As the Summer 2022 term begins, JHU is ready to begin the transition to Canvas as the primary learning management system. Using the lessons and feedback from the Spring 2022 early adopters, more than 800 courses and 13,000 enrollments have been configured in Canvas for the Summer.
Canvas Courses and Project Timeline
Not all Summer 2022 courses will run on Canvas – depending on your division, you may still have a Summer 2022 course on Blackboard. The best way to check where your course will be offered is by logging on to SIS. Then students should check “My Class Schedule,” and faculty should view their “Dashboard.” You will be able to see whether each of your courses is taught on Canvas or Blackboard and click the link to log in. As a reminder, all Fall 2022 courses will use Canvas (except for those in the School of Public Health, which will continue to use CoursePlus).
Early Adopter Feedback and Insights
The Canvas early adopters took three surveys during the Spring 2022 semester, and the feedback has been very positive overall. Faculty and students cite Canvas’ design as being easier to use and more intuitive than Blackboard. The mobile app experience is highly rated and a welcome update. Students encouraged faculty to promote mobile-friendly course site design and to use Canvas’ logical layout of tools to make course navigation easy. Early adopter faculty had a few key pieces of advice for their peers when starting to use Canvas:
- Not every Blackboard feature has an analog – give yourself time to become familiar with the Canvas tools so you can fully benefit from them
- Utilize the help functions built into the Canvas global menu
- Make sure to test your course from the student perspective using Student View
Updates to Canvas.jhu.edu
In preparation for the Summer 2022 term and increased Canvas use, we have made significant enhancements to the documentation on canvas.jhu.edu.
- Getting Started: If you are teaching or taking courses this summer on Canvas, review the faculty getting started guide and student getting started guide.
- 3rd Party Tools: Faculty can learn more about the 3rd Party Tools installed in Canvas that are ready to use or coming soon.
- Setting Up Your Course: Faculty can explore the setting up your course and in-depth canvas guide page for detailed guides on major Canvas tools and features.
- Frequently Asked Questions: The Faculty Canvas FAQ and Student Canvas FAQ contain dozens of answers to questions we heard the most during the Early Adopter term.
In addition to adding documentation on the Canvas site, each division has unique training plans in place that are tailored to their faculty and student needs. Reach out to your division for more information.
Thank You to Everyone Who Supported This Launch
The Summer 2022 semester represents a significant milestone in the Canvas project at JHU. We would like to thank the early adopters for their patience and feedback. We also want to acknowledge the dedication of the divisional teaching and learning centers, IT@JH, and staff across the university for their work over the past year and a half to make this launch a success.