BY: GENEVA LEE
News Editor
Every STLCC-Meramec student lives on Blackboard. Homework, grades, and syllabi all are found on the site, and it is the online presence of the college. But the school is switching its online self this year, swapping Blackboard for another learning management system (LMS), Instructure-Canvas, usually referred to as just “Canvas,” with rollout finishing in Summer 2022. Every student is going to see this change, so what does this mean for us?
The transition will begin April 30, 2022, when students will be automatically enrolled in the Online Learning at STLCC course. This class will teach students how to use Canvas, according to Luck, and it will allow students to become familiar with the program before the school fully transitions to Canvas this summer.
The switch to Canvas was spurred by a 2019/2020 review, in which the college concluded that Canvas was a better program for the school, according to Renita Luck. “Instructure-Canvas offered features that were either rated as higher or that were not currently available in Blackboard, and (sic) Canvas exceeded the features of other LMS options,” according to Luck. The college concluded that Canvas will be easier to use, have a better integration of teaching and learning tools, and is more reliable.
Luck also explained that the Canvas interface is more intuitive than Blackboard.
“[Canvas] will feel more familiar and be more intuitive to our students and faculty,” she said, noting that Canvas “feels more like a web-browser,” and it is more navigable and efficient than Blackboard. The review found that there are fewer clicks required to perform tasks, and it more easily integrates with third party tools: important features, as remote learning has become a larger part of the college experience.
Luck noted that students and faculty have often struggled with Blackboard, wasting time, creating frustration, and detracting from learning. “We feel the move to Canvas will alleviate some of these technology struggles and provide a more friendly learning experience for our students.”
This assessment concurs with reviews of the two sites. SoftwareAdvice rated Canvas’s ease of use 4.5 stars out of five, compared to 3.5 out of five for Blackboard. The user reviews consistently touted Canvas’s usability and reflected that Blackboard was difficult for many students, as well as mentioned that Blackboard had too many clicks–mirroring Luck’s assessment. The product review site TrustRadius went as far as to say, “Blackboard is often criticized for its UI. It’s notorious for being hard to use.”
The popularity of Canvas is recognized by both of the two companies: “There’s no doubt Blackboard has lost market share over the last 10 years,” stated Phil Miller, the chief learning and innovation officer at Blackboard.
Jared Stein, the Vice President of higher education strategy at Instructure, stated, Canvas was founded because existing LMSs were “too painful to use or not modern in (their) capabilities or unreliable,” and that “Canvas emphasize(s) simplicity, ease of use and engaging modern tools.” These are the same reported attributes that STLCC-Meramec cited as its cause for switching platforms.
No review matters more than the people the product affects, so once Summer 2022 comes around, students can check their grades with greater ease, or give Canvas a less than favorable grade. But in the eyes of the college, this Canvas looks like a promising painting.
