CYPHER Learning Reviews

We've been using it for the delivery of our learning materials as well as for assessments of our students. Similarly, if training has to be conducted for our employees, including faculty members and school staff, all the materials are readily available in our LMS.

We have saved a lot as far as courier services are concerned. In the past, before CYPHER Learning, we would burn our materials onto CDs and send them out across the country via courier. With the LMS, all our materials are uploaded and they are almost instantaneously available for access within our school.

Apart from those costs, it has saved us time. We had a procedure where our materials would be posted on OneDrive and then one person was responsible for accessing and distributing them in each of our schools. With CYPHER Learning, we have been able to cut out that step. Now, when we develop the materials in our headquarters, the faculty members are able to access them instantaneously. By removing that interim step, we have saved man-hours. Administratively, CYPHER Learning has helped us save time.

It has also definitely helped us to save costs related to the printing of materials because we no longer print our materials. Teachers and students get access to them through their devices.

We also make use of other solutions to help address higher-order thinking skills, and CYPHER Learning supports that. Activities that help our students achieve or acquire higher-order thinking are very important because that's how we make sure that we prepare our students. That's how we ascertain that we are delivering quality education to our students and that they are really achieving the intended learning outcomes of the particular program they are enrolled in.

There are several valuable features. One is the competency mapping. This helps us, as faculty members and developers of learning materials, track and monitor which competencies our students have acquired, based on the outcomes that we wanted them to have at the end of a particular module or term.

And tagging classes and assignments with competencies is user-friendly, from the feedback I get from my team. There are options for whether it is a required module or assignment. Is it something that they can do on their own? It can be tagged such that it will only be given on a particular day. All of these types of tagging features are available. You just upload your materials and tag them to be, for example, self-paced or on a particular schedule. Then you just leave it and it unhides a particular module when a student has to complete it.

The tagging and the achievement of competencies, together, are almost always seamless. When you tag a particular competency in the mapping in a module, the student really has to achieve it. The competency mapping will show if they have reached a particular level of competency, because the mapping of achievements is color-coded. Teachers know when a student is still in the red zone, orange zone, or has reached the green zone. The modules in CYPHER Learning are well thought out. This feature is user-friendly for the teacher, and the students, as the end-users of the materials, are also able to see their progress.

Also, there are different types of learning materials that we can put in the LMS. Some are web-based, meaning we can embed a URL in the system, and it automatically leads the student or the user to the online materials we're going to use.

And on the dashboards, we are able to see the progress of our students, such as whether they have been able to do their assignments or homework and submit everything that they have to submit.

In addition, the adaptive learning is a feature that I really appreciate. Especially when the pandemic happened and classes were mostly asynchronous, we populated our library of materials. If a student had not yet reached a particular grade or level to proceed to the next module, we gave them additional modules to watch, read, and practice on, to better understand things. They would not proceed to the next level or module until they were able to earn a particular score. That's how we apply adaptive learning. This feature was something that we always wanted CYPHER Learning to have, but they went full-scale with it only recently. It has really helped us make sure that everybody is on the right track in mastering, or at least acquiring, fundamental knowledge and skills before they proceed to the next module.

We also do make use of the solution's competency-based learning, which is another feature they just introduced recently. It will help bridge the gap between what industries need when our students graduate and they join the workforce, and what we teach them in the classroom. It's something that we are exploring at the moment, and it's something that we've always wanted to have. The goal is that the students, when they graduate, will be able to show a portfolio of the competencies that they needed to acquire during their time with STI.

Communication through CYPHER Learning is just like on any other multimedia platform. Anything that has to do with schoolwork or official communication has to go through the CYPHER Learning or Microsoft Office. CYPHER Learning is like their Facebook for school. This communication is very important because there are a lot of things that come from our headquarters that have to cascade to the schools. The LMS helps us eliminate the transfer of communication from one person to another. When there are announcements that have to be done network-wide, CYPHER Learning helps ease that communication between head office and the entire network. We don't have to worry about the possibility that something was never relayed to the students or faculty members.

Most of our wish list for CYPHER Learning has already been addressed. One that we are still asking them for is to include competencies from different industries, since they have industry partners. These would be the competencies that these industries need so that we can make sure that we are developing our students toward those competencies or skill sets. 

Also, because the competency mapping feature is very well thought out, our wish list also includes that when our students graduate, they are able to print, download, or access the competencies that they have achieved in the four years that they studied with us at STI. That portfolio could then be shown when they apply for a job, and employers would see that it has been mapped out according to the industry's standards.

I have been using CYPHER LEARNING since 2016.

It's scalable because when we have requests they're able to find solutions or they tell us it's something they're considering. CYPHER LEARNING is able to address the needs of its clients.

We have 91,000 users of CYPHER Learning. There are 63 campuses of STI that are using it. You can just imagine how confident we are with CYPHER Learning because 91,000 of our students are using it every single day of their lives at school.

As far as our learning materials and assessments go, we really make use of the platform and, therefore, students have to use it. Everything is there. Teachers should be giving their assignments through CYPHER Learning, but of course, sometimes they don't. But the idea is they should be using it.

CYPHER LEARNING has very good customer support. Sometimes, because of their number of customers, it takes a little bit longer for them to reply to us. Sometimes, it takes them a week to reply to us, but those are rare cases. Most of the time, when our team chats with them, they are able to get back to us pretty quickly. Very seldom do they need to ask me to escalate an issue to one of their senior staff. They're able to address our concerns.

Positive

We didn't have a previous solution.

We have seen ROI because we have been able to cut down on time, courier services, freight, and the time it takes for things to travel from one campus to another. It is really the time savings that have been very good and important for us.

CYPHER LEARNING is very flexible when it comes to pricing. They hear out their customers and see where they can help them as far as cost is concerned. They look at long-term relationships and partnerships with their clients. It's very easy to talk to them regarding the cost and tell them why we can only afford a particular price bracket. When we explain that to them, they are able to adjust. At the end of the day, they are really looking to build and keep relationships and partnerships with their clients.

We evaluated two or three other solutions. And we are still evaluating different solutions when they approach us, but CYPHER Learning still stands when it comes to modules, features, benefits, and costs.

If you're looking into a product like this, you first have to understand what you want from an LMS. There is no one-size-fits-all for a particular institution. You have to list what your non-negotiables are, and then make sure that the provider is able to give you the things on that list.

It's also very important when you are deciding on an LMS that the team presenting it to you knows what they're talking about and that they'll take care of you. Some will present a solution to you, but when you ask a question they're not confident in their answers. That's a red light for me.

As for gamification, it is something that helps students learn, but we have discovered that it's not a silver bullet. You cannot gamify everything. It is something that helps engage students in their learning, however, it cannot be the only approach. You really have to know what your objectives and outcomes are and then include gamification. Otherwise, it will just be something that the students will take advantage of, and they will no longer learn. It becomes repetitive for them.

