MindTap

MindTap makes learning easy.

Kommentare: Overall MindTap is an easy to use software for online learning.

Vorteile:

MindTap is easy to use and navigate which is important for online learning.

Nachteile:

The cost of MindTap could be a little lower. Most college students are on a tight budget.

Mobile, Accessible, and Inclusive

Kommentare: Perfect for everyone! A universal product that can be adapted to suit all. It has the ultimate features to enhance your learning experience.

Vorteile:

The read aloud option is perfect for those who struggle with sight. Being able to change font made it accessible to a wider audience as well. I was able to use it online and on the app on any device (phone, laptop, etc.) without any troubles. It is very mobile, accessible, and inclusive for all.

Nachteile:

I did not like how I had to sign back into MindTap every time I turned off a device without logging out of it. It was annoying and not necessary because security of MindTap was not a worry of mine.

Get through this

Vorteile:

Get through this. Get through this. Get through this.

Nachteile:

Get through this. Get through this. Get through this.

Cengage MindTap

Kommentare: Great product, excellent customer service/tech support.

Vorteile:

Cengage is easy to setup and integrate with Blackboard Learn. The instructor can easily select the content they want for their course and make changes on the fly. Gradebook integration is (mostly) seamless. Perhaps the best feature of Cengage is their tech support/customer service. Our sales rep is very knowledgeable and is often our first point of contact when it comes to troubleshooting. Other Publisher Software companies will continuously "pass the buck" when it comes to tech support, but Cengage tech support takes ownership and works with you to find a solution.

Nachteile:

MindTap can be a bit glitchy when using an older machine. Making sure your system is constantly up to date can help alleviate some of the issues.

A Good Homework Program

Vorteile:

I love how they give questions integrated with the textbook as it makes learning the material so much easier. Moreover, I love how they give unlimited attempts for questions.

Nachteile:

There are sometimes lots of bugs that will mess up answers, and there is a lack of customization.

Do not use Mindtap if at all possible.

Vorteile:

There is literally nothing to like about this software.

Nachteile:

The labs are constantly broken. The lab instructions are often incomplete, the virtual machines are very slow and need updates and are not maintained. This particular semester the labs are more broken than average. Average is pretty broken but usually the labs are able to be completed once you fight through the horrible lag and unmaintained virtual machines. This semester I am on module 4 and so far due to constant contact with tech support and many tickets getting escalated to the dev team, one single lab on the track has worked as intended. I have used many e learning systems and cengage is always the worst and most problem ridden. I start my work as early as possible because I know I will encounter either a broken lab or incomplete directions. They have a silly rule that they cannot simply provide you with the missing instructions. I start early so that maybe they can get it fixed before the due date comes around. My instructor has basically suspended due dates for this semester due to the labs being so horribly broken. The first lab that had a ticket due to missing instructions, they finally fixed it. Well the "new and improved" instructions still wont allow you to complete the lab. I am very careful about errors on my labs and copy and paste the required commands into the labs. DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. Unfortunately for me it is required for my course. I will intermediately drop any course that requires Cengage from here on out.

Maybe if you haven't used another system, this isn't so difficult.

Kommentare: It is not set up intuitively, I have used multiple products and I had to have another teacher walk me through this system and after more than a semester I dislike it even more.

Vorteile:

There are built-in assignments, information and assessments.

Nachteile:

To be able to customize even the points possible for an assignment takes multiple clicks to even get to where you have the option. The amount of assignment questions, etc. is minimal. I wouldn't say that my students have received the best assessment from this software.

Bugs and horrible customer support

Kommentare: I have not seen many good things about Mindtap, I wish I could say something but I cannot. Please do not waste your money on this.

Vorteile:

Since most of my classes use this, it definitely is worthy of some money, however, not $100 a year

Nachteile:

The grading bot is very critical, I missed a question for being .01% off of what I was supposed to be. (Drawing a circle with Python). Customer support is rude and refuses to believe anything is wrong. If you present a problem to them, you will be met with "We don't offer homework help," This in itself is okay but when presented with a problem in the software you provide is having an issue, do not tell your customer that their problem sounds like homework help. They also blew off the customer in favor of the instructor, only listening to someone who does not pay you is a bad business practice. I had to sit on the phone for 30 minutes just to talk to a human.

Needs A lot of Work For Students

Kommentare: I would prefer not to use it again, but if they were to improve foreign language assignment types I could be swayed.

Vorteile:

I have a lot of trouble answering problems with this program. My teacher did not know how to change deadlines so the work never lined up with the curriculum. I liked the organization, but that is all.

Nachteile:

For foreign languages, it can be hard to listen to a fluent speaker and be able to write word for word what they say, and that is a common assignment that is impossible to get correct. The answers have to be completely the same and the program's for any credit.

By far, best publisher content & usablity

Kommentare: Great product, good customer service, and makes my job in helping faculty easier. Cengage is my favorite publisher content to work with and I work with many publisher frequently.

Vorteile:

I help faculty with adding test banks and other publisher content and MindTap is by far the best compare to other publishers. I have less problems when we have MindTap, and Cengage overall.

Nachteile:

MindTap, unfortunately, is not available for every Cengage book out there. But is a life saver when it is. I hate dealing with other publisher content, I feel Cengage is much more user friendly and has better customer service.

You get what you pay for....

