How is SpacesEDU different from (insert your favourite EdTech tool)?
We’ve always found it challenging to fit SpacesEDU into one singular EdTech category. SpacesEDU is more than a Learning Management System, more robust than your average digital portfolio, more than an assessment tool, and not just a collection of classroom management tools thrown together into one place.
We’ve spent the past fifteen years developing best-in-class education products, watching how they’re used, and developing over time based on student and teacher feedback from 6,500 schools. SpacesEDU was created as a best-in-class portfolio solution for capturing and communicating learning and growth in and out of the classroom as it happens.
As we learn about the world around us, we learn about ourselves. From solving that pesky calculus problem to thinking critically about a difficult event in history, every situation prompts an opportunity to learn about who we are and how we think. A grade or test score doesn’t tell that story. But SpacesEDU can, by bringing assessment into your classroom that goes beyond the grade.
Our team of educators knows how critical time is within the classroom. Which is why we’ve created an organized system that contains the best elements of teachers’ favourite tools to engage students in the process of learning while developing a full portrait of a student.
How is SpacesEDU different than a Classroom Management Tool?
(Examples: SeeSaw, ClassDojo, Otus, etc.)
We know that teachers have their favourite features and elements of their current tools, which is why in most cases, we find tech overload to be quite common among Educators. Teachers will use ClassDojo to keep track of student behaviour, SeeSaw to keep younger students engaged, and Otus to organize student progress.
Rather than adding another tool to the mix, SpacesEDU was built through teacher feedback to create one single solution. As we continue to grow SpacesEDU, we continue to add features that our teachers have been asking for. Our goal is to support the hard work our teachers are already accomplishing and assist them by creating efficiency in the classroom, giving them more time to celebrate student growth.
How is SpacesEDU different than an Assessment Management System?
(Example: Kahoot!, Blackboard Learn etc.)
We are pleased to see more tools that address formative assessment, as we believe that students are so much more than their grades. At SpacesEDU, authentic assessment comes to life as teachers and students have the ability to provide feedback and showcase learning in a variety of ways. Because each student is unique, we’ve created unique ways for students to interact within SpacesEDU. Whether through voice recordings, video recordings, text journals, or file upload, the opportunities for students, teachers, and families to capture and view learning are infinite.
SpacesEDU gives students the voice and the choice to deliver their work in the format of their choice from any device. Our hope is to foster student curiosity, reflection and social emotional learning through self-reflection and peer feedback. Students’ needs come first with SpacesEDU by reducing school stress and assessment bias by adapting students’ SpacesEDU to their needs and personalities during the learning process.
How is SpacesEDU different than an LMS?
(Examples: Canvas, Schoology, PowerSchool, etc.)
Learning Management Systems are mostly designed for higher education and adult learners. Whether it’s used for post-secondary or for training among corporate enterprises, the truth is that the traditional LMS makes more sense for tasks like employee onboarding, training, and employee development programs rather than K-12 classrooms.
An LMS can create assignments, organize lessons, and communicate with families, but SpacesEDU achieves these same goals and so much more through providing the tools to manage the classroom, assign activities, conduct authentic assessments and capture all of that learning in one place.