Gamification is nice because it drives and motivates students, but you have to vary gamification modules with other types of delivery. We tried dashboards and leaderboards, but sometimes students aren't motivated by those either. You have to strike a balance. It's nice to have, but are we able to achieve the intended learning outcome?

We have to keep on exploring things because CYPHER Learning has a lot of modules that we can utilize. And I really appreciate their management. They're so easy to talk to. When we need something, they're able to discuss it with us and help us find solutions. They're very easy to talk to, as long as they understand where you're coming from.

Overall, it's a very well-thought-out solution. I am thankful to Graham [the founder] and the team at CYPHER LEARNING. They're very dynamic. They keep their ears to the ground regarding what their clients need. It's a very stable company.

We operate an online education platform that sells courses to audiences all over the world. We have a global audience, and we use CYPHER Learning as our primary learning management system. CYPHER Learning is our only LMS.

CYPHER Learning is a web-based application, so there is no need to deploy it. However, there is also an app that can be used to access the portal.

CYPHER Learning has allowed us to spend less time administering content. We no longer have to worry about whether our website is functioning or whether the content is being delivered as intended. That's what CYPHER Learning is for. They streamline the delivery of content, so we know how to set up classes, courses, assessments, and diplomas. CYPHER Learning also takes on a lot of the administrative burden from our organization, including customer support.

We use the gamification feature in relation to certification, but we are not yet taking full advantage of it. We are definitely looking into it.

CYPHER Learning has helped us reduce our training costs by approximately $2,000 per person trained.

CYPHER Learning has helped to reduce costs related to printing our materials.

We wouldn't be able to do what we do without CYPHER Learning. It's hard to quantify how much CYPHER Learning has helped increase profits, but it's essential to our business. Without CYPHER Learning, we wouldn't have a school.

The entire system is incredibly valuable, but one of the reasons we chose CYPHER Learning was the social interaction features, such as forums, student groups, and messaging. We hadn't seen these features in other learning management systems. The assessment management is also amazing. Overall, the system is well-designed. However, the social features were the deciding factor.

CYPHER Learning should definitely offer live video conferencing integration. We currently need to outsource this service, which means we cannot run webinars from within CYPHER Learning. This is definitely on our wish list.

The initial setup process is a bit cumbersome, but it is not impossible to complete. The company's support is excellent, so we were able to get help with any questions we had. 

The platform had a bit of a learning curve for our team, but our users, who tend to be older, were able to use it seamlessly. The average age of our users is over 50, so they are not always tech-savvy. We have had very few issues with our users being able to use the platform. Overall, the platform is user-friendly for our users, but it could be more user-friendly for administrators.

We learned some of the rules for assessments and completion the hard way. For example, if we change a role, it is not applied automatically. We have to manually update the role. We needed to verify that people had completed all the requirements to be issued a certificate. We changed the role halfway through the process because we found out that there was a gap and people were falling through the cracks. However, we had to manually correct the already-issued certificates. Therefore, the change of rules does not apply retroactively. We need to test anything that is conditional, especially completion rules.

I have been using CYPHER Learning for six years.

The solution is highly stable. In the six years we have been using CYPHER Learning, we have not experienced any downtime or crashing.

CYPHER Learning is very scalable. We are somewhere in the middle of its scalability range. This was one of the reasons we chose CYPHER Learning, as we were at the bottom of its scalability range at the time, and there is still room for us to grow comfortably without having to switch platforms.

The technical support is incredibly responsive, helpful, and respectful. They have their own support forum, where many questions have already been answered. However, if we need help, the support team has always been quick to respond and provide assistance.

Positive

The initial setup was a five out of ten. I had a general idea of the course structure, and I built it up one lesson at a time, exploring as I went. I didn't do a lot of forward planning, other than planning the course itself and then trying to use the platform to achieve that goal. I didn't start by looking at what the platform could do and then model the course on that.

The implementation was completed in-house with the help of technical support.

I give the solution a nine out of ten.

We are not yet ready to use CYPHER Learning's ability to recommend courses or assignments to learners based on their job titles or a set of competencies. This is because we sell the courses from our website. Instead, we are currently creating pathways for learners manually. This is something we want to explore further in the future, but we have not had the capacity to do so yet.

We have eight tutors that use CYPHER Learning within our organization.

There is maintenance required for the content, such as our courses. However, the platform itself does not require any maintenance, which is a great benefit of using CYPHER Learning. All of the platform's functionalities are provided by CYPHER Learning itself.

Users should know what they want to achieve with the platform, and they should also take the time to explore all of the platform's capabilities. Once users are set up, which is our current challenge, it can be difficult to add features like gamification or competency-based learning if they were not part of the original plan. Therefore, users should have a clear idea of their goals, but they should also be flexible and willing to adapt their strategy as they learn more about the platform.

We use CHYPHER Learning to deliver all our apprenticeship programs. All of the apprentice learners are added to the platform and follow several courses. We also provide access to employers so they can monitor the learners' progress.

We find that learners are much more invested in CHYPHER Learning compared to other LMS platforms we used in the past. The people who use the platform to learn and do their assignments are the ones who benefit the most from the system. It enabled us to engage with learners more than the previous systems we used.

We do a little gamification, but the problem is that our learners start at different times throughout the year. We have rolling programs, but some gamification features aren't relevant if one person starts in October and another in February. The person who started earlier will be ahead on any leaderboards, which isn't helpful. Gamification doesn't affect our learners' progress much because we haven't used it as much as we'd like. The interface isn't too important because of the nature of our rolling programs. 

We look at how we can extend what learners do based on their job roles. If they complete particular assignments well, we introduce other topics based on what they achieve. 

I don't think it has reduced our training costs. We still primarily do face-to-face instruction. Also, our goal for CYPHER Learning isn't necessarily to save money. We use it to enhance our programs. However, it saved us money on printing materials. 

The most valuable feature is competency tracking. All apprentices follow particular programs where they have to demonstrate competencies, skills, knowledge, and behavior standards. The ability to track and measure their progress against the norm is functional. By aligning the work that our learners submit and the learning resources, we get an excellent picture of where they are in their progression.

We're judged on those people's ability to achieve those competencies. We must ensure they meet the standards because they will be independently assessed after finishing the program. 

I've got one bespoke request with CYPHER Learning, but it's not an overall product improvement. I'd like a way to set deadlines for assignments to be submitted by learners' onboarding programs based on their enrollment dates. For example, if a learner starts in October, and we want the assignment submitted 30 days after that. 

We've been using CHYPHER Learning since October 2020.

CYPHER Learning is a solid platform. I rarely have problems with it. We had a caching issue a few months back, but we've had no problems aside from that. 

Adding more students to CYPHER Learning is simple. You just need to pay more money.

I rate CYPHER Learning's support a ten out of ten. I've contacted them several times and always gotten satisfactory answers. 

Positive

I built a custom solution a while ago. It was great, but keeping it updated was painful, and people constantly asked me questions about it. We also used Moodle and Lodash in the past.

