Lightspeed Systems

Not a Feature War

Several times a week we are asked how My Big Campus stacks up against other social networking or LMS solutions (Edmodo, Schoology, Blackboard, Moodle). “Do you have a chart that compares features?” they ask.

I get it. I know how those charts can be useful when deciding what to buy, or to help justify a decision to peers or administrators. But (aside from one comparison piece we reluctantly created to compare MBC to Moodle) the answer is no. And it’s not just because we’re too lazy to make them.

The reason we don’t make these comparison charts for My Big Campus is the same reason we don’t for our content filter and other solutions.

Here’s why:

1.  Features change too quickly—both on our end and the other products. It’s impossible to keep them up to date.
2.  No matter how objectively we try to make them, comparison charts would always be designed to make the features MBC has and others don’t seem most important.
3.  But mostly, this isn’t about a feature war.

We don’t want to develop new features just so we can check off boxes on a chart. What sets MBC apart isn’t a set of features; it’s a philosophy and a complete platform. Features come and go, quickly these days. Features are requested daily by users and prioritized regularly by our developers. But MBC is unique because of the platform, not the features.

My Big Campus was designed as an open system.
Unlike LMSes that were designed to sit behind a firewall for internal use, MBC was designed to take advantage of the best educational pieces of the open web—but in a safe way schools can be comfortable with.

My Big Campus was designed for collaboration.
Collaboration isn’t an add-on. It’s at the core of MBC. And while we add new collaboration features regularly (like our Bundle Exchange), the fact that MBC was designed to facilitate collaboration and sharing—among teachers and students, in and out of the district, is unique.

My Big Campus was designed for you.

That starts with the intuitive interface. But what really makes MBC different is all the people behind it to support you: Bob Campus, who is on the site 20 hours a day to answer questions, model digital citizenship, and support you; teacher-coaches who offer real-world help and ideas; and trainers, engagers, developers, support and more—all there, dedicated to the same goals you are, and providing whatever help you need.

And most importantly—My Big Campus was designed for safety.
Other platforms that aren’t integrated with the filter don’t solve the overblocking problem and don’t provide the same CIPA-compliant, monitored, filtered, and safety that MBC can provide through its integration.

Feature comparisons can be very useful when comparing similar things—like which model car to buy. But MBC is different from other LMSes and social networks on a fundamental level that feature comparisons just don’t illustrate.

If you didn’t catch my last post on how My Big Campus was designed to BE different, take a look here: Amazing Things. (And be sure to watch the fun video on some amazing things students can do with MBC.)

 

Tags: LMS, social networking in schools

This entry was posted on Friday, August 3rd, 2012 at 8:13 am and is filed under 21st century learning, Collaborative learning, My Big Campus, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.