Report to the
Information Technology Advisory Committee
From the
Learning Management Systems Subcommittee
Chaired by Dr. Bonnie Grohe
November, 2014
Page 1 of 26
Executive Summary
The Learning Management System (LMS) FSU uses is critically important in enabling faculty, staff and students to reach their teaching and learning goals.
The LMS must be quick to learn, easy to use, reliable, and responsive to the needs of the campus community.
Comprehensive LMS evaluations typically occurs over a 1 ½ to 2 year time frame, where multiple data points are obtained and analyzed (user satisfaction
with current system, exploration of alternatives, feature by feature comparison, etc). Additionally, when a transition to a new LMS occurs, many
institutions allocate one year or more to enable the training team to learn the new LMS, allow sufficient time for the preparation of training materials and
workshops for faculty and students and the migration of content. The evaluation process outlined in this report was derived from budgetary and resource
constraints as well as preferences of faculty representatives.
This report describes the following:
 The charge of the Learning Management Systems Subcommittee.
 A timeline of the LMS alternatives exploration.
 Summary of Canvas and Moodle product demonstrations
 Review of Blackboard and Canvas functions and features using an industry standard rubric for Learning Management Systems.
 Conclusions and recommendations
Committee Charge
The Learning Management Systems (LMS) committee is a subcommittee of the Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC). This subcommittee
was charged with evaluating alternatives to Blackboard, to determine if there were superior products on the market that would meet our needs and offer
cost savings as well.
Due to some uncertainty about the continuation of the ITAC committee, two other advisory committees were also consulted on this charge: The Online
Education Advisory Committee and the Faculty Development Advisory Committee.
Blackboard Contract Considerations
FSU’s license with Blackboard 9.1 expires June 2015, and our hosting agreement with UNC Greensboro is ending because they have decided to migrate
from Blackboard to Canvas. Therefore, it is necessary to determine if we are going to continue with Blackboard and find another hosting partner, or
explore other products.
Financial Considerations
In the current FSU budget climate, it is prudent to evaluate more cost effective LMS delivery options; especially if there is an alternative that provides
similar or more superior functionality for the costs. Currently, FSU pays approximately $121,000 per year for the hosting and licensing of Blackboard 9.1.
Migrating to Canvas has the potential to save FSU $30-40,000 in the first year.
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Table 1. Learning Management Systems in use across the UNC System
UNC School
Appalachian State University
Eastern Carolina University
Elizabeth City State University
NC A&T State University (HBCU)
North Carolina Central University (HBCU)
NC State University
UNC Asheville
UNC-Chapel Hill
UNC Charlotte
Learning Management System
Moodle
Blackboard
Blackboard
Blackboard
Blackboard
Blackboard, Moodle & Wolfware (homegrown)
Moodle
Sakai
Moodle
NC School of Science and Mathematics
Moodle
UNC Greensboro
UNC Pembroke
UNC Wilmington
UNC School of the Arts
Total (not including FSU)=14 schools
Moodle=4
Sakai=1
Blackboard=9
Transitioning to Canvas=1
Blackboard (transitioning to Canvas)
Blackboard
Blackboard
Blackboard
Relevant Committees and Compositions
Members of the LMS subcommittee included ITTS staff, Office of Faculty staff and one faculty administrator.
Learning Management System Subcommittee Members and Affiliations
Name
Affiliation
Bonnie Grohe, Chair
Office of Faculty Development and Department of Criminal
Justice
Bill Gibson
ITTS
Claudette Fuller
ITTS
Shunta’ Hailey
Office of Faculty Development
Page 3 of 26
James Heard
Nick Ganesan (Advisory Member)
Office of Faculty Development
ITTS
Faculty Development Advisory Committee Members and Affiliations
Name
Affiliation
Maurice Mongkuo, Chair
Department of Government and History
Bonnie Grohe
Office of Faculty Development and Department of Criminal
Justice
Robert Brown
Department of Criminal Justice
Lewis Hershey
Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship
Daniel Autrey
Department of Chemistry and Physics
Stacye Blount
Department of Sociology
Laquesha Boyd
Department of Nursing
Dennis Corbin
Department of Social Work
Zhenlu Cui
Department of Math and Computer Science
Marlina Duncan
Department of Middle Grades, Secondary and Specialized
Subjects
Ruth King
Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship
Robert McGee
Department of Accounting, Finance, Healthcare Administration,
and Information Systems
Daniel Montoya
Department of Psychology
Jonas Okeagu
Department of Biological Sciences
Maria Orban
Department of English
Gail Thompson
School of Education
Honbing Zhang
Department of World Languages and Cultures
Online Education Advisory Committee Members and Affiliations
Name
Affiliation
Bonnie Grohe, Chair
Office of Faculty Development and Department of Criminal
Justice
Elizabeth Quinn
Department of Criminal Justice
Kimberly Tran
Department of Psychology
Jilly Ngwainmbi
Department of Sociology
Barbara Russo
Department of Government and History
Judith Mann
Department of Nursing
Kelly Charles
School of Education
Miriam Chitiga
Educational Leadership
Eric Dent
Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship
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LMS Exploration 2014 Timeline
January 2014

