The struggles of Blackboard are soon to be over and, according to some, the new system works better than ever.
This upcoming May, the Office of Information Technology (OIT) will be dropping Blackboard as UT’s Learning Management System and replacing it with Canvas Instructure. Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer Joel Reeves explained why the university is making the switch to Canvas.
“Our contract with Blackboard was for five years, and it was up. There were options to go buy Blackboard again or any one of what I’ll call the big three: Blackboard, D2L or Canvas,” Reeves said.
Canvas won the bid after a lengthy review process. OIT found it to be cheaper and better than Blackboard. During this school year, professors have the option of hosting their classes on either Canvas or Blackboard and a chance to get accustomed to the new system before it is fully implemented.
Kimberly Sheldon, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, is one such professor that chose Canvas over Blackboard. Sheldon was aware OIT would make the switch next May and believed it was simpler to learn Canvas, rather than both systems. Being her first year at UT, she relied on the opinions of others when deciding which system to use, repeatedly hearing that Blackboard does not operate as well as Canvas.
“Everything I’ve heard is that Canvas is a lot more user friendly,” Sheldon said. “It has more functions. It is a better version.”
Reeves also heard about the difficulties of using Blackboard each year.
“Blackboard gets described to me in our annual survey every year as being clunky, hard to use,” Reeves said, citing it also had a host of features that were not utilized. “Canvas had the functionality they used and was much easier to use.”
While Sheldon said it did not take long for her to understand Canvas, there were still some issues at the beginning.
“There were a few things that I think I didn’t understand at first like whether or not the students were actually getting emails or announcements,” she said. “I haven’t figured out all the functionality, but for the most part, the user interface is really easy. I think the students have figured it out,” Sheldon said.
Incoming freshmen, who had not used either system before August, have had the difficulty of learning two new systems. Nicole Gentry, freshman in studio art, has classes that use both systems. Gentry said she prefers Canvas, and she admitted to getting confounded when trying to go between both systems.
“I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to Blackboard to do my French homework, and it’s not there,” Gentry said, citing issues adjusting to Blackboard during the first couple weeks. “With Canvas, (adjusting) was so much easier. So I think, especially for next year’s freshmen, they won’t have to deal with that.”
Since professors have the ability to choose between Blackboard and Canvas, this can be frustrating for students. Reeves recognizes this but sees it as an opportunity to make the permanent switch in May easier.
“It allows some time to kick the tires. You’re going to have to transition sometime. Yes, we knew this year would be difficult and I apologize for that,” Reeves said.
Bailey Peters, freshman in nuclear engineering, said he puts his trust in the administration’s choice.
“It’s of no concern to me,” Peters said. “I mean, if they think it’s better for us, then more power to them. We’ll find out next May.”