I used CYPHER Learning in its previous form when it was called EDU 2.0. After that, I built my own system, but it was too much of a hassle. Finally, in 2020, I decided I would switch to another solution. I tested out Moodle, but it wasn't very good for competency-based learning, so I adopted CYPHER Learning. 

CYPHER Learning is a SaaS platform. We subscribe to it and add learners as needed. The setup is straightforward, but there are a few advanced features that you need to get your head around if you want to extend the way the platform works. I've done lots of work with webhooks and APIs to extend the platform and integrate our data systems. It's quite simple to log in and use the platform. There is no maintenance on our end. 

We are funded by the government, so we're capped at what each program costs. Students who use CYPHER Learning give us positive feedback, and the improved experience helps increase the number of learners. Getting learners to engage with the platform is always a challenge. They go on there, do the work, and leave positive feedback. It's great. 

We're considered a business, so we don't get education discounts. However, I am funded by the government the same way that a college or a school is funded. I don't have the kind of flexibility to pay these prices. It's a little bit more than I want to pay, but I'm okay with it.

I rate CYPHER Learning a ten out of ten. Before implementing CYPHER Learning, make sure you need all of its features. A lot of it is modular, so you can pick what you want.

We are using it for our technical training and onboarding.

Before the pandemic, almost all our training interventions occurred in physical spaces and simulation areas. Our trainees were mostly asked to report to the head office for a minimum of five days up to months (for some critical positions). Since we started to use the CYPHER Learning, we have been able to see a drastic improvement the length of our learning duration to about half of the previous number of days that we conducted these training interventions.

CYPHER Learning is instrumental in enabling Potato Corner to be at the forefront of remote learning engagement practices in the Philippines. In fact, Potato Corner is an active case study for some local companies, in terms of bringing value and cost savings - locally and abroad. 

The ability of the system to be used by our international support and store network is an advantage. For example, CYPHER Learning has the capacity to translate dialects or languages which helped us conduct a learning experience similar to how an actual hands on session is done. Just recently we had pilot runs using the translation capability of the system for new store openings in China and the Middle East China using Mandarin and Arabic as medium of discussions.

In terms of the platform availability, there is access to 24 hours, so we don't need to determine a specific time for training. We just give them a link, password, and period for them to complete, e.g., 5 days, then it is up to them. What's important is they pass the minimum requirements to pass the training like periodic exams and the certification process.

The solution has helped us not just survive, but get through the challenges of the pandemic with flying colors. Before, we were quite adamant on remote training practices, since for close to 28 years, our company did not venture into remote training practices. Only two years ago, that we took a major step to prove that remote training can actually be a part of the company's core programs to ensure an engaged and competent workforce. 

We use almost all the functionalities of the platform especially for product training videos, lectures, onboarding, assessment, and exams. We also use the gamification function to engage our employees and effectively reward them. In terms of portal usage. With these developments, we are able to automate almost all the onboarding and training requirements for both our new and existing workforce.  

The rules engine has helped us personalize content based on users’ goals and performance. For example, we are now working on further improving the training process for China, Middle East, and soon India markets. 

There is also a wide range of analytics in the platform that show level of engagement and interest - logged in hours, percentage of trainees / attendees taking exams and those actively using the platform. Since we have drastically lessened onsite training to almost none, we rely heavily on trainees' consistent use of the platform.

CYPHER Learning's competency-based learning feature is very important for helping ensure content is compliant with the goals of the course.

A case in point would be our crews that are assigned to stores. They go through the program and thereby complete and pass the required exams and related "certification processes". Getting them "certified" to man stations and shifts are enough proof of competence to be deployed. For those who do not pass the certification, we have them go through retraining until they eventually get certified. 

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. 

We have been using CYPHER Learning for around two years.

So far, we haven't had any major issues affecting business continuity. In the two years that we have been working with the solution, we have been able to maintain the continuity of the business, and this is the most important measure of success for us. 

There have been no problems with scalability even if Potato Corner has close to 700 Franchisees in the network. Before, we started to have LMS in 40 stores, then we went to a 100 stores in a matter of weeks. To date, we are now at almost 500 stores using CYPHER Learning for training and onboarding purposes. The plan for this year is to start involving more of our new international territories as we are on track to opening in more locations like India and other counties in the middle east.

Like Potato Corner, the World's Best Flavored French Fries Brand, Organizations and decision makers should seriously look at CYPHER Learning as a strategic partner in growing the business.

Overall, I would rate the solution including its customer service and support extension a 9 of 10. 

Positive

The entire platform has helped us automate all our company's learning and development practices. When we didn't have CYPHER Learning, we did everything onsite, e.g., we had physical and classroom training. All of that has been removed since we started using the CYPHER Learning platform. 

The deployment process was very straightforward. 

During the first six months of the implementation, we were deeply involved, as we worked on getting the system used by different stakeholders. The plan was to get everyone on the same page and be accustomed to using the solution and see it as a regular way to train and develop competencies. After that, the following months were more stable, as we continued to make notable improvements along the way.

To support this major change, we did a series of Town halls which we call a NetMeet! In these town halls, we communicated the need to invest in a platform that will be used for the long-term. 

After our Town halls, we conducted mini-virtual meetings where we met with key groups in operations, international, finance, human resources, and franchising and told them about the new Learning Management System. We had open dialogues on how the LMS will beneficial to the users of the system. 

For a period of 3 weeks thereafter, we chose certain pilot groups where we gave access to use and navigate the system. When there was immense buy in on the solution, we started to launch the LMS for all company-owned stores in the Philippines. Then we picked locations outside Metro Manila, such as Visayas and Mindanao. Eventually, we started implementing the LMS in Southeast Asia, Middle East, and just recently, the Asia Pacific region.

Before, the company tried to do learning and development via in-house We found this a little difficult as we had to regularly change certain functions which took time to accomplish, eventually resulting to a great deal of time spent on communicating such changes. When we came across the CYPHER Learning, it was more of a plug and play solution where there was very little customization so we started to implement changes / improvements faster. In terms of level of expertise, the vendor side showed competence and excellence. 

Over the past couple of years, we have opened several stores in new territories. Aside from the local operations, we have used CYPHER Learning in China, the Middle East, and Canada. 

Conservatively, CYPHER Learning has brought our costs down by 50% overall, which includes headcount. In the department where the LMS is currently managed, the workforce is down by 50% as well. From 4 individuals, there are only 2 people managing the entire learning and development process for our company. Aside from these, the cost of logistics and travel have been greatly reduced (by 70%). We no longer need to be in the different regions in the Philippines and our international territories for our expansions, as we can now conduct training 24/7 virtually. In terms of cost savings, we have reduced our annual costs by roughly 5 million pesos or 100,000 USD, with projected savings to be higher in the years to come. 

Because our cost went down by 50%, I would say that the pricing is competitive.