CIO Ganesan sent emails to faculty, deans and chairs detailing the need to explore alternatives to Blackboard with a tentative timeline for the
process.

Provost Young discussed the exploration of alternatives at the Faculty Senate meeting.
February 2014

Canvas representatives visited FSU to demonstrate their product.

The Office of Faculty Development promoted a Moodle webinar demonstration provided by hosting partner Remote Learner.

Nick attended the Online Education Advisory Committee (OEAC) meeting to discuss the exploration of alternatives and provide background and
context to the process. A discussion of the proposed timeline was also discussed and concerns expressed about it.

The Faculty Development Advisory Committee (FDAC) met. Michelle Whitaker, Assistant CIO, attended in Nick’s absence, and I provided the
background, context and proposed timeline. Concerns about the timeline and overall process were expressed, with the consensus of the committee
being that they did not want to participate in a pilot. Rather, they wanted the “LMS Experts” to do the review and for ITTS to provide enough time
to transition-if that’s what was decided.
March 2014

FDAC Chair, Dr. Mongkuo and I presented the findings of the FDAC committee to the Faculty Senate, asking for input on how to proceed. A
discussion ensued, but no recommendations were made. Dr. Wilson-Jones requested that I provide her the LMS rubric and other relevant
documentation, so that she may share them with the senators. The LMS rubric, and links to demonstrations were provided as requested.
May 2014

OFD and ITTS staff explored Moodle and Canvas. The general consensus was that the learning curve would be steeper with Moodle. This
information was shared with CIO Ganesan and he suggested conducting a thorough comparison of Blackboard and Canvas.

Bill Gibson created a test environment in Canvas in order to experiment with it, and set up class situations and roles among OFD and ITTS staff.

I spoke with Dr. Sutton, UNCG ITTS responsible for running the Canvas pilot. He provided access to information on how they conducted their pilot
and faculty reactions and responses.
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September-November 2014

ITTS and OFD staff conducted feature and functionality comparisons of Blackboard and Canvas using a comprehensive LMS rubric.

