Why Canvas?

There are lots of reasons to be excited about Canvas. In addition to a clean, user-friendly interface, Canvas offers tools that instructors can use to save time and to enhance teaching and learning:

  • SpeedGrader saves time by allowing instructors to view submitted assignments online and then annotate, comment, and assign grades to groups or individuals.
  • The Canvas calendar helps your students stay on track by displaying all course assignments and events together in one place.
  • Canvas offers mobile functionality. There’s a Canvas app for your Android or iOS device. And because the platform was built using responsive design, it works well in most mobile web browsers.
  • Canvas integrates with external tools, such as ComPAIR, a peer review application that encourages constructive criticism, critical thinking, and self-reflection.

 

Selection process

The selection of Canvas was a major milestone for UBC’s Learning Technology Renewal Project, a project that was sparked in 2013 when the Provost recommended launching university-wide consultations that would help UBC define the future of its learning technology environment.

During the project’s consultation phase, faculty and student teams engaged with their peers to determine the pedagogical and functional requirements for supporting teaching and learning.

Canvas and a second learning management system were then evaluated by faculty, staff, and students through pilot courses and sandbox/usability testing. Results from these evaluations were compared with the findings from the consultations, ultimately informing UBC’s decision to choose Canvas. Canvas was announced as the replacement for Connect on June 8, 2017.