CANVAS

Pros

Its user friendly , Mobile accessible, Rich content management, Discuss feature and forums and regular updates and improvement.

Cons

I faces most of the time customization challenges and integration complexity and cost consideration.

Pros

CANVAS is an easy to use interface. I have used this for both content creation and management of student, and also as a student myself. The building features for activities were good, had many options for activities.

Cons

Our learners often would not be able to log in due to missing passwords etc. The Forgot my password button never sent the email to change their password, and there was no other option for them to be able to log in with magic link or any other alternative. This was hard with our level of student where this issue came up daily.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to CANVAS

Pros

As a middle school tech/STEM educator, I use canvas to manage student grades and work. All my lessons and assignments are stored and managed in one place. I can sync it with my state-required systems and therefore manage my grades and lessons without switching between other systems.

Cons

Canvas is easily one of the most convoluted SaaS programs I've had to use so far, and I teach computer science/technology, so I use a lot. Unfortunately, I spend easily a few hours a month writing more effective tutorials for parents to use. Most of the parents I work with struggle to use the program and observe their students. We even had a problem earlier this year when students were submitting single letters to game the system and trick their parents into thinking all their assignments were submitted. (This backfired horribly.)

That doesn't include that most of my students struggle to use the program. It's often difficult for them to see and use the system, and I have to do an entire lesson on how to use the program at the beginning of the year. This takes time away from my schedule, and means that instead of teaching the subject I'm supposed to teach, I'm spending my time teaching about Canvas instead.

Then, you'd need to factor in the cost and difficulty of integrating external systems. I often need multiple emails with administration to get keys and access to integrate the free systems. Most others require expensive payments that aren't cost-effective for my classroom.

There's a lack of a built-in system to check for plagiarism and AI usage. This means we have to pay for expensive add-on systems so we can more effectively catch students cheating.

Now factor in what happens when I copy modules into a new session of a class. If I copy a lesson plan, there's a huge chance for problems with the grades. Even if I change the due date in the system before publishing the assignment and the student has turned in the work, it shows up as a 0 in the gradebook until I grade the assignment. Which means that parents email me constantly asking what's wrong with Canvas.

Pros

I enjoy how all of my assignments and college coursework is in one place. I find it easy now to message professors and manage groupwork as well as stay on top of deadlines.

Cons

I thought the application was difficult to navigate when first learning it and sometimes feel like documents and resources get "lost" in classes that have too many modules or files available.

Pros

Canvas is a solid Learning Management System (LMS) which has the functionality that one would typically expect, including hosting course/subject content, having a student roster for a given course, supporting the posting of announcements and hosting discussion forums. Quizzes and assignments can also be created and graded via the system. Students groups are supported and I particularly like the functionality which allows students to form their own groups.

Cons

Canvas wants you to work within the system and it makes it difficult to grade assignments outside of Canvas. I use spreadsheets to capture my assignment marks and although it is possible to upload the marks there is no functionality for uploading my comments on the assignments. I address this by using third-party scripts which take advantage of Canvas's API but I imagine this would be beyond the reach of typical users.

Pros

The app availability and notifications for assignments is very helpful. I like how the app sends a notification to my phone when a new assignment has been posted or a grade is put up. Also, the calendar keeps a to do list in chronological order, which is helpful.

Cons

Canvas is a bit confusing to navigate. The tabs are not very helpful for finding information.

Pros

It's really easy to understand where to find things. I think the interface is clear, legible, and easily navigable.

Cons

From the teacher side, sometimes grade publishing is confusing. It's not always so clear how to make sure your feedback is posted in a visible way along with the grades.

Pros

I use Canvas daily to keep in contact with teachers. I'm able to check grades immediately as the teacher posts them. There has been no better was to stay in to of a child's schooling than Canvas.

Cons

Lots of opportunity to use other programs inside of canvas but not all were active.

Pros

I use canvas as an online platform to teach students

Cons

There’s nothing I don’t like about canvas.

Pros

It is easy to navigate and intuitive to find course materials, assignments, and grades.

Cons

The discussion board feature—though functional—feels somewhat outdated compared to modern communication tools. A more intuitive and interactive design could enhance engagement among our students.