The LMS report was distributed to the ITAC committee, OEAC, and FDAC and Chair of the Faculty Senate.
Learning Management System Demonstrations
Canvas Demonstration: Notes taken and compiled by Dr. Rollinda Thomas
I.
II.
III.
Features
a. Canvas can be used for courses, groups, and committees.
b. You can import courses from Blackboard 9. If you created courses for your classes using Blackboard, you may be able to use the content.
c. You can copy a Canvas course (that you created as a teacher) from other institutions.
System Wide Tools
a. The calendar function shows due dates and events for each of your classes. You can click on an event to update information (events,
assignments, etc.).
b. Canvas can be integrated with social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Google Docs, etc.).
i. Notifications can be sent to each of the channels (Facebook, e-mail address, cell numbers, and Twitter) at once.
c. Users can create web-based publications. E-portfolios can be used for assessment.
i. Canvas has an online wizard to help in the creation of e-portfolios.
d. The Inbox allows users to send and receive messages within their courses.
e. You can record and upload video for your courses using Canvas. It allows you to create interactive content for participants.
Course-Level Functionality
a. A screen displaying recent activity in the course is the default for Canvas. Research suggested that this is desirable for students. You can
change the settings to suit your needs.
b. Date changes on your calendar are automatically updated in other areas of Canvas. This saves you from having to manually update changes
in due dates or other events.
c. Create Modules: You can create modules following a subject or theme. Modules can be set to become to students or participants at certain
times or according to certain criteria.
d. You can drag and drop course modules in the order you desire.
e. You can add external tools (go to Settings – Class Settings) to Canvas, including apps such as Khan Academy, YouTube, Badge Stack,
Harvard Business, Rosetta Stone, TaskStream, Smarthinking, etc.
f. Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) integration allows users to embed content from YouTube.
g. Insert Content into the Page – function contains tabs allowing you to add links, files, and images to your page.
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h. You can repurpose content that you’ve created. Choose to Insert Content into the Page. Click the desired content (assignments, quizzes,
announcements, etc.) under the Links tab (right side of screen).
i. Open the Rich Text Editor to add, manipulate, and resize content to a page.
j. Click the filmstrip icon to record instructions or a message to students or participants.
k. Once you’ve uploaded an assignment, you can click a button at the bottom of the screen to add a rubric. You can create a rubric using
Canvas or import one that you’ve already created.
i. Find Outcome – allows you to import institutional outcomes in your rubric that correspond to your content
ii. Institutional outcomes can be preloaded into the options available to your department.
iii. Multiple teachers in several sections of a course may choose to have access to one rubric to create continuity. To do this, each
teacher will need to be listed as the Teacher or Course Instructor of the courses. This allows them to share one rubric.
l. Quizzes
i. When creating a question, a drop-down menu offers many options.
ii. The Formula option allows manipulation of formulas and variables.
iii. Question options include multiple-choice, essay, multiple-answer, formula, etc.
iv. Question banks can be aligned with learning outcomes.
m. Analytics
i. Canvas allows you to view outcomes reports for each student. Data regarding individual student performance is available in a graph
format.
ii. Students and instructors can review charts and graphs that share their outcomes.
iii. Students can generate “What If” searches to determine what type of grades they will need on upcoming assignments to gain a
particular grade point average.
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IV.
V.
Cloud
a. Canvas operates as a cloud-based application.
b. It doesn’t need constant upgrades or new versions. The institution will have access to the latest content through the cloud.
c. No content is ever permanently deleted from the cloud. You can type “undelete” and click “Enter” to recover information.
Integrate with iPad and iPhone
a. Canvas can interface with iPad Speed Grader app to view submissions and grade them.
b. You can record video comments to provide feedback as you grade assignments. When a student opens the document, your comment will
share your insights on his/her performance.
c. Canvas allows you to make editorial comments directly to the student’s work. You can also open the rubric and add scores.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Canvas integrates with mobile devices such as iPhone. You can use the iPhone to take photos and upload them directly to the course.
Mobile devices can be used to send messages and notifications to participants.
Canvas allows you to use mobile devices to perform many of the functions that you can do on your computer.
Recent changes in your Grade Book will be saved in Canvas even if you lose your Internet connection.
Grade Book allows teachers to send a brief mass message to students who haven’t submitted an assignment.
.CSV is a neutral database file that can be used to share content from one system or application to another.
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VI.
j. Grades can be published to the Banner system.
Other Functions