Before (and even during the pandemic), the company tried to create our own Learning Management System which we found to be quite difficult especially since there were a lot of changes affecting certain functions which had to be done quickly. It took the team a great deal of effort and time to communicate with all stakeholders and get the changes done. At the time we were looking for an outsourced solution, we came across CYPHER Learning, which we found to be more of a plug and play solution for us. There was a little customization and we could start to implement quickly. Eventually we ended up evaluating the platform's capabilities and ended up launching it for Potato Corner's domestic and international operations in barely 3-6 months of pilot testing.

We have started using CYPHER Learning's competency-based learning feature starting with a pilot batch in the Philippines and will encourage our global partners to do the same.

Businesses, whether big or small, should take a good look at CYPHER Learning in terms as it can really help improve remote training for companies. Teams should be open to exploring the functions of the product and what the solution can offer in terms of long-term plans. In our company, we wanted to ensure a good balance of physical training and remote training. I encourage decision makers to carefully assess is if a virtual / remote training environment suit their businesses. In general, before investing in any solution, decision makers should carefully weigh strategic goals, impact to operating costs / bottom line, and performance management.   

For Potato Corner, the solution came at a very opportune time, as we were able to proactively manage the ill effects of the global pandemic. 

I would rate the solution as a 9 out of 10.

As a reseller, our use case is for a primary school in Egypt. They use it for uploading material for the students and organizing the content throughout the year. They also use it for adding their grades in the grade book and for communication. They have also tried using the gamification and the certificates and rewarding systems in CYPHER Learning, and it has been a pretty good experience for them so far.

The school we sold the system to is pretty happy with the organization of the content and the communication with the parents that the solution provides. They were also very happy with the gamification, the automation that happens within the system when a student finishes a specific part of the content or gets a specific score.

CYPHER Learning was also an additional value for that school, something they needed as they were advertising themselves as using the latest technology in education. The system helped with that, thanks to the stability and the strong features it furnishes.

And because it's pretty organized, it helps students keep track of their standing, both in terms of the materials being covered and within the assessments that they get.

It has also helped our client school reduce administrative work. From the feedback that I have gotten, it is saving them a lot of time.

CYPHER Learning has also reduced costs related to printing materials and textbook acquisitions a lot. This is one of the reasons people are going to software. It's not because they find it is much easier. Sometimes they go for the solution because it saves on costs. That's not just true of CYPHER Learning but of many other solutions.

What I like most is the usability of the system and the many options that it has. I can make a regular course or I can have the course organized remotely. I can turn off and on any feature that I like. That's what I find most interesting. Most LMSs have a fixed template for all the courses and the whole school uses it. When it comes to younger ages, they need fewer features so there won't be a lot of hassle for the teachers and parents. That's what we can do using CYPHER Learning: Just turn off anything that we don't need in a specific course.

I can also engage with the parents or students on different levels, either via groups, within the course or the forum.

The gamification is a good feature because not all LMSs have a gaming or reward system. The leaderboard makes for competition among the students, especially from ages 10 to 15, and makes them interested in moving forward in the educational process, throughout the game. It's good because students need to be engaged more in the educational process.

I find the gamification process easy, especially if I have something in mind for the game. Many teachers also found it pretty easy, while some didn't, but they weren't familiar with using technology in general. The ones who used it regularly with the students were very satisfied with it. In the end, students using it gain points and certificates or badges, and it depends on what the teacher has in mind for the students to compete on.

It's not hard for students to use gamification because, in the end, they just have to finish the material and upload it to get a specific score on a test. They get a badge, and they can see their progress on the leaderboard. It's very rewarding.

Gamification would be much better if there were integrations with LTI tools, or if there were some built-in questions for gamification. For example, if a student achieves a specific score on a test, it would be much better if they were interactive questions added to the assignment itself from within CYPHER Learning. It would be nice if they enhanced this part of the solution. There are many platforms for gamified tests and interactive assignments and worksheets but if these features were within the system, especially the gamification part, it would be great.

For international schools in Egypt, there are certification requirements. They have to have an LMS. But for other schools, it is a value proposition. We have 100 percent face-to-face learning in Egypt, now that COVID is over. There is competition when it comes to having schools use the system and sometimes we face difficulties getting schools, in general, to support this kind of educational process. Having something like gamification helps because students are more engaged with it and are more eager to use the system. That's especially true because they are fully attending classes in the school, nothing is online anymore, other than the materials and assignments in the system. It's good to have something to catch their attention.

Also, customization of report cards is hard to handle, with the grading criteria that specific schools use. It can be done for each course, but in the end, students receive report cards or certificates for their progress throughout the term and the year and it's hard to customize these report cards. They don't have a grading scheme for the Egyptian curriculum.

In addition, if the system had some graphing abilities and not just exporting of data to Excel sheets, that would be nice. I would like to be able to run a report on something and get graphs with insightful data. In an Excel sheet, I just have to reanalyze the data.

For example, if I want to run a report on students' attendance, it doesn't have to be a number for the whole school or a sheet of numbers. It could give me some graphs on different stages or different courses. If I am analyzing a student's time spent within a course, I would like to see how many hours he spent compared to other students. It would help if there were an analytical part to the data obtained from the system.

Also, I have to do a lot of clicking to reach something. When I go back, it just closes all that I did. It collapses everything. It doesn't make it hard to use, but it's disturbing to have to do all those clicks.

We studied the product before we finally started introducing it into the Egyptian market in 2021. There is a school contracted with us for it right now so I have almost one year of user experience. We provide training on the system and technical support for the school.

We are a reseller of educational solutions, both hardware and software. They can be learning management systems, school management systems, and interactive, live panels. Sometimes we sell full solutions to a school, and we provide training and follow-up throughout the year. The Egyptian market is a bit hard to compete in, but not many companies resell these products here.

Solutions like these have gone viral with COVID-19 and schools need support and onsite training for the teachers, and this is what we've been providing for the past 12 years.

It's a pretty good product. In our company, we only resell three products, and CYPHER Learning is one of them. It's pretty reliable and it has a lot of features.

It could be used on many sites, and it will be even better once we have more schools interested in deploying LMSs in their schools. From what I have seen of the system, it could even be used in colleges and universities.

We are involved in implementing CYPHER Learning. First, we open the account and then pay for the license. Then, we start putting the data of the school on the system. We give them the courses, the users, the links for parents and students, and we start helping them with uploading the material. Sometimes, we help them with the grading process, if needed.

I find the initial setup is pretty easy, but schools here have many things inside things, inside things. It becomes a complicated hierarchy. That's what makes it hard. It's easy to get it done on the system, once we figure out what we want things to look like in the end.

We did the setup ourselves. During the first term, we started getting support from CYPHER LEARNING, and it was pretty good. We learned a few points and they gave us good support.

We have evaluated many LMSs before. Some are produced locally in Egypt, some are from the greater Middle East, and some are solutions like Blackboard, Classe365, and others. I'm familiar with using different LMSs and have done comparisons between them.

