Adobe AIR vs. Canvas

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe AIR
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
N/AN/A
Canvas
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Instructure is an educational software company based in Sandy, Utah. It is the developer of the Canvas learning management system, which is a comprehensive software package that competes with such systems as Blackboard Learning System, SumTotal and Saba.N/A
Pricing
Adobe AIRCanvas
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe AIRCanvas
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsMust contact vendor for pricing information.
More Pricing Information
Features
Adobe AIRCanvas
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Adobe AIR
-
Ratings
Canvas
7.6
41 Ratings
7% below category average
Course authoring00 Ratings8.941 Ratings
Course catalog or library00 Ratings7.138 Ratings
Player/Portal00 Ratings8.032 Ratings
Learning content00 Ratings7.934 Ratings
Mobile friendly00 Ratings8.440 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications00 Ratings8.037 Ratings
Assignments00 Ratings9.041 Ratings
Compliance management00 Ratings7.032 Ratings
Learning administration00 Ratings7.936 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics00 Ratings8.038 Ratings
Social learning00 Ratings7.733 Ratings
Gamification00 Ratings4.32 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning00 Ratings7.22 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Adobe AIRCanvas
Small Businesses
Visual Studio
Visual Studio
Score 9.0 out of 10
Tovuti LMS
Tovuti LMS
Score 9.5 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Visual Studio
Visual Studio
Score 9.0 out of 10
Sakai
Sakai
Score 8.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Visual Studio
Visual Studio
Score 9.0 out of 10
Intellum
Intellum
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe AIRCanvas
Likelihood to Recommend
5.7
(9 ratings)
8.2
(83 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.3
(5 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(8 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(11 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.5
(2 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AIRCanvas
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
I would recommend [Adobe AIR] because it works very well, I just wish there were more resources out there on it to help the onboarding.
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Instructure
It is really well suited for school situations like knowing what [assignments] need to be done when, getting feedback, getting points, finding the slides that the teacher used for explaining an [assignment] or theory. I think It would be less suited in business situations because it's [primarily] made to be a [one-way] communication tool for schools. Businesses need more control on individual levels I think[.]
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Pros
Adobe
  • Adobe AIR supports a lot of commonly needed features for mobile app development.
  • It is fairly stable and consistent once you learn how to use it.
  • It is cross-platform and is supported by some useful third-party plugins.
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Instructure
  • Creativity options for teachers to create a virtual space that still has fun graphics and accessibility options.
  • Canvas has versatility in viewing options for assignment due dates such as the calendar built in feature as well as the dashboard options to display upcoming and due assignments.
  • Allowing teachers to create community with each other and collaborate in each-other's space.
  • Discussion platforms within classrooms for students to communicate with each-other and with their teachers.
  • Easy messaging portal within each virtual classroom.
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Cons
Adobe
  • Over the course of months/years, various security exploits and other issues are discovered and patched in AIR, often requiring you to rebuild and resubmit mobile apps to the various storefronts. This happens often enough that it's worth mentioning as a major con.
  • While development on Adobe AIR seems to be fairly constant, there is very little communication between the community and Adobe regarding the future and general support of AIR. The track record of Flash (and particularly Flash Mobile) does not inspire much confidence that Adobe intends to support Flash/AIR for years to come.
  • Adobe AIR does not seem to perform as well (in terms of raw performance, memory usage, framerates, responsiveness, etc.) as other hybrid solutions for certain tasks. For example using shaders tends to be experimental still, and graphic/animation intensive projects often require the use of third party frameworks such as Starling.
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Instructure
  • Their integration with Big Blue Button was a bust for distance learning. Would be great to see them collaborate with Zoom or Google Meets.
  • Their "feature request" process is slow and cumbersome at times because it relies on user "up votes" to get ideas addressed by the developers.
  • They seem to have a lot of turn-over with their staff. We get a new Customer Success Manager far more frequently than with other vendors.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Instructure
The other LMS tools have fallen behind. One reason is they are not able to update their systems, features, toolsets in a timely manner. While other LMS providers release bug fixes and new features several times a year, schools struggle to install and implement them in a timely manner. It is not uncommon for a school to take 6 months to a year to fully install and implement new releases on other LMS platforms. With Canvas, those features are released every 3 weeks, and there is nothing for a school to do other than choose to turn them on once released. This has allowed Instructure to innovate faster, and get new features and tools to customers quicker. Other factors include great pricing, customer support, and the innovative way in which LTI is implemented in the tool.
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Usability
Adobe
Although Adobe AIR is just an SDK without an actual "UI" it's commonly used within Flash, Flash Builder, or FlashDevelop. Considering the integration with Flash IDE, there are very few tools that can compete with its features.
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Instructure
The functions in Canvas are well integrated and consistent across the application, and mostly intuitive. Overall navigation and setup is streamlined through integrated features and navigation. The feedback we've gotten from our program participants is that it is easy to learn to use. It also integrates well with third party software like Google Docs and Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing software
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Support Rating
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Instructure
I do not personally use Canvas support since we have a central office that helps us. However, our central office always has the answers we need and are always able to solve our issues - so I would assume that get great support from the Canvas team on their end. They also offer great training, which uses materials directly from Canvas
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In-Person Training
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Instructure
The training sessions were broken down into several days as well as different levels depending upon the knowledge of the user
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Online Training
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Instructure
The online tutorials and videos are very clear and addressed the issues/questions that I had about using the system.
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Implementation Rating
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Instructure
Once you purchase and sign the contract there is nothing to install or hardware to buy. You can almost immediately start using it and have courses up and going within weeks. We signed in December and had pilot courses online ready to go for the start of school in January
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
Originally, Adobe AIR was the only game in town, and its blend of flexibility in platforms it could publish to (PC, Mac, iOS, Android), ease of use, and familiarity made it the clear choice. Now Adobe no longer supports it, and we’ve found the transition to Harmon unworkable for us.
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Instructure
Canvas is more secure, has a cleaner design, and has more features. For the features, they have in common canvas still stacks up against [Smart school] by going for the extra mile. Besidfor e that, [the] canvas looks a lot more [professional] than [Smart school]. I didn't make the decision myself to get canvas instead of [Smart school] but I'm happy they did.
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Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Allows easy porting of functionality and look and feel to many diverse platforms.
  • Shorten development and deployment time.
  • Reduced training and support costs by re-using common widgets.
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Instructure
  • Canvas has helped us provide a more robust online component to our courses.
  • Canvas has helped us better adapt to a rapidly changing educational landscape.
  • Canvas has reduced the time that we have to spend training faculty on how to use our learning management system.
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ScreenShots