a. Collaborations can be facilitated using Canvas and Google Docs. Click the Start Collaborating button to open a Google Doc that students can
work on together. Students can submit the work as an assignment for a group project.
b. Synchronous tool: The BigBlueButton option can offer online conferences similar to Adobe Connect. It uses Flash technology, so mobile
users may have difficulty.
c. Users can view PDF files within Canvas without having to download an Adobe Reader.
The Attendance feature uses photos and names of students to allow teachers to click on the students’ icons. The tool can mark a student as present, absent,
or give a percentage based on whether they are late or leave early.
Moodle Demonstration: Notes taken and compiled by Dr. Rollinda Thomas
I.
II.
Moodle
a. Moodle is an open-sourced software functioning as a learning management system (LMS).
b. Remote-Learner offers support to K-12, higher education, and others.
c. Moodle has offices in the USA, including Virginia, Colorado, and Kansas. If Moodle is adopted, the server for FSU would be located in Kansas.
d. Moodle allows you to create content, deliver learning assessments, promote collaboration, and equip facilitators with course management
tools.
Moodle Demonstration
a. A sample course created in Moodle was displayed online.
b. There are many resources within Moodle. The five most commonly used resources are:
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III.
i. Book Module – allows you to chunk content into manageable pieces in multiple pages. You can embed video for your users.
ii. File - Instructors can drag and drop files directly into the course. These files can be renamed and presented in a list. The list can be
indented for easier navigation.
iii. Folder – organizes content
iv. Page – offers another way to present content in Moodle. A single page is used to share information to users instead of many (as in
the Book Module).
v. URL – add and organize links to outside resources. Users can view these websites without actually leaving Moodle. The content will
be presented as a screen embedded within Moodle.
Activities in Moodle
a. Activities for student learning in Moodle include Social Tools, Collaborative Tools, Content Presentation Tools, and Assessment Tools.
b. Announcements can be sent to all students.
c. The forum can facilitate asynchronous learning. Posts can be uploaded to instruct and communicate with students.
d. Outcomes of online polls or questions can be displayed.
e. The Glossary allows students to search by term, date, and author. It is a collection of items, rather than just a list of terms.
f. Lesson Modules are similar to a book and a quiz combined. It can deliver content and ask questions.
g. Moodle can interact with SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model), a set of technical standards for web-based e-learning. It is
meant to make learning management systems more user-friendly. For more information about SCORM, visit http://scorm.com/scormexplained/. Storyline and Articulate are SCORM packages that can be uploaded.
Page 10 of 26
h. Moodle offers results of student performance on quizzes. Instructors can give individualized feedback to students or provide canned
responses (good job, etc) offered within Moodle.
i.
Videos can be uploaded by teachers and students to Moodle. The files may be up to 5 gigabytes, although it may be best to limit the amount
of data students can upload.
j. In the Assignment Module, many types of files can be uploaded. Just click on the icons to upload files or video.
k. Moodle provides completion tracking – checks off activities or topics completed by students.
l. A teacher can go to Reports – Activity Completion to view the students’ level of productivity. Checked boxes indicate which assignments
have been completed.
IV.
Additional Moodle Functions
a. Moodle is open to importing content from other
However, some LMS may not allow their content to be
b. Moodle Docs provides a lot of online documentation
an alternative to some textbooks.
c. Moodle can be used for committee work, utilizing the
database, assignments (reports due), and file resources.
d. Moodle plays well on mobile devices (smart phones
e. It is possible to take attendance in several ways.
shares the students that are participating.
learning management systems (LMS).
imported. It depends on the LMS.
that is always current. This may provide
workshop (collaborative work), forums,
and ipad).
You can use a brief quiz or poll, which
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V.
f. There are TurnItIn plugins available for Moodle.
g. There are several custom themes available to design the look of your screen. You can create category themes and course level themes.
h. Some book publishers are beginning to create course content for Moodle.
Rubrics
a. Rubrics can be used for grading purposes. The function is built in to Moodle as a part of the Assignments Module.
b. Teachers can select an option to grade an assignment using a rubric. Then they can set up the criteria and instructions for the rubric.
Moodle, and Canvas Comments and Observations
After the demonstrations, the LMS subcommittee spent time exploring both Moodle and Canvas course shells. The general conclusion was the Canvas was
the most similar to Blackboard in terms of its structural design, and would likely be an easier transition for users if we migrated. The technology staff felt
that there would be a smaller learning curve for faculty with Canvas over Moodle. Moodle’s design is very different from Blackboard (and what FSU faculty
and students are accustomed to). And Canvas appears to offer more robust and innovative features (Speed Grader, mobile functionality, etc.)