Pros

I used canvas at various points throughout my academic career and compared to its competitors. It seemed to be the most comprehensive and user interface friendly. I remember it having a good deal of features that were highly useful for students and professors to connect and enhance the learning experience

Cons

Maybe one of the worst things about canvas is the way that if an assignment is missed or late, even if it's not a big deal for the course, the interface will show a big scary red missing indicator

Pros

I used both blackboard and canvas as a student. I found that canvas was far better at organizing my classes and easy to learn how to use. Its more colorful platform is easy on the eyes as well. I also found that the online testing/quizzing feature was super easy to get the grasp of.

Cons

I find that the only issue is that there is no personal customization tools to make the home feed meet my specific needs. If there was a way to highlight the classes that are challenging, organize the homework and tasks in the home page, and connect to my apple calendar (this was a feature I had trouble with) there would be no major cons.

Pros

Ease of use, brief learning curve to implement.

Cons

At times videos and updates to course content do not load efficiently.

Pros

The ability for the students to use this platform for their assignments

Cons

It's a learning curve to navigate within Canvas, even though it's not that hard to learn.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to CANVAS

Pros

Easy to navigate makes reaching and learning simple and productive.

Cons

It can sometimes be challenging to access old materials.

Pros

It is easy to use whether you are a professor or student. As a Professor I love that I can switch the between my view and the view that my students see.

Cons

I don't like how you have to set up new classes in canvas. It would be nice if you could set up due dates all at once instead of having to go through assignments one by one. Also I don't like that you have to adjust the ending date of the semester. If you put the real last day of the semester. Everything closes out funny.

Pros

I have used several education management systems and in some aspects, they all are relatively similar, but canvas definitely takes the cake when it comes to ease-of-use.

Cons

Some of the customization features feel "hidden" but once you find them, customizing certain pages like the dashboard become something you will find yourself doing often because the customizability is definitely one of the best Canvas features.

Pros

Very straightforward for students to use. Easy access to various difference courses you are taking at school.

Cons

It may be slightly overwhelming for new users because of the various menu bars and user design.

Pros

CANVAS was so helpful, particularly in my online only college courses. I was able to obtain my master's degree all electronically through CANVAS.

Cons

Some teachers did not utilize the functions well, and their sites were lacking compared to others. I would prefer them to be more uniform.

Pros

Canvas is a highly flexible platform that adapts to a wide range of educational needs, I like its easy to use interface, it also has a wide range of tools to create and manage a variety of assessment tasks.

Cons

Templates can be a bit restrictive and may not always fit your specific needs. In addition, customizing templates can be a bit difficult for users who are not familiar with the Canvas editor. It can be a bit costly for some institutions.

Pros

My favorite Canvas feature is the structure it provides to a student by organizing all the course material in one place. It is user-friendly since it allows easy workflow of assignments, quizzes, and course materials without causing much clutter. I also love how it interconnects with other apps such as Google Drive and Zoom, and makes coordinated work easier. Notifications and reminders also help me remain current with dates/times and anything from my instructors.

Cons

It may take some more time to search for specific resources or assignments sometimes because of the inconsistency in the naming conventions observed from the instructors' side. Also, the problem with the speed of the platform may become acute at certain times of the day as the pages take time to load. The grade book can also be quite complex to understand when grading is done in various formats within different courses

Pros

I like the most that there's an app for more convenience. The setup is easy to understand and intuitive to work with.

Cons

Sometimes there's a glitch, and the assignment won't get submitted.

Pros

Some of my favorite features include: being able to calculate your final grade before your assignment grade has been graded with what you think you may earn on the assignment, the calendar format for viewing what assignments are coming up in the months ahead, the chronological module format, and most recently, using the app to set notifications to remind myself of upcoming deadlines.

Cons

I wish there was a feature where you could download the videos/audios of course lecture to listen offline. If this is already a feature, I'm not sure how to enable it.

Pros

The best thing about Canvas is that it can be adapted for incarcerated students. Many Departments of Corrections (DOC) have been able to provide students with this LMS while maintaining their security.

Cons

Occasionally, I have issues creating quizzes, but I believe that is a user error rather than an issue with Canvas.

Pros

It was fairly easy to navigate. It also kept everything in order so it was easy to find.

Cons

There was a lot of information included. So, sometimes it was hard to find what you are looking for.

Pros

As a lecturer in English, mainly after COVID-19 incident, Canvas turned around online learning through its revolutionary friendly-user tools that range from clustering sections and arranging activities to video conferencing and quizzes settings. Canvas dashboard or rather facilities can be naively navigated. More than that, the number of integrations is really huge to offer the best learning experience.

