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Passant Elwardy - PeerSpot reviewer
Passant Elwardy
Product Manager at Genuine Education Technology
Reseller
Dec 29, 2022
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Helps school organize content, while gamification awards students and keeps them engaged with learning
Pros and Cons
  • "Most LMSs have a fixed template for all the courses and the whole school uses it. When it comes to younger ages, they need fewer features so there won't be a lot of hassle for the teachers and parents. That's what we can do using CYPHER Learning: Just turn off anything that we don't need in a specific course."
  • "If the system had some graphing abilities and not just exporting of data to Excel sheets, that would be nice. I would like to be able to run a report on something and get graphs with insightful data. In an Excel sheet, I just have to reanalyze the data."

What is our primary use case?

As a reseller, our use case is for a primary school in Egypt. They use it for uploading material for the students and organizing the content throughout the year. They also use it for adding their grades in the grade book and for communication. They have also tried using the gamification and the certificates and rewarding systems in CYPHER Learning, and it has been a pretty good experience for them so far.

How has it helped my organization?

The school we sold the system to is pretty happy with the organization of the content and the communication with the parents that the solution provides. They were also very happy with the gamification, the automation that happens within the system when a student finishes a specific part of the content or gets a specific score.

CYPHER Learning was also an additional value for that school, something they needed as they were advertising themselves as using the latest technology in education. The system helped with that, thanks to the stability and the strong features it furnishes.

And because it's pretty organized, it helps students keep track of their standing, both in terms of the materials being covered and within the assessments that they get.

It has also helped our client school reduce administrative work. From the feedback that I have gotten, it is saving them a lot of time.

CYPHER Learning has also reduced costs related to printing materials and textbook acquisitions a lot. This is one of the reasons people are going to software. It's not because they find it is much easier. Sometimes they go for the solution because it saves on costs. That's not just true of CYPHER Learning but of many other solutions.

What is most valuable?

What I like most is the usability of the system and the many options that it has. I can make a regular course or I can have the course organized remotely. I can turn off and on any feature that I like. That's what I find most interesting. Most LMSs have a fixed template for all the courses and the whole school uses it. When it comes to younger ages, they need fewer features so there won't be a lot of hassle for the teachers and parents. That's what we can do using CYPHER Learning: Just turn off anything that we don't need in a specific course.

I can also engage with the parents or students on different levels, either via groups, within the course or the forum.

The gamification is a good feature because not all LMSs have a gaming or reward system. The leaderboard makes for competition among the students, especially from ages 10 to 15, and makes them interested in moving forward in the educational process, throughout the game. It's good because students need to be engaged more in the educational process.

I find the gamification process easy, especially if I have something in mind for the game. Many teachers also found it pretty easy, while some didn't, but they weren't familiar with using technology in general. The ones who used it regularly with the students were very satisfied with it. In the end, students using it gain points and certificates or badges, and it depends on what the teacher has in mind for the students to compete on.

It's not hard for students to use gamification because, in the end, they just have to finish the material and upload it to get a specific score on a test. They get a badge, and they can see their progress on the leaderboard. It's very rewarding.

What needs improvement?

Gamification would be much better if there were integrations with LTI tools, or if there were some built-in questions for gamification. For example, if a student achieves a specific score on a test, it would be much better if they were interactive questions added to the assignment itself from within CYPHER Learning. It would be nice if they enhanced this part of the solution. There are many platforms for gamified tests and interactive assignments and worksheets but if these features were within the system, especially the gamification part, it would be great.

For international schools in Egypt, there are certification requirements. They have to have an LMS. But for other schools, it is a value proposition. We have 100 percent face-to-face learning in Egypt, now that COVID is over. There is competition when it comes to having schools use the system and sometimes we face difficulties getting schools, in general, to support this kind of educational process. Having something like gamification helps because students are more engaged with it and are more eager to use the system. That's especially true because they are fully attending classes in the school, nothing is online anymore, other than the materials and assignments in the system. It's good to have something to catch their attention.

Also, customization of report cards is hard to handle, with the grading criteria that specific schools use. It can be done for each course, but in the end, students receive report cards or certificates for their progress throughout the term and the year and it's hard to customize these report cards. They don't have a grading scheme for the Egyptian curriculum.

In addition, if the system had some graphing abilities and not just exporting of data to Excel sheets, that would be nice. I would like to be able to run a report on something and get graphs with insightful data. In an Excel sheet, I just have to reanalyze the data.

For example, if I want to run a report on students' attendance, it doesn't have to be a number for the whole school or a sheet of numbers. It could give me some graphs on different stages or different courses. If I am analyzing a student's time spent within a course, I would like to see how many hours he spent compared to other students. It would help if there were an analytical part to the data obtained from the system.

Also, I have to do a lot of clicking to reach something. When I go back, it just closes all that I did. It collapses everything. It doesn't make it hard to use, but it's disturbing to have to do all those clicks.

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For how long have I used the solution?

We studied the product before we finally started introducing it into the Egyptian market in 2021. There is a school contracted with us for it right now so I have almost one year of user experience. We provide training on the system and technical support for the school.

We are a reseller of educational solutions, both hardware and software. They can be learning management systems, school management systems, and interactive, live panels. Sometimes we sell full solutions to a school, and we provide training and follow-up throughout the year. The Egyptian market is a bit hard to compete in, but not many companies resell these products here.

Solutions like these have gone viral with COVID-19 and schools need support and onsite training for the teachers, and this is what we've been providing for the past 12 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a pretty good product. In our company, we only resell three products, and CYPHER Learning is one of them. It's pretty reliable and it has a lot of features.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It could be used on many sites, and it will be even better once we have more schools interested in deploying LMSs in their schools. From what I have seen of the system, it could even be used in colleges and universities.

How was the initial setup?

We are involved in implementing CYPHER Learning. First, we open the account and then pay for the license. Then, we start putting the data of the school on the system. We give them the courses, the users, the links for parents and students, and we start helping them with uploading the material. Sometimes, we help them with the grading process, if needed.

I find the initial setup is pretty easy, but schools here have many things inside things, inside things. It becomes a complicated hierarchy. That's what makes it hard. It's easy to get it done on the system, once we figure out what we want things to look like in the end.

We did the setup ourselves. During the first term, we started getting support from CYPHER LEARNING, and it was pretty good. We learned a few points and they gave us good support.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have evaluated many LMSs before. Some are produced locally in Egypt, some are from the greater Middle East, and some are solutions like Blackboard, Classe365, and others. I'm familiar with using different LMSs and have done comparisons between them.

We provide many products to the Egyptian market. Our customers are the ones who choose. We find that CYPHER Learning is a pretty interesting system, full of features, and it's pretty stable. I can see that the product is developing very well and covers a lot of the needs of the Egyptian market. It's also pretty easy to use, especially if you are provided the right training from the company. We feel that there are many selling points to the product.

What other advice do I have?

