Canvas Makes Learning Effective
Canvas is used to offer online and hybrid courses for students. It is used across the whole organization.
Canvas
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Canvas
Top Rated
Canvas
Overview
What is Canvas?
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.
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Top Rated
2022
Most Loved
2022
Popular Features
View all 13 features- Assignments (41)8.888%
- Course authoring (41)8.181%
- Course catalog or library (38)7.575%
- Mobile friendly (40)5.454%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
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Nicolas Hanhan
Distance Education Instructional Coordinator
Arizona Western College (Education Management, 201-500 employees)Video Reviews
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What is Canvas?
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.
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What is Canvas?
Canvas by Instructure is a cloud-based learning management system for every stage and style of education. Available to institutions of all sizes and types, from individual K-12 classrooms to universities to companies with a blended or fully virtual environment.
As the hub of the digital learning environment, Canvas offers complete LMS functionality, including standards-based grade books, course content authoring, customizable student assessments, mobile communication, video learning, and digital badging.
Canvas LMS integrates with an institution's existing SIS and other teaching tools. With over two hundred different LTI tools educators can customize courses and monitor engagement with classes or individual students. Canvas also has mobile apps to keep everyone informed and connected, on the go, on any device.
Canvas Features
Learning Management Features
- Supported: Course authoring
- Supported: Course catalog or library
- Supported: Player/Portal
- Supported: Learning content
- Supported: Mobile friendly
- Supported: Progress tracking & certifications
- Supported: Assignments
- Supported: Compliance management
- Supported: Learning administration
- Supported: Learning reporting & analytics
- Supported: eLearning
- Supported: Assessments
- Supported: Live online learning
- Supported: In-person learning
- Supported: Micro-learning
- Supported: Video learning
- Supported: eCommerce
- Supported: SCORM-compliant
- Supported: Social learning
- Supported: Gamification
- Supported: GDPR Compliant Learning
- Supported: Single Sign On (SSO) Enabled Learning
Canvas Video
What is Canvas?
Canvas Competitors
Canvas Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | Apple iOS, Android, Mobile Web |
| Supported Countries | Global |
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
Blackboard Learn by Anthology, Infor Learning Management, and Edmodo are common alternatives for Canvas.
Reviewers rate Assignments highest, with a score of 8.8.
The most common users of Canvas are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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September 19, 2015
Instructure Canvas - 4 Years of Experience
Canvas was adopted by Utah State University in January, 2011 for use throughout the entire university system, as part of a state wide contract. All Utah System of Higher Education schools use Canvas. Utah State University uses it to offer fully online degree programs and classes, and is also used for blended courses and to supplement face to face courses.
- Canvas is a SaaS cloud application. Instructure pushes new features and bug fixes every 3 weeks, which keeps it current, and evolving. These new features are released in such a way that they are not disruptive to instructors or students, and we can choose when we make those new features available to our customers.
- The mobile app for grading assignments (Speed Grader) has reduced the time it takes for me to grade assignments by 30 - 50%. Allows instructors to grade while waiting for meetings, on the bus, and anytime they have a few minutes.
- A WYSIWYG editor appears in about every tool. It has a file and tool manager that allows you to provide direct links to any connect you have in your course with a simple click. You can provide these in content pages, discussions, announcements, and other places. Makes referring students to content a breeze.
- Students can create their own groups for course project purposes, and can play "what if" scenarios with their grades. For example, a student can see how a particular grade on a final exam will affect their final grade in the class.
- Instructors and students can choose their own notification paths, and how often they receive them. For example if an instructor posts an announcement, students could choose to receive it via email, sms, or other method, and choose if they want them immediately or in a daily or weekly digest.
- LTI integration is the best of any of the Higher Education LMS software packaged. It is easy for a campus admin, or even a instructor to add LTI tools to their course and choose them from a catalog of LTI tools. Everything from integrating full rich text books, open content, youtube, and social media integrators, and publisher content and tools.
- Outcomes - needs to be easier to create, adopt, and assign outcomes.
