What to Expect When Using Canvas

Simpler Navigation: Canvas is known for its more intuitive and streamlined interface. Many features that required extra clicks in Blackboard, like adding content or assignments, are easier to set up in Canvas.
More Flexible Assignment Submissions: In Canvas, assignment submission types are highly flexible. You can allow for file uploads, text entries, media recordings, or even URL submissions. This allows for greater creativity in how students complete and submit their work.
Integrated Mobile Features: The Canvas Student and Teacher apps are robust and offer a seamless mobile experience. You can grade, respond to discussions, and send announcements directly from your phone or tablet.

Have a Canvas account already from our evaluation? Download and sign-in to the Canvas Teacher app for Apple and Android devices to check them out.

Customizable Notifications: Canvas offers a higher degree of control over notifications. Faculty and students can choose how often they receive updates on assignments, discussions, and more.
Easier Course Copy and Import: The course import/export process in Canvas is more streamlined, allowing faculty to easily copy entire courses or specific materials from one course to another. This includes automatic due date adjustments during the course copy process, which was more manual in Blackboard.
Modules for Content Organization: Rather than using multiple content areas, Canvas focuses on organizing material through “Modules,” which streamline navigation and help students focus on sequential learning. Canvas allows instructors to control student progress through Module Requirements and Prerequisites, ensuring students complete certain tasks before advancing. This is more flexible and easier to set up than Blackboard’s Adaptive Release.

Learn more about Modules in Canvas →

Streamlined Discussions: Canvas offers clearer formatting for threaded and unthreaded discussions, with the ability to pin and set discussions to read-only. Grading is integrated into SpeedGrader, making it easier to provide feedback. Creating and managing group discussions is more straightforward, and instructors can set checkpoints with different due dates for initial posts and replies, encouraging deeper engagement.

Learn more about SpeedGrader in Canvas →

Improved Analytics and Reporting: With New Analytics, Canvas offers detailed, visual reports on student engagement, submissions, and performance over time. Faculty can also use the “Message Students Who” feature to contact students directly from the analytics reports—an enhancement over Blackboard’s analytics tools.
LTI Integrations for External Tools: Canvas has robust support for Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI), making it easier to integrate third-party tools like YuJa, VoiceThread, Microsoft Office, or Zoom.
More Robust Peer Review: Canvas integrates Peer Reviews into assignments, allowing faculty to automate and manage peer feedback more easily than Blackboard’s separate self and peer assessment tools.
Improved Collaboration Tools: While Blackboard had tools like blogs, journals, and wikis, Canvas simplifies these features with Pages for collaborative content creation and Discussions for interactive threads. Although Canvas lacks direct equivalents for blogs and wikis, its streamlined collaboration options are often easier to use.

Learn more about Pages in Canvas →

Key Feature Differences Between Blackboard and Canvas

The following table highlights major features in Blackboard and their equivalents in Canvas, along with brief descriptions of how Canvas differs in implementation or functionality.