My advice would be to organize all the work and the output so that you can see how it would be deployed in the system, and not just look for a single output. Using technology, you can have a million outputs with the same value. You can be flexible with the system, and it will give you the results that you need.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
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Milena Ariza
Apprenticeship Coordinator at Academia ISIS
Real User
Dec 13, 2022
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Helps streamline our student evaluation activities and enables us to reach more people
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a platform that has everything. It is very powerful and intuitive. And because it is so user-friendly, it allows anyone without any knowledge of LMS platforms to make a course, publish it, and monitor it."
  • "One of the things that I would like to see improvement on is detecting duplicate users by identifying them by their names and not only by their email addresses. Many people change their email addresses but we don't know that they have. This can result in unnecessary duplication of user accounts."

What is our primary use case?

We are an NGO that includes an academic program for updating health training for health professionals, such as doctors. MATRIX LMS is the tool that helps us with this.

Additionally, we use it for employees of our organization to take compliance courses.

How has it helped my organization?

One of the ways that MATRIX LMS has improved our organization is through cost savings. Our organization has an academic program to train health professionals. Face-to-face training comes with an expense, whereas having courses filed in the platform allows us to reach larger numbers of people at the same time. I would estimate it has helped us save 40 percent on our costs. And with regard to training facilities or travel involved in training, it saves us 100 percent.

Doctors and health students must have some forms available and with this platform they have them available online with no need to print them out, resulting in cost savings. In addition, all the evaluations are also archived in the platform. We have to do evaluations at the beginning and the end of each course and the system is an instrument that streamlines our activities.

Another benefit is that students have the content available whenever they need it. Because we work with health teachers, and these people need things in a certain format and they also have to know how to fill that format out, MATRIX LMS allows us to host those formats there and highlight them, along with instructions on how to use them, and the content is always available.

What is most valuable?

I am in love with MATRIX LMS. For me, it is a platform that has everything. It is very powerful and intuitive. And because it is so user-friendly, it allows anyone without any knowledge of LMS platforms to make a course, publish it, and monitor it.

One of the things that I like most is the preparation of the courses and the resources that the platform has to carry them out.

Another attractive feature is the fact that you can download reports and have them available for the many audits that are done. These reports provide an indication of the steps taken on the platform.

In terms of automation, I use reminder messages to warn participants about the time they have left to complete a course. Although the training is self-managed, we do have a time limit to take the course. If people remain inactive for weeks, a reminder message is automatically sent to them to let them know that the deadline for taking the courses is approaching. There is also automation for different learning routes, but above all, the ability to send reminders is great.

For me, it is very important that the rules system helps to personalize the content because we have different levels for different profiles within this academy. We have profiles that have average academic preparation and others that are experts, so they cannot have the same competencies. Customizing these skills will help us to have greater control over what people are learning and the content they are going to digest.

Using the platform, I can also see who has not accessed the portal and follow up with them. That is one of the advantages that I like the most about MATRIX: I can validate the progress people are making and see the number of times they have entered the portal. When it comes to enabling me to monitor and check student progress, on a scale of one to 10, I give it a 20. It's very good. Whenever I give an introduction about what MATRIX LMS is for me, I always mention that it is a platform with monitoring tools. It helps me to see an honest accounting of a student’s progress.

What needs improvement?

Something that has always caused me a little concern is in relation to the visibility of users, because MATRIX LMS identifies users only by their emails. One of the things that I would like to see improvement on is detecting duplicate users by identifying them by their names and not only by their email addresses. Many people change their email addresses but we don't know that they have. This can result in unnecessary duplication of user accounts.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using MATRIX LMS by CYPHER LEARNING for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

So far, we have only had an issue once where we lost some accounts. Before my arrival, there were 10 administrators and many of them had left the institution but still had active accounts. I realized that many of these users had modified the archived data without consulting us. By talking with the CYPHER LEARNING support team, we were able to obtain all the information that had been lost. That was the only unusual situation that has happened to us by using the system.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, I would give it a score of 100 percent. I'm not part of the MATRIX LMS publicity team, but I honestly love it. It has consistent updates and it's getting better and better.

Including students and staff, we have about 850 users, consisting of instructors, the administration team, the director, and a manager. It is being used quite a lot. In fact, usage has increased recently, as we found that we had many more active students than we thought.

How are customer service and support?

The solution’s technical support is excellent. They respond super fast. You ask any question through the support page and you always receive a quick answer. The team is always attentive and gives satisfactory answers.

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't part of the organization when the platform was implemented. I understand that a person was hired to do that job. When I started here, the organization had already had some time with the platform. I had knowledge of other platforms that I had worked with and that is how I began to better configure this platform. For me, it was quite simple.

The person who was doing my job had a hard time since he had never worked with an LMS platform and did not know how to manage the MATRIX LMS functions. I contacted their support team because it was the first time I worked with the system and the support was so good that, within a month, I already understood how to use the platform. The process was simple and quite user-friendly.

We have two people for administration of the platform, the sub-administrator who is the manager of the program, and me as the administrator.

What was our ROI?

The budget required to train the number of people we train in a month, using MATRIX LMS, would take us a year to train them without the platform.

Another way we see a return on investment is the fact that we don't have to print so many materials. The time savings are also worth a lot for us. Now, we can invest our time in other activities.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I always recommend to my colleagues from other institutions that they use MATRIX LMS. The quality makes the cost worth it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

If I remember correctly, they evaluated Canvas, Moodle, and others.

MATRIX LMS is a more powerful platform and has everything that we require. It is user-friendly, and we can make our courses without the need for a third party. It has the capacity to store what we need and has many resources. It really is a very good platform.

What other advice do I have?

The rules engine helps personalize content based on users’ goals and performance, although we don't work by competencies because it is a resource that we have not used in-depth on the platform. Thanks to the solution's technical support team, I have been able to better explore the platform. We are going to use the entire topic of competencies in the future. In fact, we now have a course that is going to support an organization that is an ally of ours and we are going to explore the topic of competencies for it.

CYPHER LEARNING has made many updates to the platform but I don't think I have seen any new efficiencies for our processes. What I like the most about the new features is the gamified environment. That makes achieving our goals easier.

Even though we are in a pandemic, we can continue to update people, train them, and have the materials ready for when they want to use them, through any device.

MATRIX LMS is a platform that's worth trying. It's that simple. I give it a 20 out of 10.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Monica Peñafiel - PeerSpot reviewer
Monica Peñafiel
Highschool English Teacher at San Antonio De Padua Catholic
Real User
Nov 24, 2022
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Provides substantial help by enabling creation of exams and automatically returning results, saving us time
Pros and Cons
  • "I can use a template to replicate class content so that I can use the same content in the three sections where I teach. That way, I don't have to continuously edit my classes. It's very useful."
  • "This automation is priceless."
  • "In terms of face-to-face education, a suggestion for CYPHER LEARNING is that it give more presence to CYPHER Learning as an entity in the school by teaching more about how to exploit the tools: how to create games, and more about the use of SCORM."
  • "In terms of face-to-face education, a suggestion for CYPHER LEARNING is that it give more presence to CYPHER Learning as an entity in the school by teaching more about how to exploit the tools: how to create games, and more about the use of SCORM."

