Sibme Reviews

Pros

This software works well when trying to develop struggling teachers. It allows you to give them feedback from actual lessons with the chance for them to see themselves. True growth can occur when used correctly.

Cons

Its a little hard to configure in the beginning but smooth after you play with it for a while...

Pros

Very intuitive user interface, security/mobility of content, multiple uses to support interaction between small groups of educators or to support large conference-style events, efficiencies built into product and customizable by responsive development team.

Cons

Communication from within the system to end users can be excessive - ability to opt out of messages is a feature but less prominent in the user interface. Some analytics of interest are not yet available, but responsiveness of development team speaks to SIBME's ability to be adaptive.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Sibme

Pros

The core features are usually solid and intuitive to new users - adding team members, uploading and commenting on videos. As an education leadership coaching organization with over 50 coaches, we have used Sibme to help our coaches re-watch and improve upon their own practices by letting development conversations be grounded in real examples of their work. Plus, other non-coaching staff now have an easy window into coaching without pestering coaches!
In our COVID virtual coaching environment, grounding org learning in video sharing was invaluable. It saves everyone time and the collaboration features to enhance this org learning (commenting, sharing, tagging pre-set categories) are easy to use.

Cons

Though the core service is solid, I encounter tech glitches and question marks at a frustratingly high rate. It's small things - user permission mismatch across pages, confusing naming conventions (the account wide "Admin-User-Viewer" and Huddle-level "Admin-Member-Viewer" have very similar names but different meanings, which is confusing), audio issues for uploads, and several areas of confusion or disconnect in the new Zoom-Sibme "Conference" integration. This latter piece would have been excellent to use in the COVID virtual coaching environment, but was troublesome enough that our team never meaningfully used the integration. More robust and coherent help guides on the Zoom-Sibme integration (with video!) would be a good start.

Our customer service manager is very responsive and solutions-oriented and I'm grateful for her! But technical solutions seem slow and often incomplete.

Pros

The features are user friendly and getting paired with a knowledgeable coach makes the process all the more easier.

Cons

The video uploading was a little difficult--maybe a couple of extra steps that are not necessary.

Pros

Allows for group interaction to gage student teacher performance. Likewise, students benefit from feedback including recommendations and commendations.

Cons

Probably more flexibility in the video feedback box.

Pros

Sibme allows me to provide a space to collaborate with teachers through discussions, shared resources, and video reflection.

Cons

There are many features that can be utilized through Sibme that make coaching effective and collaborative. Sometimes the links to Google documents when uploaded don't allow you to use it as a live document.

Pros

I love the customer service. Everyone is available. I love the way the communication allows me to get th e information right to the teacher.

Cons

The features are super user friendly. I wished it had more options with suggestions. I would like to see more drop down tabs.

Pros

First, Sibme was instrumental in keeping me on track to complete my micro-credentials. Having a set meeting time each week allowed me to be accountable and finish the work. Also, the mentor I worked with was very good. She was knowledgeable and helpful and someone who I would now consider a friend. The templates broke down each part of the MCs so they were easy to do.

Cons

The only thing I didn't like was the schedule locking. After you choose a day/time, you're locked into that. However, my mentor was very flexible and would allow me to change the day/time if I needed.

Pros

Being able to connect the TCEs and my comments at the actual time during the classroom video visit, allows my interns and student teachers to comprehend exactly what was seen. This allows valuable discussions and a great resource for beginning teachers.

Cons

My students have had difficulty with uploading videos onto the Sibme platform.

Pros

Many people can upload their work on the same website and they can group everything.

Cons

The website and the app are hard to use, I'm a software developer and even for me is hard to use it, there are no clear buttons, everything is in text. If you press enter in a discussion you can not add another paragraph because it will immediately post it. All the people are always wondering where are the documents and files, how to upload them, and where. It is a confusing platform.

Pros

We currently use Sibme to track the development and progress of Teacher Candidates in our Teacher Education Program. I believe it is extremely useful for Teacher Candidates to be able to reflect and see their teaching in action to foster more growth and development.

Cons

There is no notification system for Admins to be notified when a new Teacher Candidate has registered with the School Code.

Pros

The help desk is fantastic and usually responds within minutes of asking a question. Some of the uploads and various huddles may be confusing for both students and administrators. I appreciate the immediate response from Customer Service to offer advice, articles and a solution to any difficulties we have encountered.

Cons

My students struggle a bit with uploading to a huddle and then being able to upload again to the same huddle. Perhaps some more information or an easier format would help.

