Canvas FAQ

Blackboard Original is set to be retired soon and the new product (Blackboard Ultra) is not adequate for the needs of Valpo faculty and students.

Canvas is the number one Learning Management System in North America and provides superior service and functionality. Their forward-thinking model of supporting teaching and learning will serve Valpo well into the future.

The implementation of Canvas will be cost neutral, while providing a suite of new features, services, support, and functionality for Valpo faculty, staff, and administrators.

Some of these include:

• Canvas Studio (Lecture Capture)
• Turnitin
  • Originality/Plagiarism
  • Authorship (Third-Party Writing)
  • Draft Coach (Student Plugin)
  • AI Detection
• Canvas Commons (User-Shared Content)
• 24/7 Administrative Support
• Tier 1 Faculty/Student Support (24/7)
  • Email, Chat, Phone
• Canvas Guides (Online Help)

Yes, Canvas, IT, CITAL, and the Registrar’s office will be working to make the transition as seamless as possible. Existing courses can either be migrated by Canvas and/or CITAL or faculty can choose to work with CITAL to redesign their courses to maximize use of the new LMS.

Canvas will be available for faculty to opt-in beginning in July 2024 for the Fall Term. Faculty should consult their dean or department chair about transitioning to Canvas in case there are upcoming dedicated professional development opportunities. Once the decision to transition has been made, please complete the following form to have your courses imported into the system:

Canvas Course Migration Request

Once you log in to Canvas, you can create new courses immediately to test out and explore the system. You will see the courses that have been imported for you, but also have ability to create a sandbox or standalone course following these instructions:

Creating a New Course

While faculty are encouraged to adopt and transition to Canvas as soon as possible, this will not be required until Summer of 2025. Valpo’s current Blackboard contract is effective until July 1, 2025. Beginning with Summer classes that year, all faculty will need to be in the new system.

CITAL will be collaborating with the Registrar, Provost’s Office, and IT to make communication about where to go as clear as possible. Some examples could be a customized landing portal for LMS access, notes in Colleague for classes and their LMS taught in.

Yes, Valpo will be using Simple Syllabus with a much more robust integration. You can find more information at the link below: https://simplesyllabus.com/canvas-syllabus/