Arkansas State University announced they were switching over from the learning management system Blackboard to Canvas at the beginning of the semester. A-State will be joining the rest of the ASU school system in adopting the software.

“Canvas brings several extras to the table, most notably being designed and optimized for mobile devices,” said Dr. William P. McLean, associate vice chancellor for faculty relations, in a press release. 

Canvas also allows for easier record transferring between schools. It is also more cost-effective for A-State, as the university will be paying a lower cost per license per student.

“We are just in the beginning stages of switching from Blackboard to Canvas and a lot of the issues that are being worked on concern IT,” McLean said.

Faculty can still use Blackboard for their courses and are not required to transition until June 2023. Dr. Bill Smith, chief communications officer, stated the reason for the year-long transition period was for faculty to grow accustomed and proficient with the software.

“There are some faculty that were in the Canvas test group,” Smith said. “That’s the beauty of having both contracts running simultaneously. Blackboard and Canvas are available to our faculty today.”

A-State has been offering faculty training for the software in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. 

“The two faculty support specialists who work in the CETL have begun training by taking some in-depth courses provided by Canvas,” said Dr. Ruth Owens, director of CETL and associate professor of Spanish. 

The Academic Affairs Provost Office had been looking into switching softwares before the COVID-19 pandemic. The onset of the pandemic halted the Canvas studies. 

Smith stated part of the reason for looking into the switch was due to the software’s similarity with Blackboard Ultra.

“They’re adding all the features that are in (Canvas), so why don’t we use the original? That’s what got a lot of that interest moving,” Smith said.

Some students are not happy with the change.

“I’ve used Canvas. It was very confusing to navigate,” said Hannah Horton, a senior psychology major from Cabot, Arkansas. “I think it’d be confusing to switch to something completely new and different from Blackboard.”

Others, such as Raven Jackson, a graduate student in the social work program from Little Rock, are more optimistic.

“I know I have gotten used to Blackboard, so I’m sure it’d be a learning curve,” she said.

Smith stated the courses that went through the Canvas experiment received positive student feedback. 

“We got a lot of positive feedback on it,” Smith said. “But at the same time, we have to be realistic, it is change and we have to be very cognizant of people’s need to have some help in making a change.”

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