Correction Appended: A previous version of this article said Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service will move programs to Canvas in Spring 2025. The article is updated to Summer 2025 as per a source error.
Canvas made its second-year return to Ohio University as the campus adjusts from the prior learning management system, Blackboard.
OU announced the switch from Blackboard Learn to Canvas April 27, 2023, in hopes of a more modern, user-friendly system to enhance the learning experience.
Canvas is now “fully live” with more than 3,000 courses utilizing the new system, Senior Director for Teaching and Learning Systems Eszti Major-Rohrer, said. Only 600 courses remain on Blackboard.
According to the Canvas Learning Management System Implementation page, the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Business, the OHIO Honors Program, Regional Higher Education, Russ College of Engineering and Technology, Scripps College of Communication, and University College have moved all programs to Canvas as of Fall 2024.
“We're hearing really great feedback from students, and that makes sense because we picked Canvas because it was a more intuitive, friendly, student-facing system,” Sarah Poggione, vice provost for undergraduate education, said. “At the same time, it makes it a little bit more difficult for faculty because the transition from Blackboard is really sort of a different configuration, different way of thinking.”
Major-Rohrer said although it is still early, feedback from students and professors has been good so far.
“Very soon, we'll be able to publish some results and official feedback too, but so far, fingers crossed, everything looks good,” Major-Rohrer said.
The Office of Information and Technology, or OIT, has partnered with the Office of Instructional Design, or OID, and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment, or CTLA, to help students and staff smoothly transition into Canvas. Each office created resources for both groups to help the experience.
“We have been also telling students and faculty to use Canvas support, which is 24/7, so if someone runs into an issue very late at night, Canvas support is available, chat, email, phone call,” Major-Rohrer said.
Chief Information Officer Chris Ament said that many professors and instructors have also used this opportunity to redesign courses, improving their students' education experience.
“It's a great opportunity for them to rethink things, think about how to make it a little bit more streamlined, modernized, friendlier format, and really sort of take that time to sort of contemplate what they've been doing in courses,” Poggione said. “They're taking the opportunity to really sort of rethink, redesign some aspects of their course.”
Phase 1 began in the 2023-24 spring semester, with 90 courses and 55 faculty members implementing Canvas, according to a previous report done by The Post.
“Phase 1 really gave us a lot of great information and good insights, but now it's such a broader spectrum of classes and students,” Poggione said. “I think we'll learn a lot after this particular semester.”
Come spring 2025, OHIO Online, the College of Fine Arts, the College of Health Sciences and Professions and the Patton College of Education will move their programs to Canvas.
“Spring is another big semester for us, with a lot of courses in fine arts, for example, and Voinovich school going live, OHIO online continues to push out courses,” Major-Rohrer said. “I think the next two semesters, we'll see lots of movement to Canvas, and then hopefully, a year from now, it's all in.”
Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service will move programs to Canvas in Summer 2025.
Spring 2026 will be the last chance for professors to save any material from Blackboard. Blackboard will be fully retired in June 2026.