We provide many products to the Egyptian market. Our customers are the ones who choose. We find that CYPHER Learning is a pretty interesting system, full of features, and it's pretty stable. I can see that the product is developing very well and covers a lot of the needs of the Egyptian market. It's also pretty easy to use, especially if you are provided the right training from the company. We feel that there are many selling points to the product.

My advice would be to organize all the work and the output so that you can see how it would be deployed in the system, and not just look for a single output. Using technology, you can have a million outputs with the same value. You can be flexible with the system, and it will give you the results that you need.

We use it for grading and all my class assignments.

I used it during COVID. So, we had distance learning where we were doing Zoom, then I would still have the students do their assignments in CYPHER Learning during the distance learning.

I put the date in when I wanted students to be able to see an assignment. Then, I would have all the assignments in CYPHER Learning, but I wouldn't let the students see it until the day it was assigned.

I particularly like the discussions, which have been good for student engagement. Students can log in, and if we are having a discussion online, they can read everyone else's responses. They can also respond to what was said. I would have them comment on the other students' thoughts based on the discussion, and that was excellent. Organizationally, it was excellent because it is how I run my class, where all assignments are in CYPHER Learning. 

A lot of it has to do with just knowing your students and what their needs are. If I come across a student in CYPHER Learning, who is in my class, then I can grade according to whatever their specific needs are. I can help them in a class according to what their needs are.

Once you get your class set up in CYPHER Learning, you can reuse assignments or go to the library and find assignments. Once everything is in CYPHER Learning, you can reuse it, which is awesome.

I like the survey, quiz, and discussion features. The grading program is pretty good too. I do a lot of essays in my class. So, I will have prompts where students need to think critically about a reading, then they must write an essay about it. So, they are writing essays in CYPHER Learning, then I am grading them in CYPHER Learning. That is super helpful. This is why the discussion, quizzes, and surveys are super helpful, and probably the assignments that I give the most often.

Another feature that I like is having one class with three child classes. When I assign it to my parent class, then it gets assigned to all my child classes. All my students do the same assignments, but I might modify how I grade the assignment according to their needs.

It is easy for educators to communicate with students using CYPHER Learning. Students often message me through CYPHER Learning. Also, I can comment on students' assignments, then they are able to respond to the comment that I put in CYPHER Learning. There is an email feature. So, if a student sends me a comment, then I also get an email about it, which is also helpful. It is important for teachers and students to have dialogue regarding expectations. Also, students can ask questions about assignments and I can clarify information for students.

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.

I have been using it for four years.

For four years, the stability has been good.

Our entire district uses CYPHER Learning. As far as that goes, it is good. Also, it is nice having a library where people save stuff and see what other people are doing.

There are approximately 1,500 teachers and 13,000 to 14,000 students who are using CYPHER Learning.

The product is being extensively used district-wide.

If I had questions, I was able to get my questions answered. We were able to give feedback to CYPHER LEARNING about different questions or features. CYPHER LEARNING was usually able to address whatever the questions or issues were, which was helpful. The auto saving thing is something that hasn't been addressed that I am aware of. So, that is an ongoing issue that hasn't been resolved.

I would give the technical support nine out of 10. Usually, they get back to me pretty quickly with a solution, for whatever the issue was.

Positive

Prior to CYPHER Learning, we didn't have an online solution. It was just old school.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. If I can learn it, anyone can learn it.

It is pretty intuitive. You need to set up your lessons. Since you will need to set them up somewhere, I feel like CYPHER Learning was pretty intuitive as far as what I needed to do as far as setting it up.

Any way you slice it, you will need to prepare your lessons. So, it doesn't take any longer in CYPHER Learning than it would any other way. It is a lot easier to have all your stuff in one place than to have a million papers flying around as well as having to grade papers. Having it all online is definitely better.

We have one tech coach at our school. If you have a tech question, you can go and ask them, then they will figure it out and help you. Anytime you do something new, you need professional development and training. So, we have tech coaches who help people to implement. So, if you are new, you can ask questions of the tech coach. 

The tech coach piece is good, providing ongoing support for teachers while they are implementing. That is a tip that is good protocol. That way, people aren't getting frustrated with it. At first, certain teachers didn't really like the grading thing. They were like, "Oh, I like Easy Grade Pro, and I want it to be Easy Grade Pro." I am like, "It's not like Easy Grade Pro, so just get over it."

When I do a survey, CYPHER Learning is helpful because then I can more quickly peruse students' responses. I don't have to go through question by question. Grading-wise, it has certainly helped, when giving a survey, to streamline my grading for that assignment.

I am sure there was some type of analysis that went into choosing CYPHER Learning. However, in the end, when the district selected CYPHER Learning, everyone was happy with it.

There is not much gamifying through CYPHER Learning. I do a lot of other activities in my class through other solutions, like Blooket, Quizizz, and Kahoot!. That is how I do gamification in my classroom.

Overall, it is a good learning management system and provides a good way to organize your class.

I would rate the solution as nine out of 10. The auto-save thing is the reason why they are not getting 10 out of 10.

I use CYPHER Learning to upload school information, publish the annual program, and upload the sections of classes, divided weekly. We also use this platform in a didactic and playful way so that students have a more striking way of learning. We also do exams through CYPHER Learning.

CYPHER Learning has helped our institution a lot, especially in terms of evaluations. It provides substantial help for the teacher. For example, I can create an exam and CYPHER Learning already corrects it. That level of automation has helped me a lot. I'd rather spend an extra hour in CYPHER Learning creating one more test for another section than spend three hours grading tests.

CYPHER Learning helps me by giving me the results of exams. With the percentages that I receive from the platform I save a lot of time in the administrative sense.

I have 150 students in my charge. Whereas before, I had to correct the exam of each one of the 150 students, now I can simply access CYPHER Learning and see the results. The time that I used to correct exams I now use to create classes with more fun content or more games. I feel calmer in that sense. It has given me peace of mind.

It also helps in getting students to become more engaged and develop thinking skills. There is an option within the system that enables me to insert games from third-party platforms via links. The flexibility of being able to insert audio or links helps to challenge students to demonstrate their entrepreneurship and their level of thinking.

Our school is in a process of transformation where more emphasis is being given to inverted education. In that model, new content is initially introduced through online videos and readings before the class takes place. We have already achieved four stars in the EFQM model. Part of the process of reaching five stars is to be up to date with the new methodologies of education worldwide, such as the flipped classroom, where the focus of attention is inverted from the teacher to the students. In that model, students take more responsibility in the learning process. CYPHER Learning allows us to introduce subjects and inform students about the topics and give them a "warm-up" for what is going to happen in class.

Through the system, I also have an idea of how a student is doing since I can see the grades and scores they have received. That can help in part with intervention for students who need help. I can send them a link with content so they can practice the subject more, or I can talk to them through the chat to discuss what they need. In these ways, it helps me track students with difficulties and intervene.