Feature	Blackboard Name	Canvas Name	How Canvas Differs
Accommodations & Accessibility	Test Availability Exceptions, Adaptive Release	Assign To, Accommodations	• Faculty can assign assignments to individual students with their own due dates and availability windows. This can be done easily within the Assign to section of an assignment’s settings. • Accommodations are applied globally for a student across all quizzes. Faculty can grant extra time or attempts to a specific student once, and these accommodations will apply automatically to every New Quiz within the course • Canvas has a built-in accessibility checker in the Rich Content Editor that helps faculty make sure their content (headings, tables, images, etc.) is accessible.
Adaptive Release	Adaptive Release	Module Requirements	• More flexible release criteria (complete X before moving to Y). • Allows for prerequisite content and 'lock until' dates. • Better at structuring personalized learning paths.
Analytics	Evaluation (Course Reports, Performance Dashboard, Retention Center)	New Analytics	• Provides similar functionality, however Canvas reports are easier to navigate and provide more visuals to track change over time. • View individual students' grade details, weekly online activity, and communication over time. • Includes 'message students who' feature to communicate with students directly from the analytics report.
Announcements	Announcements	Announcements	• Announcements can optionally be shown at the top of the Home page. • Announcements push to email and mobile devices immediately. • Students can reply to and like Announcements if enabled. • Integration with course calendar for assignment reminders.
Assignments	Assignments	Assignments	• More submission options (file upload, media recording, URL submission) and students can see a progress bar when submitting assignments. • Assignments automatically added to/ or updated on the Assignment page, Syllabus Page, and Calendar (if it has a due date). • Ability to specify which file types can be submitted, which prevents students from uploading non-specified filetypes (i.e. Apple Pages files). • Assignment Submissions cannot be cleared, instead an additional attempt can be granted and/or the grade can be overridden. • Assignments can be assigned to specific students to give them extended due dates for accommodations
Availability	Availability (Available / Hidden)	Publish / Unpublish	• Easy one-click button to publish/unpublish.
Blogs	Blogs	Canvas does not have a direct equivalent for blogs. Instructors can use discussion boards for blog-like activities.
Blueprints	N/A	Blueprint Courses	• Blueprint courses allow for the centralized management of course templates. • Changes in the blueprint course can be synced across associated courses. • Great for maintaining consistency in multi-section courses.
Course Calendar	Calendar	Calendar	• Automatic updates from assignment and quiz due dates. • Syncs across mobile and email notifications. • Faculty and (optionally) students can add events manually. • Can be filtered to show only specific courses • Can be added to Outlook as a synced calendar.
Course Copy	Course Copy; Import Package	Import Course Content	• Canvas allows for a more seamless copy process with options to select specific content to import. • Faculty can easily adjust/shift due dates and event dates during the import. • Clearer process for importing or exporting course content. • Content can be imported from Blackboard, but will need to be reorganized / updated. • Course Copy logs provide direct links to course items that had import issues.
Course Files	Content Collection	Files	• No need for a separate content collection; files are integrated directly into the course. • Drag-and-drop file upload functionality. • Students and instructors have a "My Files" section where they can upload or manage their own library of files. • Instructors can choose to display the Files section to students, and files can be set as published or unpublished to show/hide from students.
Course Menu	Course Menu	Navigation Menu	• All coursework such as assignments, quizzes, and discussions can be found in the appropriate menu item regardless of their location in the modules. • Navigation Menu can be customized to show/hide specific links and change their order. • Content Areas or unique links cannot be added to the navigation menu, and links cannot be renamed.
Course Structure	Content Area; Folders; Items	Modules; Pages	• Content is organized sequentially in 'Modules.' • Requirements can be set so students must complete modules in order or complete a previous module before opening. • Simpler and clearer navigation for students. • Folders do not exist; instead, Text Headers and Indents can be used to organize content within a module. • Pages are used instead of Items for displaying text/visual content in a module. • Pages have enhanced functionality, including a page history/versioning feature and the option to revert to a prior version of a page.
Dashboard	"Courses" in Global Navigation	Dashboard	• Ability to "Favorite" courses and show only favorites in Courses menu. • Give courses a nickname, change their color, and add an image for the course. • Buttons on course cards provide quick links to common tools.
Discussion Boards	Discussion Board	Discussions	• Threaded discussions are easier to follow with clearer formatting, and option exists for unthreaded discussions. • Discussions can be set to read-only or pinned. • Grading of discussions directly from SpeedGrader. • Group discussions are much easier to create/manage. • Checkpoints can be set to require different dates for initial post and replies.
Grade Center	Grade Center	Gradebook	• Modern interface with multiple views and filters, including alternating row colors and more intuitive scrollbars. • Filtering by module or course section is supported. • Total columns automatically appear at the far right of the gradebook. • Options for curving grades and automatic late work deductions. • Integration with SpeedGrader for streamlined grading. • Easier to set grade posting policies (automatic/manual release). • Students can use the What-If feature to see what their final grade would be if they received a hypothetical grade on assignments/quizzes. • Cannot create manual columns; instead, columns are created automatically for assignments, and "No Submission" or "On Paper" assignments can be created to create columns for in-person assignments, participation grades, etc. • Individual assignments cannot be weighted, only assignment groups can be weighted. Instead, create an assignment group for each individually weighted assignment. • Rows and columns cannot be hidden; instead, filters and search can be used to show specific rows/columns, and assignments can be set to "not graded" to remove them from the gradebook.
