On December 2, we announced Quinnipiac selected Canvas as its next Learning Management System (LMS)! Learn more about Canvas and the migration →

Overview

Beginning in the Spring of 2024, teams across Quinnipiac launched an evaluation of our current learning management system (LMS), Blackboard Original. This evaluation is dedicated to ensuring that our LMS effectively supports the university community and our teaching and learning objectives as the University of the Future.

The teams involved in this evaluation are:

Quinnipiac Innovations in Learning and Teaching (QILT) →
Teaching and Classroom Technology (TCT) team from Information Technology
Faculty Senate ITC

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A LMS evaluation committee made up of faculty from across the University

This evaluation will include the latest version of Blackboard - Blackboard Ultra, and Instructure’s platform - Canvas. Currently, Quinnipiac uses Blackboard Original and has for some time.

Both Blackboard Ultra and Canvas offer enhanced features from our existing LMS, and both have key differentiators. Those differentiators, along with the below considerations, will guide the evaluation to find the LMS that best fulfills our needs for in-person, hybrid, and fully online learning:

Student Assignments, Discussion Boards, Assessments, and Grading
Student Experience and Interaction
Content Creation and Content Management
Course Design
Course Administration

Tool Integrations (ex. YuJa, Zoom, etc)
Tablet & Mobile App Functionality
Communication Features
Required Technology Infrastructure
Considerations raised from the evaluation survey (the survey closed June 30, thank you for your participation!)

Regardless of the next platform selected, it's important to note that significant effort, even if we remain with Blackboard, will be required to migrate our courses within the LMS. The migration from our current Blackboard version to Blackboard Ultra will still involve extensive re-design and re-construction of course materials to align with the enhanced features and structure of the updated system. Therefore, this period of change presents us with an opportune moment to explore which LMS best serves our needs and to make a well-informed decision grounded in the intrinsic value of the platform - rather than the convenience of sticking with the status quo.

Timeline

2024

Early Spring: LMS evaluation group formed

End of April: Evaluation survey opened for community feedback and ideas, and a sandbox request form made available for those who want to try either platform.

Mid-June: QILT begins reach-out initiatives to schools, departments, and programs to address questions and anticipate unique needs.

June 30: Evaluation survey closes. Sandboxes will remain open and available upon request.

July: QILT will host three demo sessions of Ultra & Canvas for the University community (recording below), followed by open office hours later in the month with Blackboard and Canvas.

September 5: QILT will host a final demo session of Ultra & Canvas for faculty.

End of September: Final decision made.

How You Can Get Involved

Parallel to the evaluation group conducting their evaluation, we’ll have several opportunities for community members to demo both Blackboard Ultra and Instructure’s Canvas platform and provide feedback. Please keep an eye out for e-mail communications over this summer and the beginning of Fall.

Survey

The evaluation survey opened on April 29 and closed on June 30. Thank you for your participation!

Sandboxes

We’ve closed the sandbox request form while we’re working on the final decision. When the final decision is announced, we’ll re-open the form to request a sandbox in the chosen platform! In total during the evaluation, 89 faculty and staff members received a sandbox.

If you have a sandbox already, we’ve created pages with links to resources to use as you explore the platforms:

Blackboard Ultra Evaluation Resources
Instructure Canvas Evaluation Resources
Five Things to Try in Your Ultra and Canvas Sandboxes

Ultra & Canvas Demo

QILT held three demo sessions on Ultra and Canvas for the university community. Our goal was to introduce attendees to both learning management systems and demonstrate how basic instructional tasks look in each system.

Frequently Asked Questions

As we answer questions from the community, we’ll update this list.

Contact QILT with questions or comments →

Evaluation Information

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Why is this evaluation happening right now?

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Who is evaluating Blackboard Ultra and Instructure’s Canvas?

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Who is making the final decision?

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When will a final decision be made?

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Where can I learn more about Blackboard Ultra and Instructure’s Canvas?

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Where can I provide my feedback on Blackboard and give my opinions on the most important features and requirements of our next LMS?

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Should we take the survey after we have had a chance to work in a sandbox, or should we take the survey based on our familiarity with the various LMSs, even if we are not familiar with one of them?

Migration Information

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How will the migration to either Blackboard Ultra or Instructure’s Canvas start?

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What kind of support will I receive when the migration to Blackboard Ultra or Instructure’s Canvas starts?

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After migration to a new LMS, can we still open and use the archived Blackboard files we’ve made of our Blackboard courses on the original Blackboard LMS system?

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When the switch comes to either Ultra or Canvas, will any of our current material be able to be transferred over, or will we have to build each module from scratch?

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Once the decision is made on which platform we will use, when can faculty start building courses?

Assignments, Quizzes, Tests/Exams

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Can you export a quiz, test, or pool from Blackboard and import it to Canvas?

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Can you upload a quiz/exam written in MS Word or MS Excel and import it to Canvas?

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Does Ultra have a method for students to anonymously peer review?

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Does Canvas have a method for students to anonymously peer review?

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Can you print quizzes in Canvas New Quizzes?

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Can you create pools of questions in Ultra for a quiz/test/exam so every student gets different questions?

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Can you create pools of questions in Canvas for a quiz/test/exam so every student gets different questions?

Grading

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Where can I learn more about the Ultra gradebook?

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Where can I learn more about the Canvas gradebook?

Student Accommodations

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What student accommodation features are available in Ultra?

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What student accommodation features are available in Canvas?

Course Design & Development

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How does Canvas Commons work, and if Canvas is chosen, how would we implement Commons?

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How do you change the course home page in Canvas?

Features

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How does the Calendar feature work in Ultra?

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How does the Calendar feature work in Canvas?

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Can announcements in Canvas be sent to students’ email?

Organizations

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Do Ultra and Canvas have the ability to create organizations as opposed to a course?

Integrations

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Does the Zoom integration in Canvas also sync attendance to the gradebook?

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Does Respondus Lockdown Browser integrate with Canvas?

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Does YuJa integrate with Canvas?

QILT is here to help you!

Meet With Us or Submit a Request

If you need help with Canvas, remember there are 24/7/365 phone and chat support options in the Canvas Help menu.

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Learning Management System Evaluation | Spring-Fall 2024