Instructors

The University of Alberta is on a two-year journey to implement a learning management system (LMS) of the future. This new Canvas LMS will gradually replace Moodle (also known as eClass) by Fall 2025, affecting most student-facing courses (excluding eClass external).

Three key factors are driving the urgency of this change:

• System reliability - too many of our instructors, students and support teams have been impacted by system outages and delayed software updates with our current learning management system, which takes focus away from positive moments of impact

• Sustainability - our current learning management system cannot support the wider range of learning experiences we want to design and deliver, combined with heavy system maintenance needs that are out of balance with the free cost of access

• Reputation - as a top-tier university, we are the last of the English-language U15 institutions to upgrade our learning management system, which is an important factor in how we attract and retain people, including students

Yes, Moodle is an open-source learning management system that is available for free to access, but the cost of operating is not. While we don't incur any licensing costs for Moodle, we do incur costs for system hosting, support, custom development, additional features and plug-ins. 

Moving to a vendor-supported LMS with Canvas allows the university to benefit from seamless software updates, always-on system reliability, 24/7 enhanced support, access to a large team of experts, and built-in development of new features, all integrated with our on-campus support and IST operations. These are many of the same benefits that have contributed to the widespread adoption of a vendor-supported LMS approach across the U15.

Two key aspects of your instructor experience are not changing with the switch to a new LMS with Canvas:

• Same on-campus support as your single point of contact during standard business hours for all LMS support needs (Moodle eClass or Canvas), with people who know you and how our university runs as they help you get the right 24/7 vendor support

• Independence to choose your preferred pedagogical approach with a wider range of instructional tools in Canvas

This is a university-wide change, meaning almost everyone may be impacted in some way. Across all groups who use Moodle, instructors and students will be most impacted in how learning is designed and delivered. IST will also be affected as they continue to be the first point of contact for all LMS support needs (Canvas and Moodle) during and after the transition to a new vendor-supported LMS.

To minimize the disruption to people during this widespread change, the new Canvas LMS is being rolled out in three waves by Fall 2025, starting with some courses in Fall 2024. This phased approach is more complex to deliver compared to a big bang all at once, which reflects our commitment to making the people experience our first priority on this change journey. Instructors will be scheduled for onboarding by faculty, with more details and timing announced after March 2024.

Activities such as town halls and drop-ins during various meetings have been underway since September 2023. As the project continues through 2025, we’re actively engaging with groups across our university communities. These groups include the General Faculties Council, Committee on the Learning Environment, Deans/Chairs Council, as well as our special LMS Advisory group who represent the interests of our instructors and students.

The U of A community including students have been involved in the selection of the vendor of the new LMS (Canvas), announced February 26, 2024. Vendor demonstrations by the final list of RFP respondents were shared in December, with sessions recorded for all Faculty/staff or students who were unable to attend. Feedback was gathered by December 12, 2023 for consideration by the vendor selection team.

If you wish to be involved during the project, please share feedback to help us improve the launch and landing experience.

The approach for data migration from Moodle to Canvas is crucial to minimizing disruption to people during and after this change. Our RFP selection process includes requirements for our new Canvas LMS vendor partner to manage this process behind the scenes with minimal impact to instructors who control the design and delivery of courses, and to students who keep track of their assignments and grades.

The details of the migration plan will be developed with our Canvas partner through May 2024, including expertise from our IST team on existing LMS usage and data requirements. More details on the migration plan will be released as they become available. 

Technical support from IST and our new Canvas vendor partner will be prioritized to minimize disruptions to the people who design and deliver courses during the switch from Moodle to Canvas by Fall 2025, starting with some courses in Fall 2024.

As the migration plan is developed through May 2024, course owners will be able to provide input on how and when their courses are moved. Course owners will also have access to onboarding support, a test environment, and simple checklists on activating their courses prior to launch, including support to prepare their students.

