Udemy vs Study Island

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Our analysts compared Udemy vs Study Island based on data from our 400+ point analysis of LMS Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Product Basics

Udemy is an online learning platform with over 40 million students. Over 80% of the top Fortune 100 companies use it. Lessons are self-paced and recorded by industry specialists. The subjects include business, design, developing and programming, marketing, music, personal development, photography, IT and more. Other courses are more tailored to specific, in-demand and professional skill sets like cyber security, ethical hacking, financial analysis, graphic design, machine learning, Adobe Photoshop, PMP, SQL and web development.

Once purchased, classes are available to the user indefinitely. Learners can reference them for a refresher. Overall, it has 50,000 instructors and 130,000 courses taught in more than 60 languages from over 190 different countries. To date, it’s seen over 245 million enrollments.
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Study Island is an online learning platform that lets teachers individualize student learning through virtual, classroom or hybrid lessons. It combines technology with quality content and customizable teaching concepts to ensure higher success.

Teachers can increase student engagement and retention through game-based assignments, formative assessment tools and flexible, state-standardized learning modules. Analytics features allow teachers to track class progress and gain insight into student performance.
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$20 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$5.50/Student, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Product Assistance

Documentation
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Live Online
Videos
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Email
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FAQ
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
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24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Upskilled Workforce: Identifies staff with the right abilities and navigates the continuously changing duties in the modern workplace. Provides an easy, affordable talent upgrade for organizations with competency gaps. Courses are skill-based and taught by experts.
  • Culture of Learning: Teaches and trains employees with a variety of self-paced classes. This allows an organization to promote education affordably. Allows companies to give more time and focus to development opportunities. Creates a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Increased Efficiency: Allows workers to improve skills and become more efficient at their job. Increased automation levels make it a massive time and money saver, especially given the fast rate at which jobs change in the modern era. Lets HR staff focus less on manual information input and more on advanced staff development.
  • Happier Workforce: Lets employees acquire new skills and grow in their job, one of the top requests for employees in any workforce. Through a course library, users can expand their minds, meet career goals and feel better about their place of employment. Showcases the level of dedication with an investment in people.
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  • Monitor Progress: Ensure impactful, effective and continuous virtual learning though flexible classroom instruction. Gain insight into performance factors such as pace, grade and progress with intuitive data, like real-time progress dashboards and customizable reports. 
  • Fill Gaps in Learning: Allow students to work only on what they need to. Provide opportunities for students to recover missing or incomplete skills and credits, and offer aid to those with poor academic performance through equivalent options, including accredited college courses. 
  • Improve Knowledge Retention: Engage students through customizable lessons and tailor educational pathways to individual aptitude. Success coaches are available to communicate with students, families and teachers. 
  • Provide a Complete Education: Teach students at every stage of their education, across all grades and skill levels. 
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  • Class Creation and Management: Manages and creates lectures, text, multimedia, slides, videos and additional resources bundled together for lessons. Offers testing and assignment options like quizzes, practice tests and coding exercises. The license for courses never expires and learners can finish at their own pace.
  • Instructor Capabilities: Sells classes and accepts payment through the solution via PayPal or Payoneer when students enroll. Designs lessons to help people advance skills, upgrade careers or explore hobbies. Offers training that details how to build units, curriculum pages, an instructor dashboard and others. Last, allow students to connect with instructors via messaging, Q&As and announcements. Instructors own all the rights to the class material.
  • Devices: Operates on laptops, desktops, tablets and mobile. Works on both iOS and Android. By downloading classes, users can watch them offline and view them with Chromecast or Apple TV.