What is our primary use case?

I use CYPHER Learning to upload school information, publish the annual program, and upload the sections of classes, divided weekly. We also use this platform in a didactic and playful way so that students have a more striking way of learning. We also do exams through CYPHER Learning.

How has it helped my organization?

CYPHER Learning has helped our institution a lot, especially in terms of evaluations. It provides substantial help for the teacher. For example, I can create an exam and CYPHER Learning already corrects it. That level of automation has helped me a lot. I'd rather spend an extra hour in CYPHER Learning creating one more test for another section than spend three hours grading tests.

CYPHER Learning helps me by giving me the results of exams. With the percentages that I receive from the platform I save a lot of time in the administrative sense.

I have 150 students in my charge. Whereas before, I had to correct the exam of each one of the 150 students, now I can simply access CYPHER Learning and see the results. The time that I used to correct exams I now use to create classes with more fun content or more games. I feel calmer in that sense. It has given me peace of mind.

It also helps in getting students to become more engaged and develop thinking skills. There is an option within the system that enables me to insert games from third-party platforms via links. The flexibility of being able to insert audio or links helps to challenge students to demonstrate their entrepreneurship and their level of thinking.

Our school is in a process of transformation where more emphasis is being given to inverted education. In that model, new content is initially introduced through online videos and readings before the class takes place. We have already achieved four stars in the EFQM model. Part of the process of reaching five stars is to be up to date with the new methodologies of education worldwide, such as the flipped classroom, where the focus of attention is inverted from the teacher to the students. In that model, students take more responsibility in the learning process. CYPHER Learning allows us to introduce subjects and inform students about the topics and give them a "warm-up" for what is going to happen in class.

Through the system, I also have an idea of how a student is doing since I can see the grades and scores they have received. That can help in part with intervention for students who need help. I can send them a link with content so they can practice the subject more, or I can talk to them through the chat to discuss what they need. In these ways, it helps me track students with difficulties and intervene.

Another benefit is that we no longer use so much paper or the school printing press, saving us a lot on costs. In addition, since there is not as much printing anymore, we no longer need as many staff in the printing part of the school.

What is most valuable?

I can use a template to replicate class content so that I can use the same content in the three sections where I teach. That way, I don't have to continuously edit my classes. It's very useful.

The platform helps me organize basic sections. I share videos, presentations, and games like Kahoot, and this helps me facilitate learning management. There are students who are interested in this, and there are others who are not part of these activities. For me, it is very useful to send links to students with informative content before class so that they are more prepared. That has been very beneficial for me.

The platform also gives you an idea of the percentages when it comes to students' performance.

And when it comes to exams, if I want to assign one exam to specific students, the platform makes it easy for me to share the exam in that way. The platform makes it easy for me to communicate with students. I simply use the inbox, select the classroom and the student, and then send the exam that I want that student to send him. That's it. For me, this is a very important feature.

CYPHER Learning is also quite user-friendly. It is not complicated to use. Students know how to manage it, upload their homework, and take exams. The students can see their results as well. The exam files can be changed and it has many settings that allow for flexibility in giving exams.

What needs improvement?

If there is something that the platform could improve on, it would be in showing the number of words in a document that a student uploads. When I have to review essays I cannot see the number of words in them. The platform should count the words.

Another issue is in the area of exams. They could be more personalized and specific. For example, if I want to create a text with several gaps where the students have to fill in the correct words, it is very difficult to do through CYPHER Learning.

We have not necessarily saved money on textbooks since English learners have a printed book that is not in CYPHER Learning. If CYPHER Learning had an English reading platform it would be fantastic. If they could add a platform like Black Cat to their services it would be beneficial. CYPHER Learning doesn't include games either. I usually have to go to third-party sites, like Kahoot and Bamboo. I think you can add games through SCORM but I don't think it's that good. Because it does not include fun games like the ones I use, I have to buy them, and they are not cheap.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using CYPHER LEARNING for three to four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is quite stable and also provides services during hours when we do not have classes.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

CYPHER Learning is the backbone of the school. It is used continuously. It gives us structure for the functioning of our learning sessions, and enough functionality to work in those sessions and on everything else. It gives us structure and unity.

For example, if I have an exam that I create in English for high school and a colleague of mine from another grade wants to use that exam, he can use it. I have the ability to share materials such as exams with other teachers.

We have 250 to 300 users, teachers and administrators, not counting the students.

How are customer service and support?

The solution’s technical support is good. I mostly turn to the systems administrator team at our school when I have problems with CYPHER Learning. I know that the vendor has support for the platform but I prefer to talk to a person by phone or in person. From what I understand about CYPHER LEARNING's support, it is a chat with a robot. In some cases it helps but in some cases it doesn't.

I don't have a phone number of a CYPHER Learning manager to turn to. If they had a helpline it might be better.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used Canvas LMS, although I couldn't create exams in it. It is a very good platform, but CYPHER Learning is better for creating exams for school.

How was the initial setup?

In the beginning, it was complicated. We all did not understand what the system was. Some teachers were more skilled than others in finding the features. Some teachers, even to this day, don't know how to make an exam in CYPHER Learning. They haven't figured it out.

There was a training process but there was a lot of information so it took us time to decipher. Our deployment took two to three months. There was a lot of publicity and information about CYPHER Learning at our school, in meetings and through training. They gave us links to tutorials as well. It was a whole implementation process.

I would like us to receive more tutorials on the SCORM format. I found it very useful and that there are many things that can be done with it. We also learned that with the Lumen program you have a massive number of formats for games that can be inserted into CYPHER Learning via SCORM.

What about the implementation team?

Our school has three different levels: initial, elementary, and high school. Our department of system administrators, consisting of three or four, is in charge of CYPHER Learning.

We have an intermediary between CYPHER LEARNING and our school, a company that helped our school with the implementation. They just gave a talk about the use of SCORM a few days ago which I wish had been a little longer.

What was our ROI?

The cost of CYPHER Learning was necessary to handle the situation that occurred during the pandemic. Since then, CYPHER Learning has continued to justify its cost since it makes it possible for a teacher to take charge of more sections. Teachers can handle more exams and more students because more things are automated. If a teacher used to handle four sections, he now has five because he does not have to correct so many exams. This has led to reducing staff.

This automation is priceless. Now, teachers can focus on other aspects with the additional time saved on reviewing exams.

In addition, I can share content with other people. All of this is a benefit for the school.

What other advice do I have?

My advice is to make sure you have a lot of training. Your school should create many training sessions to help people know how to use it, with practical examples of how exams and sections are created. That way, teachers will become familiar with the platform. We had teachers who were very afraid to use the platform at first. With enjoyable training sessions, you can break the ice.