Another benefit is that we no longer use so much paper or the school printing press, saving us a lot on costs. In addition, since there is not as much printing anymore, we no longer need as many staff in the printing part of the school.

I can use a template to replicate class content so that I can use the same content in the three sections where I teach. That way, I don't have to continuously edit my classes. It's very useful.

The platform helps me organize basic sections. I share videos, presentations,  and games like Kahoot, and this helps me facilitate learning management. There are students who are interested in this, and there are others who are not part of these activities. For me, it is very useful to send links to students with informative content before class so that they are more prepared. That has been very beneficial for me.

The platform also gives you an idea of the percentages when it comes to students' performance.

And when it comes to exams, if I want to assign one exam to specific students, the platform makes it easy for me to share the exam in that way. The platform makes it easy for me to communicate with students. I simply use the inbox, select the classroom and the student, and then send the exam that I want that student to send him. That's it. For me, this is a very important feature.

CYPHER Learning is also quite user-friendly. It is not complicated to use. Students know how to manage it, upload their homework, and take exams. The students can see their results as well. The exam files can be changed and it has many settings that allow for flexibility in giving exams.

If there is something that the platform could improve on, it would be in showing the number of words in a document that a student uploads. When I have to review essays I cannot see the number of words in them. The platform should count the words.

Another issue is in the area of exams. They could be more personalized and specific. For example, if I want to create a text with several gaps where the students have to fill in the correct words, it is very difficult to do through CYPHER Learning.

We have not necessarily saved money on textbooks since English learners have a printed book that is not in CYPHER Learning. If CYPHER Learning had an English reading platform it would be fantastic. If they could add a platform like Black Cat to their services it would be beneficial. CYPHER Learning doesn't include games either. I usually have to go to third-party sites, like Kahoot and Bamboo. I think you can add games through SCORM but I don't think it's that good. Because it does not include fun games like the ones I use, I have to buy them, and they are not cheap.

I have been using CYPHER LEARNING for three to four years.

It is quite stable and also provides services during hours when we do not have classes.

CYPHER Learning is the backbone of the school. It is used continuously. It gives us structure for the functioning of our learning sessions, and enough functionality to work in those sessions and on everything else. It gives us structure and unity.

For example, if I have an exam that I create in English for high school and a colleague of mine from another grade wants to use that exam, he can use it. I have the ability to share materials such as exams with other teachers.

We have 250 to 300 users, teachers and administrators, not counting the students.

The solution’s technical support is good. I mostly turn to the systems administrator team at our school when I have problems with CYPHER Learning. I know that the vendor has support for the platform but I prefer to talk to a person by phone or in person. From what I understand about CYPHER LEARNING's support, it is a chat with a robot. In some cases it helps but in some cases it doesn't.

I don't have a phone number of a CYPHER Learning manager to turn to. If they had a helpline it might be better.

Neutral

I used Canvas LMS, although I couldn't create exams in it. It is a very good platform, but CYPHER Learning is better for creating exams for school.

In the beginning, it was complicated. We all did not understand what the system was. Some teachers were more skilled than others in finding the features. Some teachers, even to this day, don't know how to make an exam in CYPHER Learning. They haven't figured it out.

There was a training process but there was a lot of information so it took us time to decipher. Our deployment took two to three months. There was a lot of publicity and information about CYPHER Learning at our school, in meetings and through training. They gave us links to tutorials as well. It was a whole implementation process.

I would like us to receive more tutorials on the SCORM format. I found it very useful and that there are many things that can be done with it. We also learned that with the Lumen program you have a massive number of formats for games that can be inserted into CYPHER Learning via SCORM.

Our school has three different levels: initial, elementary, and high school. Our department of system administrators, consisting of three or four, is in charge of CYPHER Learning.

We have an intermediary between CYPHER LEARNING and our school, a company that helped our school with the implementation. They just gave a talk about the use of SCORM a few days ago which I wish had been a little longer.

The cost of CYPHER Learning was necessary to handle the situation that occurred during the pandemic. Since then, CYPHER Learning has continued to justify its cost since it makes it possible for a teacher to take charge of more sections. Teachers can handle more exams and more students because more things are automated. If a teacher used to handle four sections, he now has five because he does not have to correct so many exams. This has led to reducing staff.

This automation is priceless. Now, teachers can focus on other aspects with the additional time saved on reviewing exams.

In addition, I can share content with other people. All of this is a benefit for the school.

My advice is to make sure you have a lot of training. Your school should create many training sessions to help people know how to use it, with practical examples of how exams and sections are created. That way, teachers will become familiar with the platform. We had teachers who were very afraid to use the platform at first. With enjoyable training sessions, you can break the ice.

During the pandemic, we felt isolated since we did not have the ability to ask our colleagues for help.

In terms of face-to-face education, a suggestion for CYPHER LEARNING is that it give more presence to CYPHER Learning as an entity in the school by teaching more about how to exploit the tools: how to create games, and more about the use of SCORM. In our case, each teacher has discovered many things on their own. There is a need for more of a company presence.

Learn to trust yourself. Technology is your friend, so do not be afraid of it. It can help you in your processes. There is a saying that "employability is a journey, not a destination." Many things can be learned on this journey. Your job as a teacher does not have to be a final destination. We need to accept that we are on a journey in which everything can change and that we need to adapt. CYPHER Learning has taught me to adapt.

Foreign Language:(Spanish)

¿Cuál es nuestro caso de uso principal?

Uso CYPHER Learning para subir información de la escuela, publicar el programa anual y subir las secciones de clases, divididas semanalmente. También utilizamos esta plataforma de forma didáctica y lúdica para que los alumnos tengan una forma más llamativa de aprender. También hacemos exámenes a través de CYPHER Learning.

¿Cómo ha ayudado a mi organización?

CYPHER Learning ha ayudado mucho a nuestra institución, especialmente en términos de evaluaciones. Proporciona una ayuda sustancial para el profesor. Por ejemplo, puedo crear un examen y CYPHER Learning ya lo corrige. Ese nivel de automatización me ha ayudado mucho. Prefiero pasar una hora extra en CYPHER Learning creando una prueba más para otra sección que pasar tres horas calificando pruebas.

CYPHER Learning me ayuda dándome los resultados de los exámenes. Con los porcentajes que recibo de la plataforma ahorro mucho tiempo en el sentido administrativo.

Tengo 150 estudiantes a mi cargo. Mientras que antes tenía que corregir el examen de cada uno de los 150 alumnos, ahora simplemente puedo acceder a CYPHER Learning y ver los resultados. El tiempo que solía corregir exámenes ahora lo uso para crear clases con contenido más divertido o más juegos. Me siento más tranquila en ese sentido. Me ha dado tranquilidad.

También ayuda a que los estudiantes se involucren más y desarrollen habilidades de pensamiento. Hay una opción dentro del sistema que me permite insertar juegos de plataformas de terceros a través de enlaces. La flexibilidad de poder insertar audio o enlaces ayuda a desafiar a los estudiantes a demostrar su emprendimiento y su nivel de pensamiento.