Canvas versus Blackboard Comparisons
A comprehensive rubric was used to standardize the evaluations.
Instructions: First, define the “deal breakers” – those features which, if missing or inadequate, render a product useless to you. Then apply the “use case” approach
for each product you are considering: “What will be the quality of my experience?”
Score each as “Acceptable” “Unacceptable” or “Recommended”
Fair
Good
Pedagogical
design
Provides basic access to
organized materials but few
opportunities for interaction,
constructivist or engaging
methods.
Provides basic access to
content as well as tools for
engaging students, interactive
learning.
Excellent
Provides access to content that
integrates well with interactive
tools, and new pedagogical tools
are being routinely added to the
system.
Score
Score
Blackboard Canvas
Comments
A
Canvas provides the
speed grader-an effective
& easy tool to use; allows
creation of module
prerequisites &
sequential module
completion requirements;
A
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Design and
layout
Content
authoring
A
Functional interface with decent Good functional interface that
layout but somewhat complex
can be navigated with minimal
and counterintuitive.
training. Good look and feel.
Aesthetics are bland or
distracting.
A
Provides a basic means for
uploading and storing content
in a hierarchical manner to
support teaching and learning.
Allows basic content to be
uploaded or created within an
authoring system that is part of
the LMS.
R
Simple, intuitive interface with
minimal clicks to access
materials, little or no training
needed to get started, and the
look and feel is inviting.
A
Canvas has a minimalist
look with few options for
customization; defaulted
course menu items that
will not allow you to
customize the titles; there
are no course design
templates for
individuality or
customization. Canvas
provides a homepage,
which allows you to
create webpages to
customize, add pictures,
course links, & course
banners.
Blackboard allows faculty
to customize course menu
items and provides
several course template
designs.
Provides a suite of tools for
authoring media-rich content,
importing content, drag-anddrop interfaces, as well as
uploading rich content types
such as podcasts, video clips,
etc. Allows metadata creation
for easier/better management.
Page 13 of 26
Fair
Good
Excellent
Score
Score
Blackboard Canvas
A
Content
organization
LMS provides a basic
repository for course content.
LMS provides a repository for
content and basic tools for
content organization.
LMS provides a framework for
diverse storage and use
strategies, from public, private
and shared workspaces, to
subscription-based content
(e.g., podcasts and feeds) to
archival content.
Copyright
management
No specific tools for either
authoring or consuming
intellectual property.
A fixed set of copyright options
is available to the content
author.
Authors are given choices
(such as Creative Commons)
for their content, and
consumers (students) are
reminded of their
responsibilities.
Some archival tools but much
of the process is manual.
Archived courses are not
available to be viewed by the
instructor.
Good archival tools that support
backup of completed courses
with student submissions and
discussions intact. The LMS
administrator must set up
instructor access to the
completed course.
Powerful archive tools that
support automatic backup of
completed courses with student
submissions and discussions
intact. Instructors have full
access and control of
completed courses.
Both asynchronous (email) and
synchronous communication
tools are present.
LMS provides a high level of
flexibility for the use of email
(asynchronous by roster,
individual or group) as well as
instant messaging, chat and
threaded discussions.
Archives
Communication LMS provides secure access to
the email addresses that
comprise the class roster, but
individuals may not be
selectable for private email.
Comments
A
N/A
N/A
A
A
A
A
This feature was not
evaluated.
Blackboard allows for
email to be sent to one
or more course users.
Canvas has an internal
messaging & notification
setup and does not use
email for course
communications.
Page 14 of 26
Fair
Good
Excellent
Score
Score
Blackboard Canvas
A
File exchange
Sections and
groups
LMS provides secure drop-box
functionality so that students
can exchange materials with
instructors.
LMS provides drop-box and
ability for students and faculty
to upload resources to a central
course repository.
LMS provides secure dropboxes and shared folders for
file exchange among students
as well as instructors and
allows for bulk downloads of
attached files.
LMS allows instructors to
define sub-groups of students
within the class roster for
purposes of communication
and collaborative work.
LMS allows sub-groups but
allows the instructor the choice
of interacting with only the subgroup or the entire course in all
available tools.
LMS provides the hierarchy to
support sections within a single
course so that course content
is shared among sections.
Instructors can define subgroups of students which then
link to separate content
repositories and tools.
Basic tools allow students and
instructors to gather student
work products for assessment
and presentation.
Tools allow students and
instructors to create ad-hoc or
structured presentations of
resources.
A full-featured e-portfolio tool is
integrated into the LMS and
makes possible the gathering,
review and presentation of work
products to support any
portfolio strategy (resume,
learning, tenure, etc). Reporting
tools allow for individual,
departmental or institutional
assessments.
Adequate speed and
functionality with the ability to
attach files
Quick and functional with user Extremely fast and highly