Groups	Groups	Groups	• Drag and drop group editing functionality. • Groups can be created when creating an assignment or discussion, and discussions can be assigned to all groups without manually creating a board for each group. • Group areas allow collaborative tools (e.g., shared files, discussions, and assignments). • Group creation is simpler with self-sign-up options. • Group leaders can be assigned. • Instructors can require each student to submit a portion of work and can grade the entire group or the group's individual students. • Students can, if enabled, create their own groups.
Inline Grading	Inline Grading	SpeedGrader	• Easier to comment, highlight, mark through text, or draw on paper for feedback. • Mobile app provides functionality to grade and annotate papers on the go. • Supports audio and video feedback. • Better integration with rubrics.
Journals	Journals	Canvas does not have a built-in journals tool. Instructors can use assignments for reflective journal-type submissions.
Make Course Available	Make Course Available	Publish	• Canvas courses remain unpublished until manually published. • Draft state is visible until the course is published for students. • Publish status is prominently displayed on the course homepage.
Messages	Email	Conversations (Inbox)	• Canvas uses an Inbox feature, similar to email, for communication between faculty and students. • Faculty and students can send messages directly or in bulk. • Conversations support attaching files, media, or external links. • Conversations are automatically sent as a copy to email, and users can reply to conversations from the inbox or their email account.
Mobile App	Blackboard Mobile Learn	Canvas Mobile App	• Separate mobile apps for students and instructors (Canvas Student, Canvas Teacher). • Supports full grading, communication, and content viewing on mobile. • Better mobile optimization and user experience than Blackboard. • Most features from Canvas website are supported on Mobile App.
Needs Grading	Needs Grading	Dashboard	• To Do area in the Dashboard lists what needs grading in all courses. • Gradebook shows which student submissions need grading and assignments can be filtered by Needs Grading.
Notification Settings	Notification Settings	Notification Settings	• Canvas provides highly customizable notifications for various activities (e.g., grading, assignments, announcements). • Faculty and students can choose immediate, daily, or weekly notifications. • Notifications are sent via email and/or SMS depending on preferences.
Rich Content Editor	Content Editor	Rich Content Editor	• Canvas Rich Content Editor offers easier media integration (images, videos, external tools). • Built-in accessibility checker for creating accessible content. • Built-in spell checker. • WYSIWYG editor with more intuitive formatting tools. • Supports HTML and inline styles editing functionality. • Supports emojis - On Mac: Command + Control + Space. On PC: Windows Key + Semicolon.
Roster	Users and Groups	People	• Roster management is more straightforward in Canvas. • Allows easy sorting and grouping of students. • Canvas includes a built-in messaging tool for direct contact with students.
Rubrics	Rubrics	Rubrics	• Rubric creation is easier with a streamlined interface. • Rubrics can be used across multiple tools (assignments, discussions, quizzes). • Criterion levels allow for point ranges. • Direct integration with SpeedGrader for quicker feedback. • Rubrics only support Points and Point Ranges. Instructors can make the point value out of 100 to have similar functionality, and Canvas can automatically show scores to students as a percentage.
SafeAssign	SafeAssign	Turnitin/Plagiarism Detection	• Canvas uses Turnitin for plagiarism detection. • Turnitin integrates directly with SpeedGrader. • Provides detailed originality reports for instructors and students.
Self and Peer Assessments	Self and Peer Assessments	Peer Reviews	• Peer Reviews are managed within assignments with built-in review deadlines. • Allows anonymous or identified reviews.
Student Preview	Student Preview	Student View	• 'Student View' button is available on the homepage for instant access. • Automatically generates a 'Test Student' for simulating actions. • Allows instructors to experience course content and submit assessments to grade. • Instructors must use the Preview option when building New Quizzes to preview as a student, rather than using Student View.
Tests/Quizzes	Tests, Surveys and Pools	Quizzes	• More streamlined interface. • Advanced options, such as filtering by IP address. • Add extra credit directly from SpeedGrader. • Assign quizzes to individual students. • Stimulus content gives students a piece of content with associated questions, which is useful for case studies. • Two different quiz types: New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes. Blackboard Quizzes import as classic quizzes, and can be converted to New Quizzes. • Canvas does not support Quiz Bowl, Jumbled Sentence, Likert Scale or Ordering question types. • Accommodations apply to all quizzes in a course for a student and only one accommodation can be set per student
Wikis	Wikis	Canvas does not have a direct equivalent for Wikis. Canvas 'Pages' allow for collaborative content creation similar to Wikis. Pages can be edited by instructors or students based on permissions. Pages can be linked within modules or assignments. Collaborations feature can allow students to edit the same Office 365 file in Canvas, which can mimic WIki functionality.

References: https://www.shu.edu/technology/canvas-blackboard-comparison.html

https://www.ohio.edu/oit/initiatives/lms/what-different-canvas

https://community.canvaslms.com

Learn more about Canvas at Quinnipiac →

Additional resources

Blackboard and Canvas: What’s Different?

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