Compare with SmartBook
SmartBook asks McGraw Hill's questions about a McGraw Hill textbook. LMSystems asks yours. Students explain their answers in their own words, AI grades each one for meaning, and a student who misses part of an idea gets a follow-up question on just that part.
No card required · LMSystems has no connection to McGraw Hill
In short
The difference is where the questions come from, how students answer, and what a follow-up is based on.
You want homework built on your own lectures and materials, answers students write themselves, and follow-ups on the exact ideas each student missed.
Your course is built on a McGraw Hill textbook, and you want reading assignments and questions already written for its chapters.
Run one adaptive assignment beside your usual SmartBook work for a week, and compare what your students write.
Side by side
| Compared | McGraw Hill SmartBook | LMSystems |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Adaptive reading: students read a chapter of the e-book, then answer questions on the concepts you picked | Adaptive homework: students answer your questions in their own words, and get follow-ups on what they missed |
| Where the questions come from | McGraw Hill's question bank for its textbook. You pick the chapters and concepts | You. Write them, paste ones you already use, or let the assistant draft them from your notes, slides and readings |
| What students read | The McGraw Hill e-book, with the concepts you picked highlighted | Whatever you assign: your notes, an open textbook, or a book you already use |
| How students answer | They answer each question, then rate how sure they are | In their own words, with multiple choice, multi-select and fill in the blank when you want them |
| When an answer misses something | More questions on that concept until they show they know it, and a pointer back to the reading | A new question on just the ideas their answer missed, right away or at the end of the assignment |
| How it's graded | The score is the percent of the assignment completed by the due date | AI grades each answer for meaning against your answer key and rubric, with feedback. You can change any grade |
| What you prepare | Pick the chapters and concepts, then set the assignment's length and due date | Bring your materials or questions, review the draft, turn on Adaptive quiz and set a due date |
| Who pays | Students, usually through Connect access bought for the course | You choose for each course: you pay with AI credits and it's free for students, or each student pays $50 once |
| AI for students | AI Reader, since fall 2024: students highlight a passage to get it explained another way, or to get a quick quiz on it | An optional Student helper chats beside each question, and never gives the answer |
SmartBook as McGraw Hill describes it in its guides, checked November 6, 2026. McGraw Hill, Connect and SmartBook are trademarks of McGraw Hill LLC, which has no connection to LMSystems.
Try it as a student
Pick an answer a student might give. A SmartBook question is right or wrong. Here, the grader finds which ideas the answer covered, and the follow-up asks only about the rest.
During cellular respiration, what does oxygen do, and what happens to the cell when oxygen runs out?
Pick an answer to turn inAn example. These grades and follow-ups are written in advance to show how it works. In your course, AI grades each answer against your answer key and writes each follow-up.
Scope
LMSystems is an alternative to SmartBook's adaptive assignments, not to all of Connect. Here is what you would still get elsewhere.
A small first step
You don't have to switch a whole course. Replace one SmartBook assignment, and see what your students write.
Choose a chapter you would assign in SmartBook next week.
Upload that week's lecture notes or slides, and ask the assistant for five short-answer questions, one idea each. Turn on Adaptive quiz.
Preview it as a student, assign it with a due date, and read what your students wrote. Then decide about the next week.
Questions
No. SmartBook's questions belong to McGraw Hill. You can paste or upload questions you wrote yourself, from a PDF, Word, text, CSV or JSON file, or have the assistant draft new ones from your materials.
Only if you still assign it. LMSystems has no e-book: students read what you assign, such as your notes or an open textbook, and answer your questions about it.
Yes. McGraw Hill added AI Reader to SmartBook and the Connect e-book in fall 2024: students highlight a passage to get it explained another way, or to get a quick quiz. In April 2026 it announced Learning Coach, an AI tutor for select Connect courses. The difference is what a follow-up is based on: in LMSystems, the ideas missing from a student's own written answer.
Each answer is graded against your correct answer and rubric, and you see every score with its feedback. You can change any grade, choose Smart grading for answers that need careful judging, or turn AI grading off and grade by hand.
Connect's price depends on the title and your bookstore. In LMSystems you choose for each course: pay with AI credits (every new account gets 5,000 free, plus 500 a month), or let each student pay $50 once for the course, and all of its AI is free for you.
No. McGraw Hill, Connect and SmartBook are trademarks of McGraw Hill LLC, which has no connection to LMSystems. We wrote this page from McGraw Hill's public guides, listed under Sources.
Sources
Every SmartBook fact on this page comes from McGraw Hill's own public documents, checked November 6, 2026. SmartBook changes over time; tell us at sean@lmsystems.ai if something here is out of date.
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