  • Certifications: Sends a certificate of completion when users complete paid classes for reimbursement. Showcase talent or dole out bragging rights. Certifications aren’t available for free courses or ones that only have practice exams.
  • Affiliates: Promotes an affiliate program for organizations or individuals who want to promote courses on their blog or website. Users make a commission for each sale.
  • Subjects: Offers a variety of courses on different topics such as:
    • IT and Tech: Provides courses in IT AWS certification, ethical hacking, hardware, networking, operating systems, security and others. It also provides information needed for IT certification like Microsoft Azure, Cisco CCNA, CompTIA A+, CompTIA Security+, Windows Server and others.
    • Marketing: Teaches useful marketing competencies in areas such as copywriting, digital marketing, Facebook ads and marketing, Google AdWords, Instagram marketing, SEO, social media marketing and more.
    • Design: Covers subjects such as animation and 3D, architectural design, fashion, game design, graphic design, interior design, user experience and web design.
    • Business: Offers courses that cover communication, entrepreneurial skills, finance, management, Microsoft Power BI, project management, sales, stock trading, strategic thinking and others.
    • Music Education: Provides classes such as music fundamentals, instruments, production, software, techniques, vocals and others.
    • Health and Fitness: Offers art therapy, aromatherapy, CBT dance, dieting, first aid, fitness, general health, herbalism, massage, meditation, mental health, nutrition, safety, self-defense, sports and yoga.
    • Teaching & Academics: Comes with calculus, engineering, English, German, humanities, IELTS, Japanese, math, online ed, science, Spanish, test prep and more.
    • Office Productivity: Teaches learners how to increase efficiency and get trained in key office tech. Offers classes in Data Analysis, Excel, Microsoft Access, Microsoft and others.
    • Finance & Accounting: Comes with accounting, blockchain, bookkeeping, compliance, cryptocurrency, day trading, economics, finance certification, financial modeling, investing, money management, taxes and more.
    • Lifestyle: Offers several classes that apply other areas of life, such as arts and crafts, beverage and food, beauty, gaming, home improvement, makeup, neuro-linguistic programming, pet care, pet training, portraiture, travel and others.
    • Personal Development: Teaches skills focused at soft skills or life skills. Provides health and wellness, increasing learning and memory or financial issues. Some course categories include energy healing, life coaching, memory, mindfulness, neuro-linguistic programming, reiki, speed reading, stock trading and technical analysis.
  • Udemy for Business: For organizations looking for ways to host corporate training, this coexisting platform is an option. It supports company training, creates learning paths for employees and provides over 2,000 courses. For more information, see its separate product page.
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  • Digital Curriculum: Implement traditional and specialized core subject courses for elementary, middle and high school. Additional offerings include college entry courses, high school equivalency and advanced placement exams. 
  • Language Options: Offer multiple language options for high school students to fulfill college criteria. ELL (English language learning) courses are also available for adults to improve proficiency in English listening, speaking, reading and writing. 
  • Cognia Accreditation: Allow students to transfer credits to new institutions and receive universally recognized diplomas. 
  • Growth Assistance Tools: Combine existing school data with NWEA, MAP and Renaissance integrations. Sort students by performance level to identify trends and stage interventions. Analyze student progress and responsiveness. Automatically detect potentially dangerous language in student work. 
  • Custom Study Plan: Create custom assignments and lessons tailored to specific students, classes, subjects or events. 
  • Shared Credentials: Use a single account to sign in into Clever, ClassLink, Google and Microsoft. 
  • Grade Record: View individual reports and maintain course records. Auto-generate and fill templates. 
  • Reading Eggspress For Pre K–6: Improve phonetics, spelling and syllable manipulation through engaging animations. Adjust lessons in spelling, sentences, words, letters and sounds based on knowledge level. Track and ensure completion of milestones with Lexile measure and growth charts. 
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Product Ranking

#15

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#42

among all
LMS Software

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User Sentiment Summary

Excellent User Sentiment 675 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 9 reviews
91%
of users recommend this product

Udemy has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 91% when considering 675 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

92%
of users recommend this product

Study Island has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 92% when considering 9 user reviews from 1 recognized software review sites.