- Gradebook. It works, but some efficiencies could be added, and certain functions streamlined. I am told the grade book is getting a overhaul and will be released in 2016.
- SIS grade push. - Needs some additional functionality to allow instructors to choose which students grades to push to the SIS.
- LMS adoption has grown among instructors and departments.
- More degree programs are offered fully online reaching more students.
- SaaS/Cloud has reduced the amount of staff that are needed as we do not host the system.
- Migration to any new LMS takes time and your innovation and creativity take a hit during the migration process. Canvas has provided us more opportunities for innovation and creativity through LTI than any other system we have used in the past.
- Large enrollment courses are now being offered fully online adding additional options to students.
We have used WebCT CE, and Blackboard Vista & Learn. We evaluated Blackboard, D2L, Canvas, Sakai, Moodle.
26000
Faculty, Staff, Students, Instructional Designers
Canvas is SaaS in the cloud.
- IT Technical Staff - needed only for SIS integration and single sign-on solutions integration at start.
- Instructional Designers - Support faculty in course development. We have 8.
- Canvas Administrator - Supports the GUI interface of Canvas. We have 1.
- LTI Tools Developer - Create new plugins for Canvas. Not required. We have 1.
- Designing, building, and delivering fully online degree programs and courses.
- Supporting face-2-face courses with online materials, discussions, quizzes, videos, etc.
- Professional Development of staff, and training of professional in non-academic courses.
- Creating our own extensions/features to enhance our programs (LTI).
- LTI allows us to develop innovative tools that enhance the product, and to adopt other tools that make delivery of specific online programs possible
- Create courses customized to individual students needs. - Learning Pathways.
- Instructure has created a version of Canvas for employee training and professional development.
- Adaptive Learning, Personalized Learning, and Competency Based Education.
Yes
We replaced Blackboard Vista. It was EOL by Blackboard, so we had to find a replacement. Blackboard Learn was a possible pathway until Blackboard decided to make it a migration from Vista to Blackboard Learn instead of an upgrade.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
At our purchase time (4.5 years ago), Canvas was unknown and not feature rich, however they had implemented features in their earliest versions that we had been begging the other LMS providers to implement. We felt that the developers who had recently been students using an LMS, had focused on key areas that the other LMS vendors had ignored or failed to understand.
Keep it simple. Look at your needs, what the challenges are, and your current level of support staffing. Use your rubric to identify gaps, but use your gut instinct on the best solution for your campus.
- Vendor implemented
- Implemented in-house
Change management was minimal
With the adoption of any LMS, the workflow changes. That requires rethinking the course development process, and also allows you to rebuild courses from the ground up to make them better. Going from a locally hosted server stack to SaaS in the cloud required change in technical staff assignments, and new workflows for support.
- FInding alternative ways to implement something that was well done in the other LMS, or a tool that a faculty loved and had used a specific way, and it did not work the same in the new tool.
- The Sheer number of courses to move from one system to another was a big task. We took one year for the migration to accommodate two semesters plus summer courses.
Yes
Faculty can call 24/7 and get support with building a course.
Canvas admin can call 24/7 when there is a problem.
Canvas admin can call 24/7 when there is a problem.
Yes
I have reported several bugs in the first year we were using the tool and my course was one of the first to use it. They have a feedback mechanism built into the tool. I have seen bugs reported one week, and they are fixed and released within 3 weeks into production. Others may take some time to fix, test. In one case a couple of years ago, Instructure pushed a release on Sat. By Sat evening several reports from faculty about a bug were reported by multiple institutions, but Monday noon, the bug was fixed and pushed into production. There have been times when bugs seem to linger much longer than you would expect for a company who is able to push out things every three weeks to production. Perhaps that alone adds to the number of bugs.
I was one of the very first persons to test out a new feature and use it in my class. It worked well, but there was one aspect of it that would prevent me from using it because of the content I teach and need to grade. I told them the feature was great, but I could not use it for some of my assignments. The very next release contained a feature enhancement that was specific to what I needed to do. A small subset of faculty in their customer base who teach this content would need it. They implemented it. That is support!
