Frog 3 vs FrogLearn

[vizubeat]

Hello fellow Frog users.

 

I have to admit that we have been a bit out-of-the-loop as far as FrogLearn goes. We are still running Frog 3 and have no real intention of moving to FrogLearn any time soon, but appreciate that the day will probably come that Frog 3 is no longer in active development (if it hasn't reached that point already) and might even not be supported.

 

It would be really good to get some feedback from you guys on what FrogLearn is all about. Specifically from a teachers' and users' point of view, why would we want to move to FrogLearn away from Frog 3. I understand that FrogLearn is meant to play better with non-IE browsers, but that's about all I can work out! Those of you that have moved from Frog 3 to FrogLearn, how did it go? Those that have actively chosen not to move, how come?

 

Some first-hand information from actual FrogLearn users would be great, if you're able to help. Additionally, if you're in the South-West and might be willing to show us your system, that would be much appreciated too. Eduhobnobs provided, of course.

 

Thanks in advance

[gumbygaz]

We're in the same boat, so subscribed to this thread interested to see what others have to say also!

[Steve21]

Still using Frog3 here, as I know when the old tech had a look at it they didn't see enough to bother moving over at the time.

 

Recently started looking at it again and it's supposed to be a lot more friendly for end users, more drag/drop compared to how Frog3 is.

 

Still not convinced it's worth the cost though tbh, but depends what your school is like for people actually using it's functions

 

Steve

[HC_Netman]

We moved to FrogLearn just over a year ago although we had to keep Frog 3 and run it alongside as some features were still not available in FrogLearn (things like Behaviour, Achievement, Reports). This had the knock on effect that some of the newer features of FrogLearn couldn't be turned on for us because they weren't compatible with schools still running Frog 3...

 

This may have changed recently but we became so frustrated with Frog that we didn't bother to renew our contract this year and so we are no longer using either product.

 

Our server would regularly just crash because of a 'known bug' that never got fixed and the general feedback from the end users was that it was a bit slow and not as user friendly as they suggested. Another issue was that we were sold some modules that we later found out would cost extra so it is worth making sure you know exactly what they are including when they quote you.

 

The main benefit was - as you said - the cross browser functionality although from what I remember there were still some issues with certain browsers.

 

I think on paper FrogLearn is a great idea and I hope one day they get it right - but for us they didn't do this in time and we had to leave. I'm sure their are people who have had a more positive Frog experience than us but as a school that championed Frog for a number of years we felt let down in the end and wouldn't recommend them to anyone going forward.

[Steve21]

Sounds about right haha Seems a lot of the general consensus, especially in relation to compatibility between 3 and Learn, and bugs/issues

 

Steve

[vizubeat]

Crikey, thanks y'all.

 

Still not convinced it's worth the cost though tbh

 

Cost? I was under the impression that it was free to go up to FrogOS (when they were calling it that) and you just had to ask for it to be switched on -- is that not the case? I understand we still have a support contract with them.

 

but depends what your school is like for people actually using it's functions

 

Frog here is just used as a noticeboard and a link to email. We don't use any of the behaviour modules, nor the work-setting stuff. The only thing that is used occasionally is Secure Gateway and subject "websites" that I set up...

[Steve21]

Sorry that cost comment was in regards to Frog as a whole.

 

Also note we were told that FrogOS is yearly sub, but Frog3 isn't it's only on-going support (Same cost for both e.g.. Free Upgrade as you mentioned but if you stop paying you can still use Frog3 and not FrogOS etc).

 

Expensive noticeboard? If it's anything like ours £5k a year~ and secure gateway is a seperate license for it so can be bought on it's own etc. Which is why we're thinking of moving away from it and saving the money for important stuff.

 

Steve

[vizubeat]

Sorry that cost comment was in regards to Frog as a whole.

 

Gotcha, thanks.

 

Expensive noticeboard?

 

Tell me about it

 

Anyone actually using FrogLearn? Just need some good or bad comments on what it's like and how you're using it. Thanks!

[fs171]

We have just starting to move our school from Frog3 to Learn, it has literally just matched it for the pros/cons list with the 'rules' addition (like the if block) being the tipping point for us. We have different systems for home work and parental engagement, which were in place long before frog so these have been integrated into the frog layout, but are essentially separate items.

 

For teachers it is much simpler to use, but you almost should not consider it in the same line as frog3, almost as a new product entirely. Once you get over the changed (and seemingly reduced) functionality as an Admin you can see the positive changes for the teaching staff as a whole.

 

The widgets, such as the HTML block, are beginning to allow more flexibility with it too.

[WebBot]

I was sceptical at first when we switched, but the teachers love it. They find it so much easier to create and edit lesson plans. We too run Frog3, which does seem to be an easier management system. Plus we run a mobile site through Frog3 - something you can't do solely in FrogLearn yet. As far as the students and teachers are concerned, they only know they're in Frog.

 

Discover search was a big thumbs up from the SLT and being able to set file extensions has been a plus since it came on board. Don't know if you've seen it yet, but FrogProgress has the potential to completely change assessment systems.

[localzuk]

We had this to think about here too. We decided to stop buying Frog and move to Moodle. We just can't see a reason to be paying £5k per year for Frog, especially with the poor support and communication we received as customers. When we cancelled the contract, we still had 2 tickets open in support that had been open for 6 months+, and one of our earlier tickets took over a year to be fixed.

 

As Frog 3 users, we were basically ignored by the company so we felt that it just wasn't a good company to deal with.

 

I'd urge anyone else to look at other systems too - as moving to the newer Frog system still ends up involving people making new resources really, unless you want to use the bit of a cludge widget to get old content to show.

[mikkydoos]

We had this to think about here too. We decided to stop buying Frog and move to Moodle. We just can't see a reason to be paying £5k per year for Frog, especially with the poor support and communication we received as customers. When we cancelled the contract, we still had 2 tickets open in support that had been open for 6 months+, and one of our earlier tickets took over a year to be fixed.

 

As Frog 3 users, we were basically ignored by the company so we felt that it just wasn't a good company to deal with.

 

I'd urge anyone else to look at other systems too - as moving to the newer Frog system still ends up involving people making new resources really, unless you want to use the bit of a cludge widget to get old content to show.

 

 

Their support is pretty terrible.