Canvas

Canvas

304 Reviews and Ratings

Overview
Product	Rating	Most Used By	Product Summary	Starting Price
Canvas	Score8.6 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

Canvas

No answers on this topic

Pricing Offerings
Canvas
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No

No setup fee

Must contact vendor for pricing information.

Community Pulse
Key User Insights
	Canvas
Considered Both Products	Instructure George DeMaagd, PharmD.,BCPS Professor of Pharmacy and Associate Dean of Academic Administration College of Pharmacy at UUCOP College of Pharmacy (Education Management, 201-500 employees) Chose Canvas Canvas in my opinion is more user Friendly then either of these other tools. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas This is much easier to use than Blackboard. Everything is easy to locate. The interface is clean and intuitive, which makes navigation smooth for both instructors and students. Assignments, grades, and messages are all centralized, reducing confusion. Setup is quick, and the … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas Canvas is much more robust, has more features, and is more accessible. In canvas it can be specified to your specific organization and have its own domain which I do not think that Coursera can do. Coursera is good for sharing a single course or CEU but does not have the same … Incentivized Helpful? William Hazevoets Student at Thomas More (E-Learning, 10,001+ employees) Chose Canvas Canvas is in the experience way better than Google Classroom. Canvas has a more robust agenda system that also allows adding in new personal deadlines. [Assignments] can be submitted past [the] deadline (if allowed), Incentivized Helpful? Jarne Horemans Student at Thomas More Mechelen (Higher Education, 1001-5000 employees) Chose Canvas 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 … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas Canvas is a stronger platform. I used it as a teacher AND as a student in graduate school, and it is just the most put-together, professional version of a learning management system that I've used or seen. I do assume that Canvas is more expensive than its competitors, which … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas I believe Canvas is worse than all of them. In my experience, it is harder to use, uglier to look at. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas Moodle is open source and it is free. So we can implement our own server with Moodle very easily. But it is not very customizable. When we need a new feature, it is very hard to change as we do not have the ability to change. Canvas has been great help in this because we can … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas NONE Incentivized Helpful? Brett Flitton President in Marketing at Brixus Media (Marketing & Advertising, 1-10 employees) Chose Canvas I've used a few other management systems and Canvas is one of the better ones I've tested. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas Canvas is a powerful learning management tool that combines so many key elements of an actual classroom and allows teachers to mirror their classroom environment into a virtual platform. It is simply amazing what can be done on Canvas. Grading systems/analysis, progress … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas Canvas takes the better parts of both Skyward and Google Classroom and combines them to work pretty seamlessly - grading, assignments, attendance, document/file sharing - all integrated into one platform. In addition, the internal communication feature makes communication … Incentivized Helpful? Devarajulu Ravichandran Vice President and CIO in Information Technology at School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Higher Education, 1001-5000 employees) Chose Canvas Much more refined user interface Incentivized Helpful? Patrick Woessner Coordinator of Instructional Technology in Information Technology at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School (Education Management, 201-500 employees) Chose Canvas Canvas was far easier to use, more feature rich, and much better supported. Teachers and students prefer it to the other solutions we've evaluated or used in the past. Anything that kids can use with minimal instruction is a major win for schools. Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas Simple design interface combines with powerful functionality within the platform. Incentivized Helpful? Shay Kotian Software Engineer in Information Technology at Versa Networks (Telecommunications, 501-1000 employees) Chose Canvas How content is delivered using Moodle is not up to the mark when compared to Canvas. The user interface is clunky when compared to a much simple and easy to understand user interface that of Canvas. Configuring Moodle can be quite tedious if one comes from a non-IT background. … Incentivized Helpful? Ashley Milton Alumni Development Manager, College of Education at Florida State University (Education Management, 1001-5000 employees) Chose Canvas I was not part of the team that selected Canvas, however, I used Blackboard as a student and very little as a staff member. Blackboard was especially difficult in navigating organizations or shared sites. I used it to organize mandatory training for students in one of my … Incentivized Helpful? Danielle Healey ESOL Teacher at Howard County Public School System (Education Management, 10,001+ employees) Chose Canvas Canvas has some unique features that are superior to Google Classroom, but I prefer Google Classroom because of its ease of use. It does have some of the same problems as Canvas though in terms of assigning work to particular students. Incentivized Helpful? Kari Doherty owner at yogaRIOT (Health, Wellness and Fitness, 11-50 employees) Chose Canvas I have not used any other platforms for this type of experience. I appreciated the thorough introduction that was offered to onboard onto the platform. It made it easy to use right off the bat. Incentivized Helpful? Victoria L. Graduate Teaching Assistant at Kansas State University (Higher Education, 10,001+ employees) Chose Canvas Canvas surpasses Blackboard not only visually, but technically as well. It offers more customization options, as well as more features for students and teachers a like in regard to grading, notifications, and uploading files. It also seems to stream videos more successfully, … Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas Canvas is a pricey option, at least when compared to something open source like Moodle. Personally, I don't feel that Canvas has the same ability to customize as Moodle. However, the customer support from Canvas makes it stand out. With an open-source platform, it might be … Incentivized Helpful? Nicolas Hanhan Distance Education Instructional Coordinator in Information Technology at Arizona Western College (Education Management, 201-500 employees) Chose Canvas Canvas is more cost-effective when compared to Blackboard Learn. Canvas has lately worked on features improvement especially in the grade center, for example, moving columns around like an Excel sheet, a feature not found in Blackboard Learn. Incentivized Helpful? Stefanie Cash Digital Marketing Manager in Marketing at Caradonna Adventures (Hospitality, 11-50 employees) Chose Canvas Canvas is the only platform we have used as a learning management system Incentivized Helpful? Verified User Chose Canvas The Canvas interface is easier for students to use and navigate. It is also cleaner so students enjoy using the tool more than Sakai. Canvas was easier for our IT department to implement. Training faculty on how to use Canvas was easier than Sakai. The analytics in Canvas are … Incentivized Helpful? Christopher Sweets Manager, Systems Administration in Information Technology at Orbis Education (Education Management, 201-500 employees) Chose Canvas Canvas's ease of use and ease of administration were huge deciding factors in the decision to use Canvas as our preferred LMS. We found that on average Canvas took 1/3 the clicks to accomplish the same tasks as Blackboard, and the structure of data in Canvas is far superior to … Incentivized Helpful?
	Would buy again
	88% Would buy again 21 Answers
	Delivers good value for the price
	95% Delivers good value for the price 18 Answers
	Happy with the feature set
	88% Happy with the feature set 21 Answers
	Lived up to sales and marketing promises
	100% Lived up to sales and marketing promises 13 Answers
	Implementation went as expected
100% Implementation went as expected 14 Answers

