Dear Colleagues,
After two years of investigation and the generous involvement of many faculty, staff and students, Canvas has been selected as the Learning Management System replacement for Blackboard/WebCT, which will no longer be supported by Blackboard after 2013. A summary of our selection process is available here.
Instructure’s Canvas is recognized as easier to use and more flexible for your needs; notably, most students and faculty like Canvas appreciably more than the others the faculty selection group examined: Moodle, Blackboard Learn and Sakai.
After consultation with the deans, key faculty and the support units we hope to begin sole use of Canvas for Summer term, 2012 (May 9). Should unanticipated technical difficulties arise, we will revisit this target date.
All courses and sections for Spring semester 2012 will be available with students enrolled in both Canvas and Blackboard/WebCT. You can elect to teach a course in either WebCT or Canvas. We are committed to letting you know the exact dates of the following essential information as soon as it is known:
• Your old courses from Web CT will be migrated automatically to Canvas
• Electronic grade submission will be available in Canvas
We will also provide you with complete support through the combined efforts of IT and eLearning @ Michigan Tech, which has a comprehensive plan for faculty support.
Faculty who wish to familiarize themselves with Canvas may do so by visiting mtu.instructure.com. Log in with your Michigan Tech userid and password. You can easily create test courses now and import your content from Blackboard if you prefer not to wait for the ‘bulk course migration.’
Project updates and status will be posted on the elearning blog.
Thank you for your continued support of the technology and learning advancements at Michigan Tech.
Walt Milligan
Ellen Marks
Tom Freeman
Older Entries