Our first day using Canvas

In the following academic year, CourseWorks will switch from using Sakai (the CourseWorks we all know and sometimes-not-really love) to Canvas, a learning management system created by Instructure. Some classes have already made the switch, providing students with a glimpse of what is yet to come. While the site itself is pretty, the impending future isn’t as much. Canvas offers students and professors many more learning tools, including an interactive calendar, chat features, and even internal hubs for group collaboration. However, with any change at this school comes drama. The new website demands more than an ounce of technological fluency, something many professors lack, and will likely create frustrations after the switch. Like Sakai, we imagine many tools won’t be utilized, and some professors may be more reluctant to use CourseWorks at all. Luckily, one of our professors has pretty much mastered the site, which allows us to highlight some new features and provide you with screenshots.