Kommentare: Cengage / MindTap is extremely poor performing, and their representatives / management are on-par with their product. I have taken 2 exams so far, and there have been mid-system freeze’s during both. I was on different computers, at different locations. One of them was my work, which manufactures wifi-based IT – if there was a Wi-Fi failure at work, there would have been a cross-departmental uproar. Fortunately, I recorded the incident with my phone, illustrating how all other websites/cloud based portals were working, so they couldn’t blame my Wi-Fi. Then, I’m not joking… the cengage rep said I must have walked away from the exam for over 2 hours, and since it was timed, it was my fault for walking away. Seriously, that was the first troubleshooting tip I received. I asked to speak to management. The first manager said it was against protocol to let me back in to finish the exam- even though I had 1.5hrs within the testing window remaining. He then stated the system "isn't perfectly" compatible with internet explorer, so I should use Chrome next time. I asked why they don’t advise people to avoid Explorer?? His response, in summary - "Because it is compatible some of the time"…helpful. Exam #2 and the same cengage server issue. This time I was in Chrome (as recommended) and I cleared all browsing history/cookies/cache 3 days earlier. I called again - More management incompetence, another email to my professor asking to me reopen the test, and another 3 days

Vorteile:

It is easy to upload an assignment, and they answer the phone quickly. No one on the phone is able to help you with anything of consequence, but at least you don't have to wait a long time to find that out.

Nachteile:

The server isn't reliable and management is poor

Good software for both students and instructors

Kommentare: I have used these on both ends of the spectrum, as a student and instructor. The software is easy to use, has a small learning curve and is compact with all needed information and data for instructor and student. As a student, I found using the different activities to increase my memory of the material covered.

Vorteile:

Mindtap offers a variety of activities for a student to be able to study and review material for a course. Activities vary from tradition flashcards to more engaging and creative tasks in order to review material.

Nachteile:

Customer service and support can be slow to respond.

Mindtap Simple Online Learning

Kommentare: From the first day I was able to log in and get started with no problem. Easy access to all assignments.

Vorteile:

I like that this platform was easy to use no tutorial needed. I was able to easily log in and locate assignments. The due dates were clear and no glitches occured while using for 3 months.

Nachteile:

Nothing, it is a well thought out program.

Mind tap makes education simpler

Vorteile:

I love that it's easy to use and makes life easier. College is hard,so every bit helps!

Nachteile:

Occasionally biggy,but you'll have that with any software

Reliable resource for students

Kommentare: Overall, Mindtap has been a grade saver for me and has gotten me through a few classes. I use it whenever I study for chemistry class and it's been a great experience.

Vorteile:

Mindtap makes learning easier with its in-depth information on each concept and personalized quizzes. Their notes are easy to understand and they provide videos and cheat sheets which are really helpful when studying.

Nachteile:

It's not free, but I would say it is worth its value.

Great learning tool

Kommentare: One of the great only tool I used for academic performance.

Vorteile:

I have used mind tap for my entire four years of university and still using. This is very useful online tool that helps student in academic advance. This services has varity of tools in it, starting from E-Book to online modules, online exam and assignment and online stimulation this software service offers all.

Nachteile:

Did not have a single issue so far and been using their service since 2013

Quick, Easy to Use Textbook and Curriculum Portal

Vorteile:

This portal is easy to use and doesn’t contain extra bulky items that are not needed, and the ones it does have are tucked off to the side in a collapsible bar or in an icon row. The activities and quizzes that it utilizes are straightforward and work well.

Nachteile:

The quiz function is a little outdated looking and jumps when changing questions. Seems a little unprofessional, but it works just fine.

Antiquated learning platform

Kommentare: Overall a poor experience would not recommend

Vorteile:

Antiquated learning platform, I have Use many learning platforms and this is on the bottom of the list in the future if I saw this platform I would opt into a different class

Nachteile:

Antiquated learning too many clicks to get to the destination of the detail that you need no search feature at all printing is also difficult and again antiquated

MindTap by Cengage - Higher Education

Vorteile:

The lab features, reading material capabilities and flashcards are great. This makes learning a new subject engaging and easy.

Nachteile:

Labs have issues sometimes that have to be overridden by professors for grading.

Still not good

Kommentare: If you can choose between the services you can use I would not recommend Mindtap.

Vorteile:

I did a review on MindTap before and I was indifferent about the program. I believed it was ok for what it offered.

Nachteile:

However, after using it for another term I realize that compared to other software that does the same purposes I see that this is the worst educational software. there's just too much going on with the software and it slow compared to connect or blackboard.

Easy to use

Vorteile:

I really like how easy it is to navigate through the different chapters and the Mastery activities are super helpful.

Nachteile:

I feel like software and all of its tools are very helpful, however it has something of an overwhelming interface.

Doesn't feel worth the time

Vorteile:

Great videos and supplemental resources for student understanding.

Nachteile:

Difficult to navigate and organize as far as integrating with an online learning platform.

Assignments are shoddy

Kommentare: Very frustrating.

Vorteile:

It saved me money on buying text books for school.

Nachteile:

The assignments (I take 2 assignments every week for class) have many errors. Every week i am emailing my professor to let him know of these mistakes and to gain some points back on "wrong" answers. Some of the questions and information in the assignments do not align with the book.

Multiple Digital Tools - Great Help

Vorteile:

Mindtap offers complete package of e-book, note-taking tools, flash card tools, practice quizzes and exercise. It is helpful that you can access it from anywhere, since it's an online platform. It is also quite user friendly and makes grading easy.

Nachteile:

The server is often down. Also it can be quite costly.

MindTap for Class Reading

Vorteile:

The simplicity. Accessing E-books for school can be a frustrating process when repeated multiple times a week. With MindTap, our instructor included links to the relevant chapters every week online, so accessing it was extremely quick and easy.

Nachteile:

Only being able to have on window open at a time. When assigned multiple chapters in one week, it's sometimes useful to be able to have them both up at the same time to study.