During the pandemic, we felt isolated since we did not have the ability to ask our colleagues for help.

In terms of face-to-face education, a suggestion for CYPHER LEARNING is that it give more presence to CYPHER Learning as an entity in the school by teaching more about how to exploit the tools: how to create games, and more about the use of SCORM. In our case, each teacher has discovered many things on their own. There is a need for more of a company presence.

Learn to trust yourself. Technology is your friend, so do not be afraid of it. It can help you in your processes. There is a saying that "employability is a journey, not a destination." Many things can be learned on this journey. Your job as a teacher does not have to be a final destination. We need to accept that we are on a journey in which everything can change and that we need to adapt. CYPHER Learning has taught me to adapt.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Analia Solange Legonia
Docente at San Antonio De Padua Catholic
Real User
Nov 24, 2022
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Allows me to see how much a student is interacting with activities and help with any problems they have
Pros and Cons
  • "I mainly use the storage folders that allow students to upload their work in an organized way. By providing a large storage capacity, the system allows students to upload videos and images. I can also rate students and give them feedback with comments or stickers."
  • "CYPHER Learning taught me to get closer to my students and allowed me to do so."
  • "The vendor could improve on the chat system. Right now, the student only has access to messaging. Maybe it would be good to have a mini chat or the ability to do video calls with teachers if they have any questions about an assignment."
  • "The vendor could improve on the chat system."

What is our primary use case?

CYPHER Learning is where we upload the class sections and create links so that students can connect to Zoom. These things were mostly done during the pandemic and part-time face-to-face education.

Now that we have returned to full face-to-face education, I still upload the material to the platform but our use of the platform is lower.

How has it helped my organization?

CYPHER Learning was implemented in our institution at the time of the pandemic. Before that, things were quite messy because we had another platform that was used more as a scheduling calendar for the parents. Teachers did not know exactly how to use it and teachers could only send links individually. NEO LMS helped us to organize ourselves, both in terms of class schedules and organizing information about the academic year. It also helped us with direct communication with the students and parents.

Another benefit is that it enables students to have a means of access to school information no matter where they are. For example, if a student is sick or is traveling, the system enables him to have the information he needs, to observe the material, and to see the comments of his classmates live.

Using the platform is interesting and fast. I work with 11 and 12-year-old students who already handle the systems area a bit. It allows me to see how much a student is interacting with the activities. In that way, as a teacher, I can help them with any problems they have.

The main way it helps in this regard is through the direct-message feature. This is the best tool in CYPHER Learning for intervening and correcting. Because my students are 11 and 12 years old, not all interventions can be done through the platform. Most of the time, we do personal meetings by Zoom to provide more active intervention.

Also, during the pandemic, I saved a lot of time on administrative work by using CYPHER Learning, especially since I am a teacher of the same subject in different classes. Thanks to the platform, I was able to share the folders only once instead of having to duplicate or recreate them. I saved about four to five hours a week on administrative work.

What is most valuable?

I mainly use the storage folders that allow students to upload their work in an organized way. By providing a large storage capacity, the system allows students to upload videos and images. I can also rate students and give them feedback with comments or stickers.

For me, the system is quite agile because I have it sorted by grade and sections within the grade. That way, if I want to send a message to the grade, I simply enter and send the message. It also allows me to send messages individually.

I believe that communication is one of the main elements needed for education, whether it is virtual, semi-attendance, or face-to-face. There is not always a way to solve students' doubts immediately, but CYPHER Learning facilitates communication between students and teachers.

I have also used tools such as the discussion forums where students can give their opinions. The forums allow students to compare their answers and to reply to the questions or opinions of their classmates. If they come across an opinion they like better, they can avoid waiting to ask the teacher questions. It has definitely helped on this topic.

These activities are part of our educational goals: that students gain the ability to self-regulate, overcome, and seek better strategies, although during the pandemic it was used more than now in face-to-face education.

But CYPHER Learning still allows them to do these activities. For example, sometimes I upload reinforcement activities and, although the students know that they are not going to be given any score for doing them, they prefer to do them anyway because they can receive an immediate response. They do these reinforcement activities autonomously to have a better idea of the kinds of topics they might see in an in-person exam.

It is a fairly agile and intuitive environment. As the vendor updates things such as allowing sessions to be done only through Zoom, and the ease of manipulating the class sections, I feel more and more confident using the platform.

What needs improvement?

The vendor could improve on the chat system. Right now, the student only has access to messaging. Maybe it would be good to have a mini chat or the ability to do video calls with teachers if they have any questions about an assignment.

Another improvement would be the ability to create groups. Currently, a teacher has to manually drag the names of the students. It would be better if the students themselves could create groups independently.

For how long have I used the solution?

I started using CYPHER LEARNING two and a half years ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. In the time we have had it, it has only gone down a few times.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

While we were in virtual education mode, it allowed us as many resources as we needed. Now that we have returned to face-to-face education, our use has decreased a bit, but we will continue using it.

We have about 2,000 users, including teachers, parents, and students.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is quite good. No matter what time of day it was, when I went to the forums, I always received quick answers.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

This is our first LMS.

How was the initial setup?

For me, the setup was quite simple. It was very automatic and the class sections are quite flexible. It took approximately two weeks.

CYPHER LEARNING offered us an expert who assisted us in making full use of the platform. We had training meetings and practical exercises. The person who trained us showed us how to use it step by step. The training was divided into sections and classes, and if you had any questions, you shared your screen so that the administrators could help you.

Once the face-to-face training was completed, the system administrators were left in charge to advise us when there are questions.

What was our ROI?

Thanks to this LMS we had a more flexible way of managing the period of virtual education. We had the option to save time by uploading folders and grading the students' work. We were able to find everything we needed in a single place.

What other advice do I have?

We are in the process of learning about the whole subject of automation and adaptive learning. We recently had training where they taught us everything about auto-responses, qualifications, and automated messages to facilitate administrative work.

Because my students, aged 11 and 12, are at a very initial level, they are still entering CYPHER Learning only to review the classes that the teacher uploads, so their use of its tools is very basic. During the pandemic, they were slowly directed on how to upload things. They have not yet mastered the platform.

I would tell others who are looking into this product that it is a fairly agile platform, especially in educational management. It also eases the virtual and semi-face-to-face learning process, because it allows you to create independent users, such as parents or students in one area, where they can do a general scan of their academic progress. And the uploading and storage area of data is quite capable.

CYPHER Learning taught me to get closer to my students and allowed me to do so. Now, there is a space where I can comment on any topic at any time. It has allowed me to speed up the process of communicating with them.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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María Reyna Rojas - PeerSpot reviewer
María Reyna Rojas
Staff at San Antonio De Padua Catholic
Real User
Nov 7, 2022
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Favors individual work as well as teamwork, helping students know how to write but also how to communicate
Pros and Cons
  • "I have many students in my charge and thanks to the automation provided by CYPHER Learning, it is possible to apply any class to any classroom and, in that way, replicate the same content for all classrooms."
  • "The fact that we are all satisfied with the work means that the investment was worth it."
  • "There is room for improvement in the way competencies for each area are designated. I would like the exact activities to be specified somewhere to clarify for the students what they need to complete each activity."
  • "There is room for improvement in the way competencies for each area are designated."