profiles or pictures, file
functional with user profiles and
attachments and html interface. pictures, files attachments and
easy html interface.
A
A
A
N/A
E-portfolio
It’s an add on in Bb.
Wasn’t available in the
Canvas test site we used,
but is available in
Canvas.
A
Discussion
tools
Comments
A
Page 15 of 26
Fair
Good
Excellent
Score
Score
Blackboard Canvas
A
Testing and
assessment
tools
A simple test generator with the
ability to add multiple choice,
true/false, short answer and
essay questions.
More than a simple test
generator, this system provides
tools for creating assessments
with images or other attached
files.
Course
evaluations
Basic survey tools for capturing Anonymous evaluations that
student reflections on course,
can be gathered by the faculty
instructor
including question pools and
templates.
A
Hierarchical and flexible system
for anonymous evaluations at
course, department and
institutional level for either
summative or formative
purposes. Includes item pools,
templating, announcements,
reminders, and tools to easily
target different audiences.
A
Functional grade book that is
easy to use. Grades can be
exported to a spreadsheet.
Student tracking tools give the
instructor some information
about student progress.
A
More than a simple test
generator, this system provides
tools for creating assessments
with multimedia, learning
games, and other interactive
tools such as polls. Tests can
provide immediate feedback
with tips for remediation.
A
Moderately functional grade
book that is relatively easy to
Gradebook and
use. Minimal tools for student
student tracking
tracking.
Comments
A
Highly functional grade book
that is easy to use. Grades can
be exported to a spreadsheet
of student information system.
Student tracking tools give the
instructor information about
what pages the student has
viewed and what tasks have
been completed. The student
can be automatically emailed
when their participation is
substandard.
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Fair
Calendar and
selective
release
Good
Excellent
Score
Score
Blackboard Canvas
A
Basic calendar. Selective
release is possible but may be
cumbersome to set up.
Basic calendar with pop-up
announcements. Release of
course content and assessments
can be scheduled for student
access with moderate effort.
A
Allows shared access to files
Provides access to shared files
Collaboration among users and some tools
and some tools for
for asynchronous collaboration. asynchronous and
synchronous collaboration and
communication. Limited group
functionality.
A
Collaborative calendar with
pop-up announcements.
Release of course content and
assessments can be easily
scheduled for student access.
Comments
Canvas allows faculty to
record attendance,
provides: an enhanced
calendar feature that
record dates of
assignments and test.
A
Provides a campus-wide
framework that supports
collaborative work such as wiki
with version tracking, threaded
discussion, instant messaging
and chat, whiteboard, web
conferencing (audio and video).
Enables subgroups to be defined
within courses for collaboration.
Provides non- course sites to
support special project work
among small groups.
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A
Learning
analytics
Grades and basic statistics are
gathered for each learner, and
basic usage reports generated.
Grades, basic and fine-grained
statistics are gathered for each
learner, by course, by
department and across the
institution. Forensic reports are
available for resolving
controversies.
A
Provides in-depth data
gathering and reporting on
learning outcomes based on
configurable rubrics, and allows
for longitudinal analysis of
cohorts as well as individuals,
including eportfolios.
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Fair
Limited to no integration with
Integration with locally licensed library content.
library resources
Vision and
product
roadmap
The vendor or developer
community does not make
public their technical or
pedagogical vision for the LMS,
and the timing of future
releases may be unclear.
Good
Ability to create resources that
can be resolved to librarycontrolled databases.
Excellent
Score
Score
Blackboard Canvas
R
R
A
A
Comments
Tools are present that allow
faculty to find and reference
both public and licensed library
materials, including full texts.
Students are able to access
these materials once logged into
the system from any location.
Vision and roadmap are loosely
LMS vendor or developer
available via conferences or
community has published their
insider knowledge but not
vision for both the technical and
published for public view or
pedagogical aspects of the
critique.
product, and timing of releases
is clear and adhered to.
Canvas has no versions
and there is a regularly
scheduled upgrade
process with Beta
Testing, Heads Up and
Implementation of
various new features.
This means that changes
or functions might be
applied or removed
during the upgrades
also.
Because the app is Cloud
based, upgrades are
applied in the
background with no
noticeable downtime.
A
Email support only.
Support
Email support and limited
phone support.
R
24/7 phone and email support
with tracking system to follow
the progress of issue
resolution.
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Textbook
publisher
support
Training
materials
Some textbook materials but
difficult to find, request or
install.
Several supported texts with
good materials that can be
installed with moderate efforts.
Many supported texts, excellent
well-organized materials, easily
installed and based on industry
or community standards (e.g.,
Common Cartridge)
Fair printed materials, minimal
online training or classroom
training sessions available.