Pros

I love using Sibme software as a tool in classroom observations. It is easy to access and use and allows me to capture the observation for teacher development & collaboration. Whether I am walking a classroom in person or capturing the classroom virtually, Sibme can be used to record observations. I love that there is no additional step needed following a recording session...Sibme instantly uploads the video to my account where i can share it with stakeholders.

Cons

Nothing! Depending on how you want to use Sibme, there may be some setup that takes time, but once you have the set up complete...it is quick and easy to use.

Pros

We use Sibme for reviewing and training our cadre of instructors. The dialogue that happens around a single video is very helpful to both coaches and coachees. We allow the instructor to self assess first and then the coach jumps in to add comments which is followed by a phone conversation. Our instructors appreciate the time spent and the ease of the program to improve their practices.

Cons

Most of my cons have already been addressed this year with the screen capturing and the streaming features. The one thing that we find challenging is the inability to make changes to several huddles at once. Since we use Sibme as a training program and not only for evaluation or coaching, we set up huddles for lots of instructors at one time but when making changes need to make the changes one huddle at a time.

Pros

Sibme is a great coaching tool. I love the time-stamped coaching feedback feature because teacher candidates can see exactly when I make a comment and can go back and watch themselves at that moment. tehn, they can respond to my comment with their Ah-Ha!

Cons

It has been difficult for some of our teacher prep candidates to figure out how to videotape themselves. before COVID, we had someone go out and capture the videos and that was much easier.

Pros

Simbe provides a simple to use interface / app combination that allows users not to get lost in the technology while focusing on their instructional practice. This tool allows us to use video based recording of teacher candidates in their classroom as an instructional coaching platform. There are several features which we have not yet implemented, such as tying observational feedback to standards of practice. But, what is so amazing is that Sibme provides incredible base functionality from day one. Certainly, you can invest more time in developing the tool to be more comprehensive to meet your specific needs.

Cons

There are no cons to this tool. Sibme continues to expand functionality and improve.

Pros

The platform is user-friendly and has nice aesthetics. Easy to record, store, and locate videos.

Cons

Missing some key features like fluidity to replay video like athletic coaches do and narrate on screen.

Pros

The feature that I like the most was the easy access from different devices. I could use my phone, ipad or computer to record and have them available.

Cons

I don't have any cons. I used it last year but this year since it is virtual I haven't tried it yet. is there an option to record screens in virtual classrooms?

Pros

Sibme is more than a software. It is a company dedicated to teacher learning through authentic, meaningful and personalized experiences grounded in classroom practices. It brings an innovative and intuitive platform directly to educators so they can reflect, refine and think forward about their instructional practices to better meet the needs of the students in front of them.

Cons

I have no suggestions for improvement. I have had excellent experiences with Sibme.

Pros

It was for the most part easy to use. I was able to access all that I needed and the add comment feature was helpful.

Cons

The upload time took longer than expected. Minutes or hours depending on the length of video.

Pros

Sibme made it easy to focus on small pieces of video and collaborate with others on those small pieces. You could really zero in on specific things with the tools Sibme provides.

Cons

Not really a problem with the software but it was difficult to get but in and teachers used the smallest things as excuses to no time participate.

Pros

It is easy to put all things in one place.

Cons

Until recently we could not screen capture and this made it very difficult to put items in that we needed to coach and view.
Also, the tab to write tasks on does not order them correctly. Each time you go in you have to reorder them. That is a time waster.

Pros

As a teacher, I am pulled in so many directions. It is hard to see everything that is going on. By looking at my lessons, I can see what students are doing. I can notice who may be struggling, who is on the ball, and what may be distracting students. I can also notice things I do or don't do so that I can improve myself for future lessons.

Cons

Sometimes it has trouble loading and I have to wait or miss a recording of a lesson.

Pros

Sibme has made it easy to record, review, reflect, tag, and collaborate on videos of classroom instruction. The app makes uploading, sharing, and getting feedback on videos quick and easy while being FERPA compliant. The customer support and service has been amazing with questions being addressed within minutes. Additionally, the support team takes suggestions and ideas from customers to the development team for improvements to their product.

Cons

Sibme has an option to connect other resources into huddles and goals - but the process is not super user-friendly for connecting resources held within Google apps. They have made some changes to increase ease of use, so hoping more changes in this area are coming.

Pros

As a teacher, we would use Sibme to record ourselves teaching a lesson and send it to our Sibme coach who would then comment, reflect, and provide tips via the software site as opposed to coming onto campus physically during a pandemic.

Cons

Some of the aspects of the uploading can be fitful. I would try uploading videos off wifi, because it seems to glitch up more when on it.