How has it helped my organization?

Before CYPHER Learning, our school was very traditional and did not use any type of online documentation. The pandemic made us look for new ways of doing things and that's when CYPHER Learning arrived. At first, it seemed very difficult to understand because we were not used to a student being able to archive their work and manage their learning in such an independent way. But this new modality of having the information online and using the CYPHER Learning application on a cell phone to see your work progress is something that has helped our institution.

It seems to me that CYPHER Learning is very didactic. You can count on forums and teamwork. It greatly favors individual work as well as teamwork. It is very important that students know how to write, but also that they know how to communicate. CYPHER Learning also facilitates socializing through the platform.

The solution has also helped save time, about 40 percent, on intervention strategies for students. For example, I have students who may take time to deliver assignments because they find them more complex. CYPHER Learning enables me to ask a student to do everything in a more creative way, such as by uploading a video or a canvas. In that way, life is made easier for them. Progress is faster thanks to NEO. Students can access a folder designed especially for them, according to their specific needs. NEO allows me to focus on exactly what they need and helps me close the learning gap.

And in terms of administrative work, it helps me do everything faster. Before, I had to see the grades separately. Now I can see them through CYPHER Learning and it helps a lot to consolidate the grades faster.

We also save money on modules and books, and students have the information wherever they are.

CYPHER Learning has taught me how to be organized. It used to be complicated for me to review and correct papers, but CYPHER Learning streamlines the process and provides the option of giving quick feedback, from both students and teachers.

What is most valuable?

In CYPHER Learning, all learning sessions are uploaded so that students can preview them before class, and students can upload their activities in class. We also use the synchronization with Zoom.

The fact that you can organize all the information so that you have an order regarding the topics that the students review, and the way in which CYPHER Learning archives all the work done by the students, seems very useful to me.

I have many students in my charge and thanks to the automation provided by CYPHER Learning, it is possible to apply any class to any classroom and, in that way, replicate the same content for all classrooms.

Each student has different needs. In the comments section, they can express their needs and I, as a teacher, can provide them with some additional detail about what to do in the activity. It is a mini-chat where teachers communicate with students. I can talk privately with the student about those sections of the class where they need reinforcement.

It is very easy for educators to communicate with students using CYPHER Learning. The comments section in the projects makes our lives a lot easier. I can make observations on how to improve their work and if the student has any questions they reply immediately. In this way, there is constant feedback. The student feels fully cared for. Before CYPHER Learning, they had to wait until the next class to see the teacher and communicate with him. It is very important to be able to communicate. That gap that existed before between teachers and students is reduced when the student feels they will get a quick and effective response from the teacher. They feel looked after.

Also, the student has a bar that shows his progress. CYPHER Learning organizes all the evaluations and summarizes things. In addition to that, because we are between virtual and face-to-face classes nowadays, the content uploaded in CYPHER Learning is an advanced type of "information spoiler" about what they are going to do each semester. And the exercises they do give us feedback regarding the level of each student.

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement in the way competencies for each area are designated. I would like the exact activities to be specified somewhere to clarify for the students what they need to complete each activity.

For how long have I used the solution?

We started using CYPHER Learning in 2020, when the pandemic started.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have never had connection problems. The platform is very stable and has always worked well.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I feel that CYPHER Learning has everything I need, in terms of infrastructure and communication with students. CYPHER LEARNING is always innovating. Recently, they showed us new tools. They care about meeting needs as time goes by.

We have about 1,500 users, including students, teachers, and supervisors. We are using it to its maximum, so there is no way to increase our usage of it.

How are customer service and support?

I haven't had any issues so I haven't had any experience with their technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

The other solution we have is SieWeb but it is just for uploading notes so it's not comparable to CYPHER Learning.

How was the initial setup?

It was complex at the beginning. It was the first time we interacted with a platform of this type. However, it is intuitive and, by exploring, you understand its functionalities.

We had three training sessions, each lasting approximately two weeks, and then teachers began to use it independently. But it really depends on how much the teacher tries to manage and experiment with it. Our older teachers had difficulties.

At first, a small number of teachers were trained, and then general training was given. In each area there was an advisor. And one teacher, who predominated in the platform, advised the rest of the team and shared what they knew about it.

What about the implementation team?

In the general training, there was a CYPHER Learning implementer, but we didn't really need a lot of help because we were able to help each other and answer questions.

My experience with the implementer was quite good. He was very didactic, he tried to answer questions very calmly and make himself understood, and he was very patient.

What was our ROI?

Our ROI is that the students and teachers feel comfortable with the solution. The fact that we are all satisfied with the work means that the investment was worth it.

What other advice do I have?

Look into whether it is useful for your school. CYPHER Learning has fast statistical data and many resources.

The tools for tagging classes and assignments with competencies don't really help me in the subject that I teach. Where it does help is in all the options that the student has to write, such as forums and exercises. Perhaps during the pandemic it was more necessary but now it is used less frequently.

The innovation and deployment of CYPHER Learning was very useful. In our school there are always surveys, and CYPHER Learning is something that everyone sees as necessary.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Milagros Cruz Salvador - PeerSpot reviewer
Milagros Cruz Salvador
Educational Quality Coordinator at IEP SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA
Real User
Nov 7, 2022
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Adaptive learning allows us to make decisions regarding student progress, including achievements and skills
Pros and Cons
  • "This platform not only allows you to transmit the content in an agile and interactive way, but you can also interact with the students and keep them up to date. It is a platform that provides communication with the student, not only academically but also personally."
  • "If you want a space that allows you to work on skills, formative evaluation, the interaction between teachers and students, and that gives you the ability to reinforce learning, CYPHER Learning is a very good tool."
  • "Perhaps there could be advances in artificial intelligence with more precise and immediate automated reports so that teachers have reports at hand. That would make things easier and would speed up processes."
  • "Perhaps there could be advances in artificial intelligence with more precise and immediate automated reports so that teachers have reports at hand."

What is our primary use case?

We used to have a traditional education system before the pandemic, but because of the pandemic, we had to reach students in a different way. That was when we engaged CYPHER Learning as a platform to help us continue our teaching and learning processes. Thanks to this platform, the students continued their education.

How has it helped my organization?

With CYPHER Learning's automation, students are aware of what they are going to do. They see the assignments and their achievements and they know their own grades. In other words, they regulate their learning pace by themselves.

For us as teachers, the adaptive learning has allowed us to make decisions regarding the progress of students, including their achievements and skills. This helps regulate the progress of the semester.

