Planbookedu

Welcome to Day 2 in my new online lesson planning series.  Today its all about Planbookedu.

Planbookedu and planbook have a lot of similar features. However, there are some notable differences as well.

COST:  You can sign up for a free 14-day trial to see how you like the program. After that it is $25 per year!  Discounted rates are available per school/district. There is also a free version but you are missing out on a lot of what makes the program great. This is about the same cost as your average planner so there really isn’t any built in savings here. Then again, you aren’t spending a lot more either.

FEATURES: Share your plans with anyone. Color coding is available but its complicated…  I love the fact that you can invite people to collaborate with you on your lesson plans. This is a great feature for teams, student teachers, cooperating teachers, etc… I love the calendar feature that allows you to easily select any day of the year and start planning. The cubby is a cute touch for storing items you wish to copy again and again. I also really like the drop and drag feature for moving around lesson plans.

EASE OF USE: I have an intermediate-to-advance level skill in the use of computers and software. For me, I found this cumbersome and difficult to use.

TIME: I gave up after playing with it for 3 hours. I still don’t have things how I would like them visual. To me aesthetics are important. Its one of the big reasons why a traditional planner is not working for me. I do like the option of being able to change where my days/classes show. It was very simple…  just like they said to set up your school year. Its the details that are the issue.

ORGANIZATION: You can attach  Links, PowerPoints, Worksheets, Videos, Smartboard Files, etc… to each of your lessons.

CLOUD INTEGRATION:  Included in both levels.

IPAD/IPHONE COMPATIABILITY: Yes it says so on their site but I have not been able to locate it in the Apple Store.

SEARCHABLE STANDARDS: Yes! This is one of my favorite features of this program but is only included for premium members. I also love this report showing me how many times I have taught each standard and how many more standards I still need to teach. Such a help report!

CUSTOMER SERVICE: Honestly, I have been so frustrated with this program that I have not contacted their customer service so I have no idea on how well they are or aren’t.

ISSUES:  I sooooo wanted to love this program. I read an amazing review by Teach it With Class that made me want to fall in love with this program. I really tried but it just didn’t fit my needs and personality.

This is what my planbookedu ended up looking like.  I have to scroll up and down left to right to see things. The color coding helps but you either set it as a template for color or for what you want in it. Not both. Which means I would have to use the cute cubby a lot!

PLUS… see that white strip, I was trying out the standards. So it pops up in the middle of a section in white and then when I try to color code the entire section it leaves a white bar at the bottom. Its driving me batty! See why I have spent 3 hours trying to make it look pretty and I can’t. Oh… and the color options are sorely lacking. Sigh….

Have you used planbook edu? What are your thoughts?

Planbookedu