LabXchange vs Pivot Interactives

LabXchange is a free digital science education platform created at Harvard University with support from the Amgen Foundation. Learners and educators can assemble videos, assessments, and simulations into personalized learning journeys. Its resource library includes simulations, interactive materials, worksheets, lesson plans, and educator resources. Virtual labs provide environments for working through experiments, and some simulations add a notebook containing background information. Educators can create private classes, share content, and track learner progress. Public material can be distributed through Google Classroom, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or a direct link. LabXchange says it is ad-free, does not sell student data or use it commercially, stores student data on U.S. servers, and follows the NIST Cybersecurity Framework for security practices. Users may register directly or through Google or Facebook sign-on. The service supports Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, major browsers, and mobile browsers, and is intended for organizations and people aged 13 or older.

Pivot Interactives is a web platform for science teaching built around interactive video activities and active learning. Its library has more than 550 activities across biology, earth and space science, chemistry, environmental science, and physics. Students explore phenomena, adjust physical parameters, and investigate data through experimental design. Teachers can create classes, invite students, assign experiments, customize activities, and grade student work. Co-Lab lets students work together on assignments; the platform also provides frequent feedback and auto-grading. Pivot is presented for grades 6–12 and higher education. It supports LTI 1.3 integrations with learning management systems including Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, Moodle, Blackboard, and D2L Brightspace. The 30-day free trial provides instructors and students full feature access, including classes, LMS connections, activity editing, assignments, and grading. The Classroom plan costs $6.10 per seat per year. Semester options for institutions, students, and bookstore course codes each cost $11.10 per seat per semester. The platform requires a stable high-speed internet connection and does not support offline use of images, videos, or questions.