CYPHER Learning Reviews

Pros

NEO proves very simple to me which helps me stay organized throughout my lessons.

Cons

For me some types of assignments feel pretty limiting.

Pros

One feature I really value is the ability to sync classes with a parent class, saving time and reducing repetition. Most of my work is in the �assignments� and �resources� areas and it integrates well with Google Docs, YouTube and other tools.

Cons

Being new to NEO this year I was initially really overwhelmed trying to learn how to use it. The platform has so many options and capabilities that I had trouble deciding which features I should be using and how to make them work for my classes. More step-by-step guidance would have helped me get up to speed faster. One specific improvement I'd like to see is the option to sync welcome pages between parent and student classes so that important information is consistent across sections.

Pros

Being able to post assignments, announcements and set up auto-graded quizzes all within the gradebook area makes managing classwork much simpler for me.

Cons

One issue I have is that NEO is occasionally glitchy and I'm frustrated that teachers aren't able to collaborate on shared test banks. At my school, we'd love a system where everyone can add and edit questions in common test banks for everyone to use but right now that functionality isn't available (maybe not yet). There are several other tools and settings like this that could be improved to actually support teacher collaboration better.

Pros

Viewing my students' progress in one centralized spot helps me monitor performance efficiently.

Cons

Some features are not simple. For example if I make an assignment offline then change my mind and want it as a Dropbox, I can't simply change its type and must create a completely new assignment which is really frustrating sometimes indeed.

Pros

I find navigating libraries and catalogs very easy and simple.

Cons

Honestly I struggle with importing, exporting and searching and there's no crossover or integration with other platforms like Google Classroom.

Pros

For my students NEO feels simple and the support team responds quickly whenever I need help. Being alerted to new features also helps me stay updated.

Cons

I wish I had more control over the grading options for instance I want the ability to mark an assignment as missing without it automatically lowering a student's overall grade.

Pros

Communicating with parents and students via NEO is very convenient. I can create rubrics for assignments, leave feedback directly on the platform and rely on it to preserve teaching materials year after year.

Cons

Occasionally I find it tricky to set up the grading exactly the way I want and configuring the grading options can be a bit confusing at times.

Pros

Accessing students' grades and completed assignments is simple and editing pages is easy for me.

Cons

What bothers me is that messages don't go directly to my email so I sometimes miss notices unless I check the platform

Pros

I can grade everything from a single platform that updates live for students which makes my workflow much more efficient.

Cons

One frustrating limitation for me is that students can't upload images and resize them all at once

Pros

Using NEO has been really productive, the calendar, assignment tracking and central resource hub keep everything organized for me.

Cons

However I find it frustrating that it doesn't fully sync with Google Classroom yet.

Pros

For me it covers all the essential LMS features I need and is really easy to use.

Cons

My only real complaint is the cost, the corporate Matrix edition is pretty expensive.

Pros

It's really simple for me to use

Cons

I haven't come across any drawbacks

Pros

The overall flexibility of NEO has significantly benefited both administrators and users allowing for personalized lessons and subjects tailored to the student demographic. As an administrator it provides control and performance statistics for students. NEO stands out as one of the best elearning platforms offering a userfriendly and lightweight experience.

Cons

Synchronization issues occasionally arise when copying information from the masterclass. Achieving the desired user experience demands meticulous attention to detail in configuring settings.

Pros

After being with them for three years there really isn't much I can praise. My team and I are currently moving away from Matrix because the list of irritations just keeps growing and it feels like nobody at the company cares about fixing anything.

Cons

I've run into persistent issues with their customer support and with the management/executive team. Since we joined, the price has been hiked repeatedly, the interface feels outdated and our students struggle to use the platform. There are countless bugs, they seem to pile on features faster than they can resolve the resulting problems. Overall Matrix is extremely feature-focused: their aim appears to be to boast the longest feature list of any LMS and once they achieve that they treat it as if they have the best product. That narrow focus on features means client feedback and real requirements are often ignored which forces us to operate within frustrating constraints and odd quirks they refuse to address. They present themselves as a large organization with a dozen offices worldwide but when I looked into those addresses they mostly appear to be virtual offices and in our three years it's been the same 5-8 people handling everything from sales to product development, apps and custom work. Frequently our communications to those contacts go unanswered. I also used tools like BuiltWith.com and inspected apps on the iOS and Google Play stores and found very few real companies actually using their platform or mobile apps, it makes me wonder if they're portraying themselves as larger than they are. You spend time learning their complex system and building out your programs only to have them raise the price repeatedly which locks you into paying more and more. Honestly we're fed up with their business practices and are investing heavily to build our own platform which we will be migrating to soon.

Pros

Current updates are accurate, step-by-step guides that help me to learn

Cons

I wish they would stop assuming I'm the IT director for our company

Pros

One thing I liked was that my students could go back and double-check their answers whenever they wanted.

Cons

Honestly I couldn't find anything I disliked, the product worked very well for me.

Pros

I've found Matrix to be incredibly adaptable, I can build courses from the ground up for virtually any delivery style. We use it for on-demand programs made up of video series and also as a searchable repository of material on a given subject. Our offerings include tiny nano-topics and much longer deep-dive courses some people go through them at their own pace while others attend live Zoom sessions. Matrix also handles enrollment and content delivery automation very well for us.

Cons

My biggest complaint is that we don't use Matrix to run traditional cohort-style courses, our learners always progress at their own pace and make their own path through content. Because of that, I'm far more interested in seeing the day's overall site activity than in tracking what happens inside a single course and I haven't been able to locate reliable day-level, across-the-site activity reports in the system.

Pros

What I really appreciate is how easy it is to add courses whenever we need and tailor them with the exact specs required. We run lots of job readiness programs across multiple industries so having that level of control to deliver precisely the training our learners need has been a huge benefit.

Cons

I'm not fond of the reporting tools. I wish it were simpler to build custom reports that pull data from the exact fields we need. As a nonprofit we have to track a lot of metrics to maintain our funding so being able to shape reports for our monthly submissions would be incredibly helpful. On top of that, I've noticed inconsistencies with the reporting dates which creates confusion when I'm trying to enter or extract data tied to specific dates.

Pros

Matrix is simple to use and quick to learn. I'm glad they continuously add new features. Many of the things I wanted two years ago are now included already.

Cons

It's missing some of the more advanced capabilities such as if-then rules for assigning learning. To automate assignment processes I end up having to put the required data into the learner's profile at the moment I create their account. If that field gets skipped during setup, we can't later add the information and trigger the rule to retroactively generate the assignment for that learner again.

Pros

I find it really user-friendly for both instructors and students

Cons

From my experience students often aren't sure what the right steps are to submit assignments successfully