While Blackboard Learn has always served as Longwood University’s Learning Management System (LMS), the university signed a contract on Feb. 1 to implement Canvas by Instructur for class use. The new LMS is set to be in place prior to 2013’s summer session I.
“It’s the next generation in LMS, and it’s kind of fun to have Longwood on board with that,” said Dr. Jeannine Perry, dean of the College of Graduate and Professional Studies (CGPS).
The CGPS, Digital Education Collaborative, Information & Instructional Technology Services (IITS) and the Janet D. Greenwood Library collaborated to start the LMS Review Committee last year. This committee ultimately recommended Canvas to the Executive Steering Committee of upper level administrators, who made the final decision to implement Canvas as the university’s new LMS.
Perry said the process was much simpler than expected because once the LMS Review Committee recommended Canvas, the Executive Steering Committee said, “Let’s not make people do more work. Let’s move on this” and approved the start of the implementation process.
The LMS Review Committee consisted of 28 people, including students, faculty and staff. This committee reviewed Canvas, Desire2Learn and Blackboard 10, a newer version of Blackboard, in great detail after the respective vendors visited the university last semester.
According to Dr. Nick Langlie, director of Planning, Innovation and Implementation for the CGPS, the LMS Review Committee “unanimous- ly” voted for Canvas.
“We thought there’d be more back and forth about it, but they were so into what Canvas offers,” said Langlie.
Langlie appreciated that the LMS Review Committee consisted of a variety of perspectives, from students to faculty, allowing them to come to the most informed conclusion possible.
“We’re getting very good at making sure all the right people are in the room, so whenever we make a decision these days, it seems like we’re feeling better about it,” Langlie said.
Langlie said a major draw for Canvas is that features and updates can be added to Canvas regularly, as opposed to LMS that are more “static” and only update every few years.
Canvas also costs about $50,000 less than Blackboard, Langlie con- firmed, which was going to cost significantly more than it has in the past if extended beyond the current contract that expires on June. 30. He said Canvas is less expensive than Desire2Learn as well.
Another notable feature of Canvas is that it is social media and mobile phone compatible and can send students messages through text message and email, said Langlie.
According to Langlie, Canvas reformats files such as Google Docs or videos in a simple and “aesthetically pleasing” way. He said students can record video and audio responses within Canvas as well. He said there are a variety of tools that “don’t require a PhD in that tool to figure out how to use.”
Langlie said Canvas will also have cloud hosting instead of a remote hosting system that uses university servers like Blackboard. Cloud host- ing was one of the listed requirements for a new LMS.
Canvas purchases on- line, “in the clouds” storage space from Amazon to host the LMS. There will no longer be long periods of “down time” like there has been with Blackboard in the past, as Canvas’ “up time” is more than 99 percent, Langlie said. He said it is a secure system as well.
“We didn’t want something that had to be housed here because it requires a lot of physical equipment,” Langlie explained. “It requires peo- ple to take care of it and ... by taking that away, those [Instructional Technology] engineers get to focus on other projects ...“
Langlie said while IITS will be slightly less involved with the LMS due to cloud hosting and some roles within the department will change, jobs will not be affected negatively.
As far as the overall implementation process, Perry said, “We have an implementation committee in place, and a communication plan in place, and students are definitely included in that.” Part of the implementation process will be providing student, faculty and staff with the proper training, which Perry referred to as “kind of a built-in professional development tool.”
Jenny Quarles, director of instructional design and training for the CGPS, is conducting the training along with Langlie and graduate students.
According to Quarles, the first trainings will take place in early March and are specifically for faculty and staff who use LMS features minimally, as well as student clubs and organizations that want a page to keep their group organized. Then there will be training for faculty who use LMS features regularly, such as professors and lecturers who teach hybrid and online classes.
In late March, students will have the option to partake in online or face-to-face trainings. Quarles said the trainings are optional and are “there to support students who want to know more about Canvas, who want to be successful using it in class.”
Quarles said the university is providing training because students at universities that also recently switched to Canvas, such as University of Mary Washington and James Madison University, were disappointed that they did not have the option to learn.
“We’ve learned that although students are technologically savvy, an LMS isn’t like your cell phone or Facebook,” said Quarles. “It has some features in it that you don’t necessarily want to use, but you have to use, so we want to support students in being successful.”
Langlie said while switching to Canvas will be a transition, “It also allows us to get our students and faculty used to change. You’re going to constantly be used to seeing new features, so if at the end of that time period if we find something better, it won’t be as devastating.”
Perry said the university will use Canvas for five years and then conduct another LMS review to determine if it is still the right fit for the university.
For now, however, Perry is confident that Canvas will be a positive addition to instructional learning.
Perry added, “Even if we’re going to have a few bumps getting there, it’s the right thing to do.”