Cons

Though a leading LMS platform, Canvas still struggles with mobile performance; it still takes much time to load sometimes. I can add that it is hard at certain phases to synchronize updates and changes when it comes to third-party applications.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing CANVAS

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to CANVAS

Pros

Canvas is simple and easy to use for both teachers and students, making it a great choice for managing online courses.

Cons

The free version doesn’t have some of the advanced features included in the paid plans.

Pros

How centralized everything is. I use it as a student. I love the some space where I can see all my one classes in one place, with all important information posted in the forefront making it so easy to navigate. I really enjoy how functional the sidebar is as well, allowing me to see all my massages, documents, etc... in one single place that is easy to view everything all at once.

Cons

I had no major issues with Canvas. There was the occasional experience where things would buffer longer than a average, but that only occurred during live events when there were many people logging into the same server

Pros

User-friendly. The interface makes logical sense and loads quickly with few errors. I enjoy being able to attach grading rubrics to assignments.

Cons

The navigation settings (which tools to make visible on the sidebar) are buried/hard to find.

Pros

I liked the app version that some of our student who had iPad used. It was easy to maneuver through different pages . liked that it has immersive reader function, could be in a different colour background

Cons

the lack of interactive learning experiences that was able to be created. lack of creative ability to make the experience more visual. didnt cater for all learning styles.
When learners forgot their passwords the forgotten password link didn't work.
issues with learners finding the right page to log in to.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing CANVAS

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to CANVAS

Pros

You could complete a lot of shared information among colleagues and students.

Cons

In some cases it isn't very user friendly and takes time to learn how to navigate.

Pros

Canvas is a highly efficient and user-friendly app for students. It offers a variety of submission options, such as file uploads, text entries, and media recordings, making it adaptable to different assignment needs. Additionally, its built-in support features and the ability to directly communicate with instructors provide clarity and assistance, enhancing the overall learning experience.

Cons

One of the least likable aspects of Canvas is its notification system, which can feel overwhelming if not managed properly. I often receive a high volume of alerts for updates, assignments, and discussions, which can be difficult to organize.

Pros

Personalized dashboards make it easy to prioritize my sections and work

Cons

Web widgets are not always formatted properly. Causes the scroll bars and window edges to disappear.

Pros

I like how easy to navigate and to use it.

Cons

The least that I like in canvas is the discussion board because not all the time that the student always use the discussion board even if it is instructed by the teacher to use the discussion board with your classmates for interaction purposes.

Pros

I like how easy and accessible the software program is. I think it makes navigating a school course very simple. Canvas also allows student to easily view their grades and manage correspondence with their teachers.

Cons

One thing I did not like about Canvas is that you can not access it without internet. This limits the places that you can utilize the program. I also found that Canvas does not allow all types of files to be uploaded.

Pros

Canvas made college very easy. It helps separate different courses I was taking, reach out to professors/classmates, see grades along with assignments. My college had switched over to Canvas from Moodle and the layout on Canvas was much better.

Cons

I did not like the only test taking format. It was very east to skip over a question in the moment and plan to go back to the question. Due to the quiz being only, you would have to go pack "pages" to find the question skipped over. This would sometimes result in questions not being answered at the end of the quiz/test. I think they should add a side bar that highlights skipped over questions. This is only a problem if you plan to skip around during a quiz/test like I would.

Pros

It is a super tool, with many options when creating or designing, whether it is a project, a presentation, for a resume, advertising, there are so many options that it allows us to just let our creativity fly and make it a reality with CANVAS.

Cons

I have no cons about this Platform, on the contrary I enjoy all its tools and without any inconvenience. Good so far.

Pros

Canvas is a very organized platform. It is pretty easy finding specific classes. It provides a to do list with all your soon due work on the dashboard. You can also get a to do list for a specific class. In short, Canvas provides you with the same information in your preffered way, whatever it is.

Cons

One thing I did not like about Canvas is that my teachers were unable to provide extra credit to just selected students. Assignments had to be given to all and were graded as a part of the overall percentage, and we had to find ways to work around that.

Pros

It makes navigating through courses and assignments straightforward, and the integration of various tools like discussion boards, announcements, and grading systems is seamless. Additionally, it supports multimedia content, making it easier for educators to create dynamic learning experiences. Students benefit from mobile app access, calendar synchronization, and communication features, making it adaptable to both structured and self-paced learning.