- Grading - using the speed grader mobile app works very well for my course. Love it
- Linking to content from a discussion, content page, etc is easy to do.
- Adopting an LTI tool as a faculty is easy. In most cases it does not need to involve a admin.
- Developing Outcomes are cumbersome. Too many clicks.
- The gradebook took me some time to get used to how it works and how to understand the true grade of a student.
Yes
The web version adapts to tablets really well. You can use it on a smartphone too. They have a mobile version targeted to students that is really good. Faculty can use it too for some things. Faculty have their own app for grading that is excellent. Easier to grade and use rubrics than the web version.
September 15, 2015
Canvas from an ISDs perspective
Auburn University uses the Canvas LMS campus wide. It is used for course administration as well as student/instructor communication and resource sharing. I have experience with other LMSs and I prefer using Canvas as opposed to other products. Students as well as faculty have embraced the system and use it routinely in their courses. I teach a distance course and our department has several programs that are delivered primarily via distance. The Canvas LMSs capabilities have proven very effective at managing the distance courses in a positive way for both the students and faculty.
- Creating leaning modules - the features that Canvas offers allows users to create visually stimulating learning modules within the course itself. As an instructional designer, I appreciate that capability.
- Embedding materials- YouTube videos, web pages and other web objects can be embedded easily by clicking on the HTML option in posts. This allows the user (designer) to add interactive features to the course as well as provide students with course/resource materials from external links within the course.
- Communication (chat/email/discussion features), collaboration (GoogleDocs) and grading are features are intuitive and easy to use.
- Group feature - Instructors can set up pages for groups to allow for enhanced collaboration for group projects. This allows students to have a private page within the main course. The group page has the same look and feel as the main course; including similar navigational tools. In this space, students can share resources by uploading files, communicating via private discussion boards/chats, and collaborate effectively as a group via distance.
- I would like to be able to upload my Articulate Storyline learning modules/activities into Canvas instead of having to publish them to the web and then embed the link. I would prefer to upload the zip file and run from within the course itself. I have the ability to do this in Blackboard, but as of yet, I'm having issues doing this with Canvas. I do not have issues with Adobe Captivate.
- As an instructor, Canvas has allowed for effective delivery of F2F, hybird, and distance courses (asynchronous/synchronous). A key feature is the ability to facilitate quality interaction between the instructor and the student; the student and their peers; and the student and the material.
Canvas offers similar navigational and interactive tools as other LMSs; however, as an ISD, I have been most impressed by the quality of the overall look and feel of Canvas. Visually, courses published with Canvas have a more professional overall appearance. I believe this is an important factor that should not be overlooked especially for institutions who wish to showcase their programs and gain/maintain the reputation that they offer high quality courses. From a marketing standpoint, institutions realize that they need to present a welcoming, inviting, and professional environment to the public, both on campus and online. I believe that this should extend to the LMS experience, especially for those who take courses at a distance and have limited interaction to the institution aside from the courses that they take.
30000
Faculty and students
30
MIS, OIT, IT, and ISD
- Faculty course delivery
- Student interaction with course materials
- Communication between student & instructor; student & peers; student & course materials/resources
- Extending its capabilities to outreach programs
- Extending it beyond the classroom to outreach
Yes
Blackboard- no longer supported Angel
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Prior Experience with the Product
- Vendor Reputation
- Existing Relationship with the Vendor
- Analyst Reports
Canvas was adopted by a single department on campus. When Blackboard announced that it would no longer be supporting Angel, the institution began researching other options and sought out the department head who instituted the LMS for his program. It was then decided that Canvas would be adopted.
I was not personally responsible for either the evaluation or the selection process of the Canvas LMS
- Online training
- In-person training
- Self-taught
Yes, I found it easy to use and was able to play around with it and figure most things out on my own before attending training sessions or seeking out online materials.