4.5 (559)
n/a
4.9 (9)
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4.9 (102)
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3.9 (5)
4.6 (9)

Awards

Udemy stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Study Island stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Useful Functionality: Over 90% of users who discussed features were pleased with the system’s components, notably self-paced learning capabilities.
Upskills Workforce: Users felt that the classes helped train employees in necessary skills in over 90% of reviews that discussed it.
Great for Training: More than 80% of reviewers who discussed using it as a training tool were pleased.
Excellent Courses: Learners loved the quality of the courses themselves in over 70% of comments that talked about it.
Skilled Instructors: Over 60% of users who discussed the teachers felt they were communicative and well-versed in the topics.
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Standards-aligned Content: Study Island's content is aligned with state and Common Core standards, ensuring students learn what they need to know for their grade level.
Personalized Learning: The platform creates a personalized learning path for each student based on their individual strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to focus on areas where they need the most help.
Engaging Activities: Study Island offers a variety of engaging activities, such as games, quizzes, and simulations, to help students learn and retain information.
Data and Reporting: Teachers and administrators can track student progress and performance through detailed data and reports, allowing them to identify areas where students need additional support.
Test Preparation: Study Island provides practice tests and other resources to help students prepare for standardized tests.
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Refund Issues: Just under 80% of users who talked about refunds said they had problems getting their money back and didn’t like the policy.
Price: While over 50% of users felt it was reasonably priced, 46% of users who talked about price felt they were overcharged or didn’t like the pricing structure.
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Content Accuracy Issues: Some users have reported encountering outdated or inaccurate information within the platform's learning materials, particularly in subjects like science and history. This can lead to confusion and frustration for students who rely on the platform for accurate and up-to-date information.
Technical Issues and Glitches: Users have expressed concerns about technical problems and glitches within the platform, such as slow loading times, freezing, and occasional crashes. These technical issues can disrupt the learning process and cause frustration for both students and educators.
Limited Customization Options: Study Island offers limited options for educators to customize the learning experience for their students. This lack of flexibility can make it challenging for teachers to tailor the platform to meet the specific needs and learning styles of their students.
Repetitive Question Format: The platform's question format can become repetitive over time, which may lead to student boredom and disengagement. The lack of variety in question types can also limit the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
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Udemy is an online learning solution that provides instructor-led learning classes. Users can pick from a varied selection of topics and train at their own pace. Most reviewers were especially pleased with the features, especially the ability to control the speed of learning. Reviewers left overwhelmingly positive comments on the quality of the classes. Many learners said they were still able to contact their instructors when needed. Most users felt their teachers were skilled and knew their subjects well. Users praised its skill-building both in personal and corporate environments. Though users did like the classes, they also recommended heavily screening for quality. Some complained that the platform didn’t vet what was on the site well. Udemy has reviews for all of its classes left by users. Most people recommended weeding out the good ones from the bad ones. The most significant criticism by far came from people trying to get refunds. They said they had trouble contacting customer support or didn’t receive their money back. Others disliked the 30-day refund policy and felt cheated by it. Users were split on the price of the courses. Classes often came with discounts and some felt they were reasonably priced. Others felt they were too expensive or got angry when they paid for a class that was later offered for free. Udemy is a helpful resource for self-paced learners who have a specific set of skills they want. Vet the courses carefully, wait for discounts and look for details if the price isn’t satisfactory. It doesn’t have HR functionality as it’s more of a content library than a full LMS. Larger organizations who want to take an analytics-driven approach to learning should look elsewhere.

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Ready to embark on a learning adventure and navigate the vast sea of educational software? Let's set sail and chart a course through the user reviews of Study Island! Study Island receives praise for its user-friendly interface and engaging content, making it a popular choice among educators. The platform's gamified approach, with features like earning points and badges, motivates students and fosters a sense of accomplishment. Its comprehensive coverage of various subjects and grade levels, aligned with state standards, ensures that students have access to the necessary materials for academic success. The flexibility to assign specific topics or skills allows teachers to personalize learning and address individual student needs. However, some users note that the question format can become repetitive, potentially limiting its effectiveness for long-term engagement. Additionally, while Study Island offers a wide range of content, it may not always align perfectly with specific curriculum requirements, requiring teachers to supplement with additional resources. Despite these limitations, Study Island's strengths in user-friendliness, engaging content, and standards alignment make it a valuable tool for educators seeking to enhance student learning and track progress. Its adaptability to different learning styles and its ability to provide personalized instruction make it particularly well-suited for students who benefit from a structured and gamified learning environment. Please note that user experiences and software functionalities can evolve over time. It's always a good idea to check the latest online reviews and resources for the most current information on Study Island and similar educational software options.

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