Nuestro colegio se encuentra en un proceso de transformación donde se le está dando más énfasis a la educación invertida. En ese modelo, el nuevo contenido se introduce inicialmente a través de videos y lecturas en línea antes de que se lleve a cabo la clase. Ya hemos conseguido cuatro estrellas en el modelo EFQM. Parte del proceso de llegar a cinco estrellas es estar al día con las nuevas metodologías de educación a nivel mundial, como el aula invertida, donde el foco de atención se invierte del docente a los alumnos. En ese modelo, los estudiantes asumen más responsabilidad en el proceso de aprendizaje. CYPHER Learning nos permite introducir temas e informar a los estudiantes sobre los temas y darles una pequeña "revelación" de lo que sucederá en clase.

A través del sistema, también tengo una idea de cómo le está yendo a un estudiante, ya que puedo ver las calificaciones y puntajes que ha recibido. Eso puede ayudar en parte con la intervención para los estudiantes que necesitan ayuda. Puedo enviarles un enlace con contenido para que practiquen más el tema, o puedo hablar con ellos a través del chat para discutir lo que necesitan. De esta manera, me ayuda a rastrear a los estudiantes con dificultades e intervenir.

Otro beneficio es que ya no usamos tanto papel ni la imprenta escolar, ahorrándonos mucho en costos. Además, dado que ya no hay tanta impresión, ya no necesitamos tanto personal en la parte de impresión de la escuela.

¿Qué es lo más valioso?

Puedo usar una plantilla para replicar el contenido de la clase para poder usar el mismo contenido en las tres secciones donde enseño. De esa manera, no tengo que editar continuamente mis clases. Es muy útil.

La plataforma me ayuda a organizar secciones básicas. Comparto videos, presentaciones y juegos como Kahoot, y esto me ayuda a facilitar la gestión del aprendizaje. Hay estudiantes que están interesados en esto, y hay otros que no son parte de estas actividades. Para mí es muy útil enviar enlaces a los alumnos con contenido informativo antes de la clase para que estén más preparados. Eso ha sido muy beneficioso para mí.

La plataforma también te da una idea de los porcentajes en lo que respecta al rendimiento de los estudiantes.

Y cuando se trata de exámenes, si quiero asignar un examen a estudiantes específicos, la plataforma me facilita compartir el examen de esa manera. La plataforma me facilita la comunicación con los estudiantes. Simplemente uso la bandeja de entrada, selecciono el aula y el alumno, y luego envío el examen que quiero que ese alumno haga. Para mí, esta es una característica muy importante.

CYPHER Learning también es bastante fácil de usar. Los estudiantes saben cómo administrarlo, subir sus tareas y realizar exámenes. Los estudiantes también pueden ver sus resultados. Los archivos de examen se pueden cambiar y tiene muchas configuraciones que permiten flexibilidad al realizar exámenes.

¿Qué necesita mejorar?

Si hay algo en lo que podría mejorar la plataforma sería en mostrar la cantidad de palabras en un documento que sube un estudiante. Cuando tengo que revisar ensayos no puedo ver el número de palabras en ellos. La plataforma debe contar las palabras.

Otro tema es en el área de los exámenes. Podrían ser más personalizados y específicos. Por ejemplo, si quiero crear un texto con varios espacios en blanco donde los alumnos deben completar las palabras correctas, es muy difícil hacerlo a través de CYPHER Learning.

No necesariamente hemos ahorrado dinero en libros de texto ya que los estudiantes de inglés tienen un libro impreso que no está en CYPHER Learning. Si CYPHER Learning tuviera una plataforma de lectura en inglés sería fantástico. Si pudieran agregar una plataforma como Black Cat a sus servicios, sería beneficioso. CYPHER Learningtampoco incluye juegos. Por lo general, tengo que ir a sitios de terceros, como Kahoot y Bamboo. Creo que puedes agregar juegos a través de SCORM, pero no creo que sea tan bueno. Como no incluye juegos divertidos como los que yo uso, los tengo que comprar, y no son baratos.

¿Por cuánto tiempo he usado la solución?

He estado usando CYPHER LEARNING durante tres o cuatro años.

¿Qué pienso sobre la estabilidad de la solución

Es bastante estable y también brinda servicios en horas en las que no tenemos clases.

¿Qué opino de la escalabilidad de la solución?

CYPHER Learning es la columna vertebral de la escuela. Se usa continuamente. Nos da estructura para el funcionamiento de nuestras sesiones de aprendizaje y suficiente funcionalidad para trabajar en esas sesiones y en todo lo demás. Nos da estructura y unidad.

Por ejemplo, si tengo un examen que creo en inglés para la escuela secundaria y un colega mío de otro grado quiere usar ese examen, puede usarlo. Tengo la capacidad de compartir materiales como exámenes con otros profesores.

Tenemos de 250 a 300 usuarios, profesores y administradores, sin contar los alumnos.

¿Y el servicio de atención al cliente y el soporte?

El soporte técnico de la solución es bueno. Principalmente recurro al equipo de administración de sistemas de nuestra escuela cuando tengo problemas con CYPHER Learning. Sé que el proveedor tiene soporte para la plataforma pero prefiero hablar con una persona por teléfono o en persona. Por lo que entiendo sobre el soporte de CYPHER LEARNING, es un chat con un robot. En algunos casos ayuda, pero en otros no.

No tengo un número de teléfono de un administrador de CYPHER Learning al que acudir. Si tuvieran una línea de ayuda sería mejor.

¿Cómo calificaría el servicio y soporte al cliente?

Neutral

¿Qué solución usé anteriormente y por qué cambié?

Usé Canvas LMS, aunque no pude crear exámenes en él. Es una plataforma muy buena, pero CYPHER Learning es mejor para crear exámenes para la escuela.

¿Cómo fue la configuración inicial?

Al principio fue complicado. Todos no entendíamos lo que era el sistema. Algunos maestros eran más hábiles que otros para encontrar las características. Algunos profesores, hasta el día de hoy, no saben cómo hacer un examen en CYPHER Learning.

Hubo un proceso de entrenamiento pero había mucha información por lo que nos tomó tiempo descifrar. Nuestro despliegue tomó de dos a tres meses. Hubo mucha publicidad e información sobre CYPHER Learning en nuestra escuela, en reuniones y en capacitaciones. También nos dieron enlaces a tutoriales. Fue todo un proceso de implementación.

Me gustaría que recibiéramos más tutoriales sobre el formato SCORM. Me pareció muy útil y que hay muchas cosas que se pueden hacer con él. También aprendimos que con el programa Lumen tienes una gran cantidad de formatos para juegos que se pueden insertar en CYPHER Learning a través de SCORM.

¿Y el equipo de implementación?

Nuestra escuela tiene tres niveles diferentes: inicial, primaria y secundaria. Nuestro departamento de administradores de sistemas, formado por tres o cuatro miembros, está a cargo de CYPHER Learning.