Features

Canvas

Comparison of Learning Management features of Canvas
Feature	Canvas 9.0 42 Ratings 11% above category average
Course authoring	8.142 Ratings
Course catalog or library	9.838 Ratings
Player/Portal	9.932 Ratings
Learning content	9.035 Ratings
Mobile friendly	9.041 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications	8.138 Ratings
Assignments	8.142 Ratings
Compliance management	9.033 Ratings
Learning administration	9.037 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics	9.039 Ratings
Social learning	9.034 Ratings
Gamification	9.62 Ratings
Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning	9.03 Ratings

Best Alternatives
	Canvas
Small Businesses	Google Classroom Score8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies	Schoology Learning Score8 out of 10
Enterprises	D2L Brightspace Score7.8 out of 10
All Alternatives	View all alternatives

User Ratings
	Canvas
Likelihood to Recommend	9.3 (84 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew	9.3 (5 ratings)
Usability	9.4 (10 ratings)
Support Rating	9.0 (11 ratings)
In-Person Training	10.0 (1 ratings)
Online Training	8.0 (1 ratings)
Implementation Rating	8.5 (2 ratings)
Product Scalability	8.0 (1 ratings)

User Testimonials
	Canvas
Likelihood to Recommend	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[.] Incentivized William Hazevoets Student Read full review
Pros	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. Incentivized Verified User Read full review
Cons	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. Incentivized Patrick Woessner Coordinator of Instructional Technology Read full review
Likelihood to Renew	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. Incentivized Kevin Reeve Director - Teaching and Learning Technology Read full review
Usability	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 Incentivized Jeanne Rewa Online Instructional Designer Read full review
Support Rating	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 Incentivized Ashley Milton Alumni Development Manager, College of Education Read full review
In-Person Training	Instructure The training sessions were broken down into several days as well as different levels depending upon the knowledge of the user Incentivized Bethany Cleveland, PhD Adjunct Professor Read full review
Online Training	Instructure The online tutorials and videos are very clear and addressed the issues/questions that I had about using the system. Incentivized Bethany Cleveland, PhD Adjunct Professor Read full review
Implementation Rating	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 Incentivized Kevin Reeve Director - Teaching and Learning Technology Read full review
Alternatives Considered	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. Jarne Horemans Student Read full review
Return on Investment	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. Incentivized Verified User Read full review
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