Cons

Navigating through multiple menus or finding specific files can be tedious. Additionally, instructors may face a steep learning curve when trying to use more advanced features like quizzes or integration with external tools. Another common complaint is the inconsistency in the design and layout between different courses, as instructors have the freedom to organize their courses in various ways, which can lead to confusion for students.

Pros

The thing I liked the most is how it integrates my schools design. It matches its colors and is aesthetically pleasing. This makes me more motivated to finish assignments and sign on.

Cons

What I liked least about canvas is how it can be a bit confusing when being messaged through CANVAS and your email at the same time.

Pros

The ability to make changes and see them across the board on all courses of the same type in the system is a strong ability in Canvas. The tools and support in the admin panel are extensive.

Cons

Moving from Canvas to an embedded program is clunky and not user-friendly

Pros

CANVAS is an easy-to-use tool for uploading materials and setting up assignments with assessment rubrics. I also use CANVAS to administer exams to students, incorporating a third-party proctoring function.

Cons

One definite improvement CANVAS needs is the ability to apply multiple rubrics to a single assignment. Currently, CANVAS only allows one rubric per assignment, which is not practical for higher education.

Pros

I’ve been using the website and app for several years for school. It has a dashboard for your classes, each of which have categories for grades, assignments, modules, discussions, external links, etc, and there’s a calendar for due dates, and a built in email for students and instructors. I really appreciate the comment section within grades. My professors that issue this function typically give advice or praise, in a convenient location instead of through email or in person. It also allows you to calculate your final grade by simply changing individual grades. It does the percentage and calculation for you. The calendar and to do also cross off things you have done and color code them to your class.

Cons

I don’t like how the To do is impossible to clear at times, it holds announcements there and assignments you can’t submit online because neither of those can be marked as complete. There is an option to “x” them but they come back when my app refreshes.

Pros

CANVAS has advanced learning management features which makes it more effective compared to its competitors. With CANVAS we are able to keep track of assignments very easy to use and very helpful. It's deliberately helpful I can fully guarantee that. I have never missed any assignments and all thanks to CANVAS.

Cons

We can all agree that CANVAS does it's job perfectly. No cons.

Pros

I have enjoyed using Canvas throughout my college years, as it is a very organized, easy-to-understand platform. I enjoy the many different applications such as the calendar, modules, and different colors for different classes. It helps me stay organized and I have never missed an assignment because of it!

Cons

One of the things I found challenging on Canvas was the inability to cross off things from my to-do list manually. For example, when you submit an assignment, it crosses it off for you. However, some assignments were turned in in-person rather than online, and those assignments did not get crossed off on Canvas, which made it look like they were not completed even though they were.

Pros

The versatility of design options in CANVAS is exceptional. This means that when you're creating something, whether it's a poster, social media graphic, or presentation, you have a lot of choices and flexibility. CANVAS offers a variety of templates and customization features, allowing users to tailor their designs to their specific needs effectively. This versatility is crucial because it ensures that users can create visually appealing content that suits their preferences and requirements.

Cons

However, CANVAS lacks advanced animation capabilities. This means that while you can create static designs easily, the platform isn't as equipped for creating dynamic or animated content. For those working on more complex design projects that require animations, CANVAS might not be the ideal choice. It would be beneficial for the platform to offer more animation tools to enhance its functionality and cater to a wider range of design needs.

Pros

Canvas is an LMS full of features. It is highly customizable. I love the modules and how you can apply pre-requisites to make sure students work through in a certain order. Many other apps can be integrated for use in Canvas, such as Google suite, EdPuzzle, and Nearpod. The grade book feature is probably my favorite & with the newly added video/audio response feature it is fantastic.

Cons

Although you can use pre-made templates to get started with Canvas, it is still somewhat involved to get your classes setup initially. Coming from using Google Classroom, it took a good long while to set everything up how I wanted it. There are times too that students have trouble finding exactly where to go.

Pros

This was a tool/website I used while at school. I went to TWU and half way through my education we switched to Canvas.

Cons

Not much if I have to be honest. Maybe because we wished from blackboard so to me it was a huge improvement.

Pros

It was easy to implement and loved the accessible features like text to speech

Cons

The price was extreme for a small business like ours. There was no flexibility to work out alternative pricing for a smaller provider, therefore we would need to purchase for users far and above what we would use which did not provide value for money

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing CANVAS

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to CANVAS

Pros

Quick and simple LMS for all things course related, making an admins life much easier. Announcements are also a great feature, that really help with staff to student communication.

Cons

It takes a decent amount of time to set up every single module for an entire academic year.