learning experience for students.