The solution’s competency-based learning helps us understand what percentage of the activities the student has exploited among those that the teacher has uploaded to the platform. This information allows us to understand a lot about the interaction that teachers have with students.

Lately, we are focusing on formative evaluation, which is an evaluation of the process through which the student acquires the skills and we receive feedback regarding the student’s situation. The ability to tag classes and assignments with competencies is very good because in our country we work under a system based on competencies and formative evaluation. The fact that teachers can attach competencies and qualification scales to the activities that they program in their rubrics, helps indicate development and reinforce our teaching style.

And thanks to the formative evaluation that CYPHER Learning has provided us with, students now know why they have been qualified in certain criteria. The data is in front of them.

Each teacher who designs a course takes into account the skills and recommendations that students have to meet. Each activity is designed based on the competencies record. The student must be aware of what he is going to learn, so this tool is very important.

It helps students develop their independence. Little by little, the teachers are learning that the students want autonomy and independence in each activity.
It is a sequence that all teachers manage. And the students already understand that the platform has the instructions they need and helps them regulate autonomy and time management.

The platform has given us a space to manage things in an organized manner with consistent dynamics. If it were not for CYPHER Learning, everyone would look for their own learning platform.

And when it comes to intervention strategies for students, it helps save time because tools such as direct messaging enable providing feedback to students who are having difficulties. Teachers can redirect the activity or their explanations and that helps facilitate the learning process. Not all students quickly understand the message. The way CYPHER Learning messages work facilitates interaction between the teacher and the student.

When it comes to administrative and bureaucratic work, a teacher makes his class and uploads it to CYPHER Learning. The advisor supervises the class and gives feedback on his behalf, which makes the process easier. We are still learning about CYPHER Learning's dynamic environment, but we have saved about 70 percent in time on administrative work.

Another advantage of CYPHER Learning, because it supports a good amount of data, is that we can avoid the use of physical textbooks. Before we implemented CYPHER Learning, school accessories cost parents 1,500 soles. Now, the cost is 500 or 800 soles because there is no need to buy books.

Other benefits include the fact that the communication with students is through a single platform. All students are aware of the importance of the use of CYPHER Learning for hybrid and face-to-face classes. And through the supervision and monitoring of teachers through the platform, the advisor in each area can investigate what the teacher's work is like.

It has definitely helped our school a lot. It is a very powerful LMS.

What is most valuable?

This platform not only allows you to transmit the content in an agile and interactive way, but you can also interact with the students and keep them up to date. It is a platform that provides communication with the student, not only academically but also personally.

It's very easy for educators to communicate with students. It's part of the school's "DNA." CYPHER Learning is our only platform for contact with students. We have another platform but it is more for announcements and institutional issues. CYPHER Learning is the meeting space between teachers and students. It’s the main provider of content, evaluations, structure, and design of classes.

The tool that we use the most is personalizing the content with the students and doing inverted learning. As a teacher, I upload my material to the platform with all the detailed activities, links, and feedback. I use it more than anything to plan my classes, and so that the students know the objective of the class and achieve it.

And the solution's automation for helping show or hide specific class sections or assignments is very good. It is a very transparent and intuitive platform with various tools to help students.

Also, the ability of teachers to track student progress on a competency basis through a mastery grid is very important. All teachers have to manage and take advantage of the information they receive from CYPHER Learning. The more automated CYPHER Learning is in terms of achievements, the more the information will be useful for the teacher when continuing to design classes, giving feedback to the students, and continuing with formative assessment.

It is also important that CYPHER Learning has a link with other platforms such as Zoom, AMCO, et cetera. The ability that it has to connect with other tools that help enrich the teaching and learning process is great. Many teachers use various gamified processes to teach their classes, such as video, a song, or a canvas.

What needs improvement?

Perhaps there could be advances in artificial intelligence with more precise and immediate automated reports so that teachers have reports at hand. That would make things easier and would speed up processes.

For how long have I used the solution?

We are a private school in Lima and we have been using CYPHER Learning since 2021.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of this solution is excellent. It has enabled virtual, blended, hybrid, and face-to-face education, in an optimal way. In our almost three years of use, there have only been two or three network drops. That is not an alarming amount, and with CYPHER Learning we get immediate feedback and support.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We do not know 100 percent of CYPHER Learning yet. We continue training teachers in its use and exploitation, but we see that CYPHER Learning is evolving even more to provide us with more tools. Our goal at the moment is that CYPHER Learning will meet a national standard and become an official system of evaluation, according to the Peruvian rating system. We have high expectations that CYPHER Learning will continue to respond to all our needs.

We are empowering teachers more and more in the use of the platform. Students receive all content through CYPHER Learning. Our goal is to reach the parents of the students more and involve them more in the platform. We have plans to increase the use of CYPHER Learning with the families of students. They still don't understand exactly what CYPHER Learning is.

And as a network of various Franciscan schools, we also want our other schools to be able to access this platform.

We have approximately 140 users: teachers, assistants, advisory teachers who are the monitors, and our deputy directors. It has allowed us to increase staff. Student and parent users add many more to that count.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is quite agile. The school's systems team has constant communication with CYPHER Learning. In fact, at first, we didn't use their support that much, but CYPHER LEARNING has opened the channels of communication between the school and its technical support team and that has been very beneficial for us.

Their support is getting better and better. We are only now beginning to get to know the representatives.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

There is a Peruvian platform called SieWeb that we used to communicate with students, but it did not have the CYPHER Learning's agility to interact with students.

We learned about CYPHER Learning due to the pandemic. It is an LMS platform and SieWeb is not. It has completely different capabilities in terms of uploading content, design, interaction, training, work, et cetera.

How was the initial setup?

It did not take us long. We looked at other institutions that already had the platform and we quickly became familiar with it. The platform is very intuitive, and our objective is to learn and exploit it much more.

Setting up the design and the user interface took us a month. The pandemic began on March 12 and, two weeks later, we returned to classes. At the beginning of the pandemic, each one of us went for various virtual spaces, but it was quickly decided to implement CYPHER Learning. The part that took the longest was the uploading of data.

At first, we trained the teachers, students, and their families too. We created tutorials and guidelines for teachers on how to use the platform so that all the teachers could handle things in the same way.

What about the implementation team?

We hired a consultant who had experience with CYPHER Learning at another institution. The system engineers (tech team) helped in the development of tutorials and explained how to access the platform and use it. We had a good experience with the consultant. He arrived at the time we needed him most.

He presented us with different proposals on how to design our LMS environment and we adapted it to our objectives.

In terms of staff involved in addition to the consultant, there were the three systems engineers and a quality coordinator.

What was our ROI?

The return on investment is in CYPHER Learning's ability to adapt to different educational service modalities, save paper costs, enable student interaction with other virtual environments, monitor the work of teachers on the platform, and much more.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We thought about Google Classroom as, in the beginning, several teachers opted for that platform, but it seemed to us that CYPHER Learning would be a unifying space. It has the versatility to link to other tools. And its evaluation system, rubrics, feedback features, and instant messaging are things that CYPHER Learning handles really well.

