Anthology Student vs. Canvas

I think that CampusNexus Student does what it is created to do. If you are looking for a customizable system to track student data, I have no complaints. If you are looking for the newest, shiniest software, this might not be for you. While it can be glitchy sometimes, and feels outdated, it does its job and I have never felt like I couldn't do what I need to do because of any of those things.

Incentivized

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[.]

Incentivized

• Particularly well, CampusNexus identifies at-risk students. In our school, and in any school, but in many city schools or schools with a lack of parent involvement or large populations, it is crucial to be able to identify students at risk of failing or struggling. This is something that is extremely effectively done here.
• An additional strength I see is the ability to track graduate requirements. This is easily shared with students, parents, and the rest of the administration, to track and assist in student growth.
• Academic records need to be shared and sent to colleges, parents and other high schools. Controlling academic records is a strength because it tallies the entire career of a student. Using this system helps to solidify communication.

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

• Support and resolution of issues can be slow, even major issues that interrupt business operations
• Developers need higher quality control in their processes to mitigate bugs and defects
• Solution architects need higher level of ownership in aligning configurations with business processes
• Financial aid needs greater automation without requiring the purchase of the specific financial aid automation module

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized

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.

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

The training sessions were broken down into several days as well as different levels depending upon the knowledge of the user

Incentivized

The online tutorials and videos are very clear and addressed the issues/questions that I had about using the system.

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

I have not come across other platforms that can do what CampusNexus provides. There are platforms such as Skedula for tracking grades. There are add-ins to websites such as MoodleRooms to provide curriculum and content management support. However, I have not found a platform that provides grades, curriculum, key functions for enrollment and tracking your own academic progress as well as analytical abilities. CampusNexus provides the output of data and results from a wide range of data sets. Tracking the data and being able to output it into charts and graphics for all educators, administration, and politicians can improve the culture of a school district. Providing all of this data can transform an entire educational institution.

Incentivized

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.

• It helps us manage our current students

Incentivized

• 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.

Incentivized