Tenemos un intermediario entre CYPHER LEARNING y nuestra escuela, una empresa que ayudó a nuestra escuela con la implementación. Hace unos días dieron una charla sobre el uso de SCORM que me hubiera gustado que fuera un poco más larga.

¿Cuál fue nuestro Retorno de Inversión?

El costo de CYPHER Learning fue necesario para manejar la situación que se presentó durante la pandemia. Desde entonces, CYPHER Learning ha seguido justificando su coste ya que permite que un profesor se haga cargo de más secciones. Los maestros pueden manejar más exámenes y más estudiantes porque más cosas están automatizadas. Si antes un profesor manejaba cuatro secciones, ahora tiene cinco porque no tiene que corregir tantos exámenes. Esto ha llevado a la reducción de personal necesario.

Esta automatización no tiene precio. Ahora, los profesores pueden concentrarse en otros aspectos con el tiempo adicional ahorrado en la revisión de exámenes.
Además, puedo compartir contenido con otras personas. Todo esto es un beneficio para la escuela.

¿Qué otro consejo tengo?

Mi consejo es que te asegures de tener mucho entrenamiento. Tu escuela debería crear muchas sesiones de capacitación para ayudar a las personas a saber cómo usarlo, con ejemplos prácticos de cómo se crean los exámenes y las secciones. De esa manera, los profesores se familiarizarán con la plataforma. Tuvimos profesores que al principio tenían mucho miedo de usar la plataforma. Con sesiones de entrenamiento agradables, puedes romper el hielo.

Durante la pandemia nos sentimos aislados ya que no teníamos la capacidad de pedir ayuda a nuestros compañeros.

En cuanto a la educación presencial, una sugerencia para CYPHER LEARNING es que le dé más presencia a CYPHER Learning como entidad en la escuela enseñando más sobre cómo explotar las herramientas: cómo crear juegos y más sobre el uso de SCORM. En nuestro caso, cada profesor ha descubierto muchas cosas por su cuenta. Hay una necesidad de una mayor presencia de la empresa.

Aprende a confiar en ti mismo. La tecnología es tu amiga, así que no le tengas miedo. Te puede ayudar en tus procesos. Hay un dicho que dice que "la empleabilidad es un viaje, no un destino". Muchas cosas se pueden aprender en este viaje. Tu trabajo como docente no tiene por qué ser un destino final. Necesitamos aceptar que estamos en un viaje en el que todo puede cambiar y que debemos adaptarnos. CYPHER Learning me ha enseñado a adaptarme.

We offer transformative health programs. We offer self-paced and cohort-based learning experiences online for health and wellness.

We are using its latest version.

CYPHER Learning is extraordinarily intuitive. It allows us to customize the design and the look-and-feel of all of our pages inside of a course. 

It also allows us to direct students automatically from one task to the next, including creating their own reflections and personal goals. So, it really does support student agency, as we call it, as well as student success in completing tasks on their own.

We are able to see who has not accessed the portal and follow up with those people. It is important for us because retention is one of the factors in evaluating the efficacy of a course.

It enables us to monitor and check student progress. We don't use the mastery tool so much, but we do use the gamification tool where they get a set of scores or points once they complete something, and that badging system helps us track the completion. We've steered away from the grading tool and stuck with more of what I always call the rewards.

We love a couple of things. We love the group feature allowing students to have peer-to-peer learning experiences. In our case, it is for students, but this feature could also be useful for a business to provide peer-to-peer learning experiences for employees. The group tool provides an opportunity for students to connect with their peers inside of their own digital space. One of the aspects that we love about the group tool is that it allows students to leave the course but engage in a digital space where they access materials that are personalized to their group.

We also like gamification. It allowed us to give our users scores and have a friendly competition to motivate their learning success.

Another great feature is that it allows you to change the naming conventions of the tools. I've never seen an LMS that allows you to do that. All organizations have their own vocabulary, and this is just an extraordinary feature that gives you so much freedom to customize the platform to align with your organization's look-and-feel and vocabulary. 

Their Support Forum was exemplary. I got answers within 25 minutes of my questions, and they were personalized to me, which made the Support Forum highly valuable. I love the fact other people could see the question and the answer I got, and I could see theirs.

I'm an instructional designer, so from a designer standpoint, it is important to have a user-friendly resource folder that allows us to organize our artifacts for easy access to pull into multiple pages and modules. The second feature that I need is an easier capacity to edit pages with images and customizable headings. 

I started in November of 2019.

It is highly stable.

It is absolutely scalable. Currently, we have 10 courses, and we could easily go way more.

In terms of its users, we have a curriculum director who oversees content quality, and then we have course builders. Sometimes, the curriculum director takes on the course builder role, which means aligning the content into a cohesive format in CYPHER Learning. We have an admissions director who looks at the analytics to help us look at retention and other continuity needs.

In terms of its usage, we're currently in a little bit of a holding pattern. We've done an initial launch, and we're now assessing and bringing on more content experts. So, we're back in what we call build mode with a plan to launch in the fall another set of courses.

Their Support Forum is fantastic. The initial onboarding was easy with great technical support and relationship building with Alexia. I got a chance to get to know her really well because she's a designer. If I didn't get what I needed at the Support Forum, I could reach out to her directly. I would rate their support a 10 out of 10.

Positive

I am an instructional designer. So, I work with lots of learning management systems, but in particular, for this project, I didn't work with any other solution.

It was straightforward. The company provided us with excellent onboarding training.

The build took a long time, but that was not because of CYPHER Learning. I could probably build a full course in a week if I had all the content with me. 

We implemented it on our own. In terms of maintenance, the curriculum director and the course builder both tag team to support the technical ends. They also need to communicate with the content experts of the courses to manage student expectations and technical needs. We had to set up a Google email account to make sure students had a place to get help.

We absolutely will see an ROI when we launch.

Their plans are based on enrollment numbers. We're at the silver level with 100 active learners. So, you're really beholden to how many learners you're going to accommodate. There are no extra costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.

I evaluated Thinkific, but it was nowhere near the level of features and customization that we needed.

Maybe I'm being biased, but you definitely want to hire or have a course designer with the skills of course design and the understanding of how to leverage all the features that are available in an an LMS. The other piece of advice is to be very thoughtful and intentional about your initial setup by asking how it aligns with your goals and outcomes.  For example, we needed to think about the naming conventions of each feature to match our organization. So, instead of calling them courses, we called them journeys. Instead of calling them groups, we called them communities.

The biggest lesson that I have learned from using this solution is to collaborate and work as a team to build the platform, and iterate, iterate, iterate.

We connect it to HubSpot, which is for our tracking of marketing, but in CYPHER Learning, we haven't done a lot of automation. We also haven't used the competency-based learning feature. We're very new, and we do intend to use it, but we aren't there yet. We do use gamification and badging. 

I would rate CYPHER Learning a nine out of ten.