No. People will continue to have access to necessary information. The plan for accessing legacy Moodle content is part of the detailed migration plan developed through March 2024, in partnership with IST and our new Canvas LMS vendor. Along with migration of priority content from Moodle for select courses being delivered in three waves starting Fall 2024, guidelines will be defined for access to historical data before and after Moodle is phased out, affecting most student-facing courses (excluding eClass External) by Fall 2025. More details will be provided as they become available.

Given the complexities of such a large transformation from our current LMS to Canvas, we are running both Canvas and Moodle (eClass) in parallel for the first two years, and placing Moodle into read-only mode for all credit and non-credit catalogue courses by Fall 2025. This sunset strategy allows for a three-stage transition to our new normal with Canvas. Once course creators are onboarded into Canvas, they will effectively stop creating new content in Moodle. That said, instructors will still have access to their course content in Moodle (read-only) under the current archive policy.

If you're an instructor who is interested in joining Canvas Wave 1 (early adopters), consider completing this form checklist (Am I ready for Canvas Wave 1?) to learn about requirements for each wave. Your contact information is used by the LMS project team to help us understand the volume of interest as launch timing preferences are determined by each Faculty.

Canvas experts led instructors through hands-on practice in the U of A sandbox at the Sneak Peek event May 7-9, 2024. Topics range from the basics of navigation to communication tools, student groups and collaboration, interactive video in the Studio media platform, and more. View the full list of topics and agendas plus the link to watch recordings. This was the first of a series of learning workshops that will be hosted prior to each wave, with more details coming in June.

Starting May 6, 2024, any instructor or support staff involved in creating courses can try out Canvas in the U of A sandbox, including access to the online Canvas training portal. Simply follow these steps:

1. Go to canvas.ualberta.ca

2. Enter your CCID and password

3. Start exploring the U of A Canvas sandbox and course template

4. Instructors should review this guide to learn additional details about the new template

5. We recommend you take 30 minutes to watch step-by-step videos on setting up your course in Canvas

6. Need technical support? Contact eclass@ualberta.ca

Instructors can begin developing content in their sandbox anytime after the Canvas Sneak Peek (May 7, 2024), regardless of which wave their courses will launch. Guidelines include how to request additional sandboxes for any other course construction requirements. For Wave 1 early adopters delivering credit courses in Canvas for Fall 2024, content built in sandboxes will be transferable to live credit courses with student enrollments after the full launch on July 1, 2024.

Course creators using Canvas for Fall 2024 courses can follow this 5-point checklist to get started now:

1. Login to your Canvas sandbox at canvas.ualberta.ca with your CCID 

Your sandbox can be used to stage your new Canvas courses before the Fall launch. Refer to this guide for more details, including how to request additional sandboxes if you are staging multiple courses.

2. Get familiar with the in-app Canvas training portal

Learn how to get started with Canvas on-demand learning resources including in-app tutorials, videos, announcements, and more.

3. Learn how to set up your Canvas course in 30 minutes or less

This short video series from the Instructure Community walks you through the basics for quickly setting up a course in Canvas.

4. Optional: Watch Canvas Sneak Peek recordings

These recordings offer a deeper dive into key concepts taught by Canvas experts at the U of A Festival of Teaching and Learning in May 2024.

5. Need technical support? Contact eclass@ualberta.ca 

Our top priority is getting you ready to use Canvas. As part of your onboarding experience, in-person and virtual Canvas learning opportunities will be offered in August 2024 in time for Wave 1 (Fall 2024 term). This series of sessions will be repeated again before Wave 2 (Winter 2025 term) and Wave 3 (Fall 2025 term). Anyone can join the August sessions, regardless of which wave you’ll be teaching in Canvas. Watch for more details coming soon.

Yes! Faculty and staff who create co-curricular learning opportunities will soon be able to stage courses in their Canvas sandbox. Co-curricular learning opportunities are for internal audiences, require a CCID to enrol, and do not require payment. Examples of co-curricular learning opportunities include: training needed for a cohort of students, student pre-laboratory access training, internal faculty and staff training and professional development. More information on how to set these up will be provided soon.