Good printed materials, some
online training or classroom
training sessions available.
Excellent printed materials and
many opportunities for online
and classroom training sessions.
A
R
A
A
Blackboard has many
converted publisher
content and test banks
that are compatible to
the Blackboard LMS.
Canvas, while test can be
converted using
Respondus, a lot of
publishers have not
added Canvas
compatible test banks.
This will be an issue for
faculty who rely on test
banks for assessments.
Page 20 of 26
Fair
Good
Excellent
Score
Score
Blackboard Canvas
A
Online help
resources
Use of open
standards
Speed of
system
Migration of
existing
courses
A users’ manual is accessible
online.
Help files are accessible at
each step of a process, and
system documentation is
accessible online.
Contextually-appropriate help
files are accessible from all
pages and provide assistance for
students, faculty and system
administrators as appropriate.
Pop-ups or rollovers provide
“just-in-time” information for
specific actions.
Standards are seen as a goal,
but the implementation of
standards is missing or
incomplete.
Open standards (IMS CP, QTI,
etc) are used in the LMS but are
incomplete or are built in
combination with proprietary
methods that create “product
lock-in” and inflexibility.
Open standards are
incorporated wherever
appropriate in the LMS and are
leveraged to provide as many
options as possible. No
proprietary components are
present that require separate
licensing or lock in data.
Course material access times
are adequate on high speed
connections but frustrating for
dial-up users.
Access times are very good for
students on high speed
connections and adequate for
dial-up users.
The fastest system available
with support for streaming
media and/or offline companion
materials to better serve dial-up
users.
Some migration tools exist but
the tools and documentation
are either inadequate or difficult
to use.
Good tools are provided and
well documented, but the
migrated material will need
additional formatting.
Excellent migration tools with
great documentation. All
migrated course materials are
ready to use.
Comments
A
R
A
R
A
A
A
Importing Blackboard
course content into a
Canvas site worked
pretty well, but there
will always need to be
“clean-up”.
Page 21 of 26
Fair
Good
Excellent
Permits course content to be
exported and reimported into
the LMS itself but may have
limited ability to export to
another LMS.
Allows course structure and
content to be exported but in
formats that constrain how the
exported content may be
imported elsewhere.
Exports course structure and
content, as well as selected subelements of a course, using an
industry-standard such as IMS
Content Packaging so that
courses can be imported into
another LMS.
Integration is possible but will
Integration with require a high level of product
customization.
Student
Information
System
Tools for integration are
available but some tasks will
need to be completed manually
or in a batch process.
Seamless integration with
automatic updating of student
and faculty lists and all rosters.
Students can be automatically
emailed course access
information. Student and
faculty profiles with pictures
and syllabi can be shared
between the LMS and the SIS.
Ability to batch load users from
Integration with
a campus central identity
Campus
system.
Authentication
Ability to batch load users but
also to integrate a campus
single sign-on system such as
CAS.
A real-time connection with a
campus central identity system
(LDAP, AD, Shibboleth) that
avoids the need for batch
processes. Integration with
campus single sign-on.
Course export
Score
Score
Blackboard Canvas
A
A
A
A
A
A
Comments
Blackboard allows for
Course Export & Course
Archive. Canvas only
has Course Export which
does not include student
interactions. If you
choose to “Conclude” a
course at the end of the
semester you cannot go
back to review student
interactions, so you
probably would not
want to Conclude any
courses and leave them
on the system
indefinitely.
Page 22 of 26
A
LMS is accessible through the
Integration with
campus portal but only by
campus portal linking that requires a separate
authentication by the user.
A
LMS is linked with the portal via
LMS and portal share single
single sign-on, but the only level sign-on and select tools can be
of integration possible is the
integrated with the portal via
iFrame.
industry-standard integrations
(JSR-168 or WSRP).
Page 23 of 26
Fair
Server
requirements
Scalability
Browser setup
and support
Good
LMS only operates on one
operating system and requires
special configurations of
hardware or supporting
software.
LMS is available on multiple
platforms but does not offer
compatibility with an
implementer’s choice of
application server or database.
LMS has no problem meeting
demands of a small institution
on a single server.
LMS supports clustering and the
ability for multiple servers to act
in unison, but there are few
installations supporting over a
thousand concurrent users.
Supports the most popular
browsers with end user set up
and installation of necessary
components. May have a
“preferred” browser for proper
operation.
Supports most browsers with
minimal effort from the user.
Excellent
Score
Score
Blackboard Canvas
Comments
Server software operates on a
wide variety of operating
systems (Windows, Linux/Unix,
Mac) using commodity
hardware and industrystandard web servers.
A
A
A
A
LMS clusters well and has
been known to support
installations well over ten
thousand concurrent users.
Supports all browsers and
platforms with no special setup
requirements for the user. Is
able to render the LMS
experience in most browsers
with consistency.
Page 24 of 26
Additional Comments: Bill Gibson, ITTS