What other advice do I have?

We have been using this platform for almost three years and we are exploring it a bit more every day. We still haven't mastered all of the tools it has to offer. Students usually say that use of the platform is very practical and functional.

We did a survey in the school and a large percentage of our teachers access CYPHER Learning daily, between two and three times, which means that the use of CYPHER Learning is very beneficial and helps us save a great deal of time. We have also evaluated it with families through surveys and the satisfaction is high.

CYPHER Learning has all the functionality to keep students at the same level, but it is the teacher's duty to make the most of those features. Logically, not all students are at the same level, but if the teacher uses 100 percent of CYPHER Learning's functionalities, students can achieve a very balanced learning pace.

If you want a space that allows you to work on skills, formative evaluation, the interaction between teachers and students, and that gives you the ability to reinforce learning, CYPHER Learning is a very good tool. It can be customized according to the needs of your organization.

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reviewer1949493 - PeerSpot reviewer
reviewer1949493
Senior Program Manager at a printing company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Sep 6, 2022
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It keeps our students on track but I would like the user reporting and calendar system to be more accurate
Pros and Cons
  • "For as long as I have been working with MATRIX (for a few years now), they have the social aspect with groups. The thing that they did not have for years, until earlier this year, was a reply-all feature. I had been asking for that for years and they finally added it this year. That has been helpful because now our students are less frustrated."
  • "It brings students together in one place with teaching materials. Also, it has a social capability to it by way of forums and groups. That is definitely important for our programs. There has been a lot of engagement in our programs."
  • "It brings students together in one place with teaching materials, and it has a social capability to it by way of forums and groups, which is definitely important for our programs and has driven a lot of engagement."
  • "We can see who has accessed the portal, but it is not very intuitive. There is an issue with MATRIX user reporting. It is not that useful a lot of the time because we see conflicting dates in the activity and login. I have tried to work with their engineers, and asked, "Well, what's the real deal here," and there is no clarity around it."
  • "We actually want to look at other systems or develop our own system because the cost point of MATRIX is so high. It doesn't feel like we get any value for it."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for three different programs of varying sizes. For example, one of our programs currently has 2,500 students. Another has about 1,200. So, we use it for varying programs that vary from anywhere from nine months to two years.

How has it helped my organization?

It brings students together in one place with teaching materials. Also, it has a social capability to it by way of forums and groups. That is definitely important for our programs. There has been a lot of engagement in our programs.

What is most valuable?

It is extremely important that dates and times are exact when we follow up with students, as it keeps our students on track.

For as long as I have been working with MATRIX (for a few years now), they have the social aspect with groups. The thing that they did not have for years, until earlier this year, was a reply-all feature. I had been asking for that for years and they finally added it this year. That has been helpful because now our students are less frustrated.

What needs improvement?

We can see who has accessed the portal, but it is not very intuitive. There is an issue with MATRIX user reporting. It is not that useful a lot of the time because we see conflicting dates in the activity and login. I have tried to work with their engineers, and asked, "Well, what's the real deal here," and there is no clarity around it. However, we can tell when people have last logged in.

The user reporting is a mess. It is unclear what I will get from this report. You need to keep tweaking and trying different options in the reports, then you don't know what you will get until you run the report. That is time-consuming and unclear to the user.

The calendar system could be greatly improved. I understand MATRIX is progressing in many ways by way of focusing on integrations with other apps and the whole API world. However, it would be nice if they could revisit their basics, e.g., the calendar system and user reporting, and get those basic things that people use every day to be accurate. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it since December 2019, which has been pretty much two years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

On the whole, it is pretty stable, but there have been issues that keep creeping up. I have been reporting them for years, getting temporary solutions. I don't know if they are running updates on their end, but the previous solution will then fall apart. I have to report it again and they have to fix it again. This all has to do with their basics, as far as reporting and calendars.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is 50-50. You don't know what you are going to get. Sometimes they will resolve it or help you resolve it, then other times you get an answer from someone who says, "It is not capable of doing that." Then, the next day, you might get a response from another technician who says, "Oh, I am sorry. Our system actually does this quite often."

They are hands-off by way of saying, "Oh, we are unable to replicate this." This is even when I am showing them video and screenshot proof of what is happening. Quite often, they say, "Oh, we are not able to replicate this." Then, that is it. They don't really help beyond that.

I would rate the technical support as six out of 10.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't previously use another solution.

How was the initial setup?

We do cycles with our programs, but I am involved in every setup.

The initial setup is straightforward in some ways. I have a background in LMS development so it is easy to set up and straightforward in that way. Some of it is not straightforward because some of the options are by way of setting up your site. They are not very clear about what they do. Or, some options are just thrown here and there in the settings. It seems not completely organized. It is like, "Well, where should we put this? Let's just put this here." Even though it doesn't quite make sense there, there isn't a lot of flexibility in terms of customizing things in MATRIX. 

Deployment time varies per program. We try to allow a lot of space for QA testing and other things. It takes about a month to deploy, but that is not necessarily eight hours a day, five days a week. I am saying a month for internal user testing. Since our programs are very extensive with a lot of materials, it does take time to set them up.

What about the implementation team?

We just purchased this solution from the vendor, then it was built in-house.

There is a team for deployment and maintenance because we have so many students across a few programs. There are at least 10 people. That varies from people getting into the weeds of building the courses, working on the back-end, or just administering it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We extensively use it since we use it to deploy our biggest selling courses or programs. It is used year-round and daily by students, and by us as well. We actually want to look at other systems or develop our own system because the cost point of MATRIX is so high. It doesn't feel like we get any value for it.

Take your time and test it out. Forecast how many users you will have. Are they going to be able to keep up with the high cost per user? I would definitely tell them to really dive in and forecast growth. See if you can keep up with this budgetary-wise.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I really want to work with our VP of technology and see about developing our own system so we can move away from MATRIX and save on profit.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution as seven out of 10.

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CYPHER LEARNING - PeerSpot reviewer
CYPHER LEARNINGWorks at a educational organization with 11-50 employees
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Thank you so very much for your review and feedback! We are sorry to hear you have had a frustrating time with your support issues.

At CYPHER LEARNING, we strive to work closely with our customers to resolve their concerns and will continue to be responsive to your needs. In the future, should you experience any further issues, do not hesitate to contact your ACE Representative directly, as they are always happy to assist in any way they can.


Kind regards,


CYPHER LEARNING team

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Monica Flores Rojas
Coordinadora Centro de Idiomas y Docente de Inglés at Bolivian Catholic University
Real User
Aug 1, 2022
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Students see and understand what is expected of them; teachers can identify and work with struggling students
Pros and Cons
  • "I also like the discussion board a lot because students can give their opinions there and interact with each other. For me, as an English teacher, it is also important because they practice writing in a real context."
  • "Compared to traditional ways of teaching, I would estimate CYPHER Learning saves 40 percent of my time."
  • "Perhaps there is room for improvement in the gamification part. I have used it but it has not been very clear to me. It may be my responsibility for not asking about it in the training sessions, but the way you use it is not so clear."
  • "Perhaps there is room for improvement in the gamification part."