No
When thinking about using Canvas as opposed to other LMSs for an outreach program targeted at children and volunteers, Canvas was willing to develop a course specific to our needs. They were confident that they could work with us and develop something that would meet the specific requirements for meeting federal standards for keeping children safe on the web.
- Navigation
- Uploading files
- Moving from the gradebook back to the course and grading particular projects/assignments
Yes
I have not had any issues, nor have I had any students comment on issues.
September 15, 2015
Been There, Done That--Canvas Gave Me The T-Shirt
Canvas is being utilized as a our learning management system for the entire institution. All instructors have access to a Canvas course shell each term and utilize it to provide course content, maintain grade records, and as synchronous/asynchronous meeting space. Canvas allows us to provide quality, accessible education regardless of location. The ease of use and seamless integration with other vendors has allowed us to take our course offerings to another level. As a previous Blackboard user, our institution was familiar with utilizing an LMS for course content. There are many portions of Canvas that we prefer but it appears that publishers are still lacking when it comes to synching publisher content with Canvas.
- Canvas puts the user first. Having been developed by college students, Canvas was originally developed with only the student in mind. When the instructor posts an announcement or assignments, students can access it through a variety of portals including inbox, email, Twitter, Facebook, and the Canvas calendar. Canvas has recently identified that instructors sometimes need to limit what students have access to so new features have been implemented such as locking modules and building but not publishing content in the course.
- Organization. Courses can be easily organized under modules. Additionally, there is the Canvas calendar, to-do list, and the fact that when an instructor creates an assignment it auto publishes to the syllabus page, Calendar, to-do list, and sends messages to the student if their notifications are turned on.
- Canvas listens. They have a feature request forum which allows users to request certain features and functions. Once the feature requests receives enough votes, Canvas adds it to their roadmap.
- Room for growth. Canvas is constantly seeking to improve and listens to the consumer. They allow the user complete customization through CSS codes and constantly seek feedback from users for improvement.
- Canvas is there to Help. Canvas has a Help button feature within the LMS that allows you to submit tickets, speak to a representation over the phone, speak to a representative via chat, or search the guides for self-help. There is even a Canvas Community to build a network of support from Canvas employees or other Canvas users.
- Canvas does not let you upload Word documents to upload test questions. This was a feature available in other LMS.
- Publisher content does not upload seamlessly like it did with other LMS systems. Course cartridges were a valuable resource from publishers but with Canvas, you end up hyperlinking all content to the publisher site which requires you to go out to the publisher website.
- Canvas seems to put too much stock in the student experience and sometimes forgets that it is the teachers who need certain functionalities to exist to better perform their jobs.
- Inactive users is a huge issue. Currently, you can only have an active student or a deleted student. So if a student gets withdrawn, they are completely removed from the course.
- Since implementing Canvas and some of the third-party resources, we have seen a 3% decrease in student attrition.
- We have decreased usage with publisher content due to the fact that it will not seamlessly sync.
- We have increased usage campus-wide. Canvas is extremely intuitive and instructors have enjoyed implemented the use of the instructional technology into all modes of instructional delivery.
- Blackboard, Moodle and D2L
During the RFP process we evaluated a number of platforms. Additionally, we were formally a Blackboard school. We needed our LMS to customize due to our unique relationship of 15 community colleges sharing resources including student enrollment. Canvas was up to the challenge and listened to our needs. Their attention to detail and the fact that they put the user experience over all else really sold me. On the very few times there have been issues with Canvas, they admit to it and own the mistake and also report how they corrected the mistake. This was not something we had experienced with previous LMS systems. Canvas is a unique product that allows for customization and can be used in both the business and educational sector. While we primarily use it for instruction, we have also used it to host meetings. The only thing lacking is the fact that Canvas does not have an instant messenger which makes for a great communication too. There are work around, but it would be a nice feature. Overall, the cost and return on investment is unparalleled to any other product I have used.
