We performed a comparison between Google Classroom and Moodle based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Features: Users appreciate Google Classroom for its simplicity, intuitive design, and seamless integration with Google applications. Moodle has earned high marks for its adaptability, extensive customization options, and diverse feature set, including course backup and integration with platforms like Zoom and Teams. Some users have said that Google Classroom lacks certain features of a true learning management system, has a confusing interface, and struggles with tracking assignments and feedback. It also has limited collaboration. Moodle could enhance its interface, mobile operation, and reporting features. Users say they would like to see better integration with social media, an easier setup process, and enhancements in the user interface
Service and Support: Some Google Classroom users reported challenges in obtaining assistance, while others value the forums and resources provided. Moodle's support quality depends on the circumstances. Some users reported prompt issue resolution from the team. Others expressed a desire for improvement.
Ease of Deployment: Google Classroom's initial setup is simple and quick, requiring only a few minutes to complete. Moodle's setup process is somewhat more involved. Users may require technical skills and additional training to implement Moodle correctly.
Pricing: Google Classroom pricing varies depending on the type of customer. Educational institutions can access the platform for free, but private companies need to pay. Customers may incur additional expenses for storage and integration. Moodle is a free open-source product with no yearly or monthly fees. However, companies may need to spend money to customize and integrate Moodle.
ROI: Google Classroom does not offer a quantifiable return on investment, whereas Moodle has proven to be a valuable and efficient solution, resulting in financial and time savings.
Comparison Results: According to our reviews, users prefer Google Classroom over Moodle. Users appreciate its easy-to-use interface, integration with other Google apps, and the ability to communicate with students and assign points. They also say that uploading class materials is easy and convenient. Users find Moodle's interface and mobile operation less user-friendly and in need of improvement. Overall, users like Google Classroom better because of its simplicity, convenience, and responsiveness to user feedback.
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to meet people and it is online."
"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."
"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."
"What I like about Google Classroom are the video lessons. I enjoy using it because it makes my life easier, for example, I can easily change my class and my lecture notes."
"Google Classroom is easy to use and intuitive, and it's not difficult to set up."
"This solution integrates with all the other Google apps including Google Calendar and Google Docs. This makes it very easy to manage."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is security."
"The product's most valuable feature is the ability to import and export documents for courses, assessments, and questionnaires in any format."
"The best thing about Moodle is that it is open source and has many useful plugins. It is a great solution for an organization that needs modifications and customization."
"The most valuable feature of Moodle is the exam question shuffle. Students in the classroom will all have different question list numbers. For example, one student's question one will be another student's question ten."
"A really nice thing about Moodle is that it is very robust and flexible, and one of the big advantages of Moodle is that it is open source. It also has a lot of free documentation."
"The solution is stable."
"It is relatively easy to use to build processes for establishing and conducting work within the templates that are used. It is not that hard to follow along or use, and it is pretty simple to pick it up and run with it."
"Moodle integrates with many third party plugins, which has enabled us to make use of the latest technology. During the Covid 19 period, we used a plugin called BigBlueButton to facilitate online learning which was quick and easy to do."
"Cost-effective and intuitive."
"There's room for improvement in the offline functionality. When you're working with a class, you can't close the class or perform certain tasks when you're offline."
"I would like to see a better user experience, a more engaging interface, and more templates. Google should develop templates or at least encourage developers to share them. You'll only get a basic framework when you create a new course. You don't have different themes to choose from like you do in Moodle."
"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."
"It would be helpful to add voice or audio capabilities to the classrooms instead of text only."
"Initially, the product's initial setup phase may not seem user-friendly."
"We found that Google Classroom is it is missing a lot in current engagement. We know it has got guardian access, where it sends the reports to the guardian at the end of either the week or the month, depending on how you set it. However, it lacks collaboration between the teacher, student, and parents. The engagement is mostly between the student and the teacher. If you have a school similar to ours, where you're dealing with little children where the parent is supposed to be engaged, you need a system that can engage them as well. It's good for senior students, but not for our students."
"I would like to see a master list of documents with folder names so that it is more convenient for students to know whether they have submitted a particular document. At present, you need to go to each classroom to check what you have submitted."
"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."
"Setting up groups and allocating privacy settings to different groups is quite complicated."
"Moodle's weakest point is the user interface."
"Sometimes, discrepancies arise when the information is not updated or lacks precision, potentially leading to the model producing misleading or incorrect outputs based on its training."
"They need to have a better way to illustrate competencies so that, when people go through the programs, they can actually show they are competent in the subject matter."
"Sometimes, the gradebook can get broken if an incorrect formula is entered during creation."
"It would be a benefit if there was an easy single sign-on with social media services for Moodle. There are some plugins that I tried, but they didn't work seamlessly. it is a work in progress. Having the single sign-on with social media services would be appreciated because in my school we are using Google suite and the main reason why we use Google Classroom is that it is integrated seamlessly with the suite."
"The solution architecture could be improved."
"The multi-tenancy system within Moodle could be improved. IOMAD is what makes the multi-tenancy possible but this comes with many issues."
Google Classroom is ranked 3rd in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 23 reviews while Moodle is ranked 2nd in Learning Management Systems (LMS) with 26 reviews. Google Classroom is rated 8.2, while Moodle is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of Google Classroom writes "An easy-to-use and intuitive solution that can be used to facilitate excellent teaching and learning". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Moodle writes "Inexpensive and pretty easy to use, but not easily adaptable for an individual". Google Classroom is most compared with Canvas LMS, Blackboard Learning Management and CYPHER Learning, whereas Moodle is most compared with SAP SuccessFactors Learning, CYPHER Learning, Chamilo LMS, LearnWorlds and TalentLMS. See our Google Classroom vs. Moodle report.
See our list of best Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors.
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