What is our primary use case?

It is the LMS that we use at our university. Personally, I am in the language department and am an English teacher. For the courses that I give, I use CYPHER Learning for practically everything. Everything is in it: the material, the tasks. It is a platform that helps us a lot in organizing our classes.

How has it helped my organization?

If I tell students that they have to do an essay, I create an evaluation rubric. They can see the rubric and understand exactly what they have to do in the essay. That makes it much clearer for students to see precisely what needs to be done. With rubrics, they can see progress transparently.

The system also helps when it comes to intervention strategies for students because, in the first weeks, you realize who is interacting in CYPHER Learning and who is not. You can see who is doing the units and who isn’t working and that gives you a chance to ask a student why they aren't doing their homework. In this way, you can develop strategies to help them. For example, you can try to change the content or advise the student to manage their time differently. These could be factors that influence how the student is interacting on the platform.

Compared to traditional ways of teaching, I would estimate CYPHER Learning saves 40 percent of my time.

The solution’s ability to bridge the learning gap for students is not bad, although each student is different so not everyone will go at the same pace. CYPHER Learning helps me in identifying each student’s mastery of the subject. I can deepen my work with students who are excelling as well as with students who are struggling. For those who are struggling, I can give them a little more time to complete the assignment. I don't think everyone progresses in the same way and CYPHER Learning gives me the tools to help students individually.

Another benefit is the time saved due to the reduction in administrative work. You can download marks to an Excel document and everything is already organized. In addition, I manage the language department and I can ask the teachers to send me Excels of their students' progress. That enables me to observe what the teachers are doing and see who has not worked much through CYPHER Learning. I can quickly talk to the teacher and solve any problems. The decrease in administration saves about 30 percent of my time.

It also helps save significant time at the end of the month. If a student has a complaint, we can see everything in the system. The evidence is always there.

And saving on paper is important to me, both as an individual and as a teacher. We are trying as a university not to use paper. Because all the tasks are in CYPHER Learning, everything is digital and online and I do not need to deliver so many paper reports.

What is most valuable?

Last year I participated in a contest in which we had to submit a video about something that I like a lot in CYPHER Learning. I sent in a video about the discussion board. I like it because you can upload any topic, video, reading, or quote, and the students can give their opinions and interact. That helps to deepen the discussion.

I also like the discussion board a lot because students can give their opinions there and interact with each other. For me, as an English teacher, it is also important because they practice writing in a real context. It helps them to have a voice and to know what they think about a certain topic.

Another valuable feature is that it makes it easy to see the progress of the students, and students themselves can follow their own progress.

In terms of automation, you can create your own units and place the necessary information in each unit. Although we in the language department use another platform where all our content is uploaded, with CYPHER Learning we can see if students are learning according to the tasks they are given. We can ask for videos and recordings and, in that way, it's automated. The process is more agile than the traditional process. The automation is good.

I also like the variety of options. An assignment can be just a simple essay, a paragraph, or the videos or recordings I mentioned. These options give students the opportunity to be creative.

Sometimes we do exercises that do not have a grade associated with them and that helps students to receive positive feedback without feeling evaluated. Students understand that it is not only about receiving a good grade but that it's also about self-improvement and they develop motivation as a result.

Also, the fact that they can see their grades through CYPHER Learning lets them know what they have to work on, according to their score. It is very organized.

And communicating with students is easy because we can send individual and group messages. This past semester, we sent several such messages. It's a feature that works very well. As an English teacher, I write everything in English and this provides my students with an additional way to learn the language. Sometimes, I ask them to send me an email in English in a more formal way, as well. For those reasons, communicating through the platform has helped me a lot.

Communication is very important, especially because of the pandemic. Sometimes, students have doubts, questions, or problems, but with the system’s communication tools, I can reply to them more easily. It saves us time and we can focus on more important things when we are in class.

What needs improvement?

Perhaps there is room for improvement in the gamification part. I have used it but it has not been very clear to me. It may be my responsibility for not asking about it in the training sessions, but the way you use it is not so clear. I know that there are tutorials, but I would like something more user-friendly that would explain how to use this feature.

They should also send out more questionnaires to receive feedback.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using CYPHER Learning since the second semester of 2020.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It seems to me that there were some problems with the internet in 2020, but they were our problems. This year, I have not seen any problems.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The fact that our university decided to buy this LMS is very instructive because not many universities in La Paz have something like this. With each semester, every student and teacher becomes more and more familiar with CYPHER Learning. Most other universities use Google Classroom.

In the language department, we have 10 teachers and each semester we manage approximately 600 students.

The solution is being used throughout the entire university.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

The university acquired CYPHER Learning due to the pandemic.

We have a platform that has English content specifically for our department. It is 70 percent similar to CYPHER Learning but we use it more for uploaded content than anything else. So for us, the changes and getting familiar with CYPHER Learning were not as strange and complex as they were for other departments. We continue to use other platforms, but everything is concentrated in CYPHER Learning.

How was the initial setup?

The first part was a bit complex. We received training from the university. The systems center also had a person in charge of everything, but the beginning was complex because there were many settings. Once the systems center took charge of that, it was much easier to use. Like any tool, at first, it will be complex until you practice using it. It's normal to face some difficulties.

We started the CYPHER Learning training in June and by August we were done. We already have a department that is in charge of providing orientation, follow-up, and courses and, if a teacher does not understand something, they receive the necessary support. If I have a question, I can write to them and they answer me quickly. For example, if I want to understand more about gamification, I can talk to the department to receive help.

Our deployment strategy was that the university put a person in charge of each department and CYPHER Learning trained those people. In our department, a colleague took on that position for everything related to CYPHER Learning tutorials. We had information regarding the schedule of the training sessions and which tutorials we had to watch, and we were also able to consult with that colleague. In each department, the leader provided that information. There was also a support team for students from the computer department. Now, we have a support department that focuses on CYPHER Learning.

Our systems center supports login or connection problems for both students and teachers. We also have a pedagogical monitoring team. There are probably 10 people involved on our side, but only one or two work directly with CYPHER Learning. In each department there is a coordinator who helps new teachers with questions and training.

What other advice do I have?

CYPHER Learning is a good option for a large organization because it makes it easier to organize massive amounts of content, including data, files, and exams, as well as assign and review tasks. It makes things clearer for students. You can create In general, it is a good product.

It has taught me about the importance of adaptation. At first, I was a little worried that the students might not be able to adapt, but in the end, all the teachers and the students handled it well. It has taught me to adapt and set an example as a role model by using the platform.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Updated: May 2026
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Download our free CYPHER Learning Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Buyer's Guide
CYPHER Learning
May 2026
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