In Canvas, the basic application is the same for ALL. By ALL, I mean that Canvas at Harvard or Northwestern would be no different as far as “use” than it would be at FSU.

I didn’t think the Canvas Discussion Board worked as well as Blackboard’s.

The Canvas LMS has a lower learning curve, but that is probably because it has less functionality than Blackboard and I think that some “power users” in Blackboard will be frustrated if
we go with Canvas. Will the Speed Grader save a bunch of time for faculty? I don’t know. Will more faculty use the audio/video commentary functions? I don’t know.
Bonnie Grohe, OFD and Department of Criminal Justice
Faculty Perspective

I copied a course from Blackboard into the Canvas environment with minimal difficulty. There was a little bit of clean up, but not much. I then set about to design my course: organizing
modules, modifying dates for assignments, creating video announcements for the first day of class, making sure all links were operational, etc. I conducted all of the tasks I would in
preparation for a new semester, until the course was complete and ready to make available.

I also posted replies in the discussion area, commented on assignment submissions and an exam. The speed grader was really easy to use and made grading and leaving feedback very
efficient. I was able to provide written feedback, audio and video feedback within the Speed Grader function.

I found Canvas to be very user friendly and easy to navigate. I had received no formal training at this point, and was able to figure almost everything out on my own. There were a
couple of things I wouldn’t necessarily consider deal breakers, but possibly problematic and frustrating for our students and faculty.
o
Even though it was easy to record and upload videos into an announcements area, I couldn’t figure out how to embed them. It was not intuitive what to click on to play the
video, and it took multiple clicks to do it. I could see this being frustrating for students.
o
The second thing I didn’t like was the Content Modules on the left side of the page. All of my content came over in one folder, and I couldn’t figure out how to move documents
like the syllabus, external links, online course tutorials, etc. into their own folder. Instead, all of my course documents were included in the same folder as my course
modules/content. That was too much information and required a lot of scrolling.
Student Perspective
I logged into my course as a student and navigated around with minimal difficulty. I also posted in the discussion area, submitted an assignment and completed an exam. Student training
materials must be created from the students’ perspective to ensure that the transition will be as smooth as possible for them should we transition to Canvas.
Shunta’ Hailey, Office of Faculty Development



Canvas is a very user friendly LMS. Faculty and students will be able to pick up quite quickly on navigation and the Canvas Interface.
Course migration from Blackboard to Canvas is fairly easy to do, but it does throw some content out of order, which will require faculty to do a bit of clean up in their courses.
There will be a learning curve for faculty, but with adequate training and a sufficient timeline, faculty will find the LMS user-friendly. Canvas offers some great features and can possibly
enhance student learning.
James Heard, Office of Faculty Development
If it is indeed necessary to switch to a new LMS then I would recommend Canvas. In my opinion it is the closest LMS to Blackboard in terms of the user interface and features. This will reduce the
learning curve for faculty while making the transition. Not only that but the import feature seems to work pretty well. That will also help reduce the time needed for faculty to transfer their
classes to the new system. Overall Canvas seems to have many of the most common tools found in Blackboard, so most of the faculty will be able to teach using the same teaching styles and
methods they did before. My final recommendation is that if we truly do need to switch then we should choose Canvas as our new LMS.
Page 25 of 26
Conclusions and Recommendations
When presented with an option to pilot test two alternatives to Blackboard to determine if we should migrate, FSU Faculty representatives said they
were not interested in participating in such a process. Rather, they preferred to let the “LMS experts” make the decision, and if the decision was made to
migrate to a new LMS, ensure that enough time was allocated to train and prepare for the transition. Therefore, a small group of people from ITTS and
OFD evaluated the features of Canvas carefully and compared them to Blackboard. It must be stressed, that reviewing features is not the same as using an
LMS in real time, with real students in real courses. To inform the recommendations for this report, members of the LMS subcommittee reviewed
documents, reports and other materials from institutions conducting LMS evaluations of Blackboard and Canvas (UNCG, Northwestern University,
University of Wisconsin system, Indiana University, and Pasadena College).
Migrating to another Learning Management System is a major undertaking for any institution. It takes a great deal of time to ensure that all aspects of the
transition are conducted as effectively as possible. The members of this committee have not seen the financial information involved in migrating to
Canvas, but if migrating to Canvas will save FSU a significant amount of money, we feel it is a comparable alternative to Blackboard. It is imperative to
stress that the add-ons and functionality included with the costs of Canvas must be equal to or greater than what we currently have in Blackboard. An eportfolio system, mobile application, learning analytics and web conferencing/collaborative tools, etc. should be available for faculty and students.
Undoubtedly, there would be a learning curve for faculty and students, but with sufficient time to prepare; we feel FSU can make this transition as smooth
as possible for the campus community.
References
Indiana University. Canvas Recommendation Report. Retrieved from the Indiana University website: http://next.iu.edu/reports/index.php
Northwestern University. Canvas Recommendation Report. Retrieved from the Northwestern University website:
http://www.it.northwestern.edu/bin/docs/The-Canvas-Recommendation-Report_4-10-2014.pdf
University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Learning Management System Pilot Resources. Retrieved with permission from the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro website: http://hhs.uncg.edu/wordpress/oap/uncg-lms-pilot-resources/
University of Wisconsin System. Canvas Final Report. Retrieved from the University of Wisconsin website:
http://www.wisconsin.edu/olit/luwexec/projects/CanvasFinalReport.pdf