100
We are a community college so our faculty uses Canvas to provide course content and report student grades. We also have various departments that use Canvas to host meetings at a distance.
2
Canvas users need to have a basic understanding of technology. However, we tell people if they can Facebook, they can use Canvas. It is extremely intuitive and user friendly.
- Online courses. We utilize Canvas to share resources including student enrollments with the 15 community colleges in my state.
- To provide course content to students enrolled at our institution.
- To provide meetings at a distance and to communicate outside the classroom.
- We are using Canvas to host meetings at a distance.
- We have integrated early warning systems and tutoring within Canvas to ensure student success.
- Not sure at this time. We are always exploring.
February 25, 2015
Bye Bye Blackboard, Hello Canvas
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Canvas was selected as a replacement LMS for our university-wide distance and hybrid delivery. It is used throughout our campuses and serves some 50,000 students, faculty, and staff. We chose Canvas after vetting many other available systems, narrowing the field to 3 contenders, each of whom presented for an evaluation committee. We were seeking a system that could dynamically support our needs, with more frequent updates and more robust web 2.0-like features. Canvas provided all of the above.
- Web 2.0 integration: Easily integrate tools, apps, and dynamic content into modules. The depth and breadth of apps available for use is outstanding (whether K12 or Higher Ed) and ever-increasing.
- Streamlined Layout: As someone trained in Instructional Design, I appreciate Canvas' streamlined layout. There are still options for customizing the look/feel of a course, but Canvas makes putting together a clean, concise, and user-centric design easy for users to accomplish.
- Responsive Product Releases: Canvas is listening to their users! Really! On the Canvas Instructure website, users can "vote" for the features they'd most like to see in the next platform update. The more people that "me too" a particular feature, the higher it ranks on the list and the sooner users see changes. As a user, I always feel like I'm able to contribute to improving the product, which is not typical in the industry.
- Search Feature: My biggest request is for Canvas to implement a search feature where users could search for key words across all areas of a course (discussions, documents, instructions, etc).
- Master Pages: The ability to create "master pages" that can be reused for courses is sorely needed.
- Videos: Although the videos generally play fine in Canvas, there is enough of an issue with some file types not playing ALL the time that it has become an issue I cannot ignore.
- ROI: Our return has been excellent. So of this is due to the decreased costs of operating the LMS. In the past, we self-hosted an LMS. So, costs like servers, maintenance, and the personnel to support the system were diminished or eliminate with Canvas.
- 21st Century Education: Our mission is to provide a stellar educational experience to our students while supporting our faculty's needs. Canvas has helped us accomplish this with it's streamlined, intuitive system.
- Customer Service: Since Canvas' support is centrally located, they are able to troubleshoot and resolve issues with a 30K ft view. This has allowed quick turnaround and bug fixes, similar to having a locally situation support team.
These were some of the products we evaluated prior to our switch to Canvas. Without giving an exhaustive view of the pros/cons for each system, a team of 40 Technology, Instructional Design, Faculty, and Administrators selected Canvas unanimously (no easy feat). But the improvement over our current system and the prospect for continued improvements were highly influential in our decision. It's tough to predict where educational technology or distance delivery modalities are headed, but knowing that the users help "steer the ship," and aren't nickeled and dimed in the process, was refreshing.
7
February 19, 2014
Canvas for the win!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I have piloted Canvas for four different Communication courses at my university as we consider switching from Blackboard. Last semester, 13 other faculty also participated in the pilot. We overwhelmingly enjoyed the Canvas experience compared to Blackboard. However we did have some problems with the user interface that we continue to address.
- Incredibly intuitive user interface
- Multiple access points to access assignments
- The speed grader is the best I've seen
- The mobile app is also amazing
- Canvas is very student-centered. While this is good in many ways, it can be limiting to faculty's approach to crafting modules and other online learning components.
- Quicker turn around on grading
- Better mobile experience
- Blackboard,lore
Canvas is the best LMS I've used. It's intuitive design, clean interface, help guides, and Speedgrader are better than any other LMS I've tried.