Known as the ‘home base’ for all Canyon Vista students throughout the day, Schoology is a learning program that keeps documents, assignments, and communications from teachers to students all in one place. It’s a staple of virtual learning, and though almost all students couldn’t last a day without it, Schoology is constantly under fire from students and teachers alike. Why? What’s worse about Schoology than any other program out there? Is it really as bad as people make it out to be?

The front page of Schoology is one of the most controversial aspects. Many believe it to be cluttered and inorganic-feeling, with its loud blue headers and yellow notifications dots. However, the seemingly clunky landing page contains a lot more power than you’d think. Specifically, the calendars on the far right. They display exactly which assignments you have to turn in today, tomorrow, every day after that, and exactly what time they’re due. Just above it, there’s a list showing all the work you missed the deadline for, so you can submit it as soon as possible. Having all your work displayed up front like that means you don’t have to hop from course to course to find your work for that day. Imagine what the school day would look like if you were constantly navigating sites between classes, just to make sure you get all your work in. Things like these are how Schoology makes it easy to stay on top of all your assignments.

Another feature of Schoology that seems indispensable once you get used to it is the assignment editing window. If a teacher attaches an editable Google Doc, Slide, or Drawing, you can edit it directly in Schoology, without having to be redirected to Google Drive. This means you can stay on Schoology while getting all your work done. Rather than just being a link, Schoology opens a full tab dedicated to the Doc or Slide, with the Submit Assignment button just a few inches away. This eliminates yet another way you could easily get behind or be tardy with your work.

Even if you get all your work in, there are still going to be technical difficulties. Schoology has a way to handle that, too. There’s a message button that’s always at the top of your screen, so you can easily send a message to any teacher. The notification bar right next to it will also give a quick list of all work posted and updates sent from your courses. Class updates make it as easy for teachers to get in touch with students as it is for students to get in touch with teachers. Imagine if you had to compose a full email every time there was an issue logging onto the Google Meet, or if Classlink were down.

All that isn’t to say Schoology is all perfect. Like every program on the internet, it has its bugs and pitfalls–for instance, the design could be smoother and the amount of times submission fails can get annoying. But at the end of the school day, Schoology’s pros far outweigh the cons. For instance, I’m willing to trade an outdated user interface in order to see all my upcoming assignments. And many teacher across the country agree–on Capterra and Common Sense Education, Schoology’s rated over four stars.

All in all, even though Schoology still has some work to do, having all its tools at one’s disposal helps each day pass with far less problems than it would otherwise.