Following a semester of controversy, Blackboard is getting wiped and Canvas is emerging as the college’s new course management system (CMS). Early feedback has been favorable.

Emily Morissette, director of paralegal program, said she volunteered to pilot Canvas.

“At first, I didn’t want to transition to Canvas as I have used several different versions of Blackboard and felt it was meeting my students needs,” she said. “When I started in Canvas, it was a little difficult for me to get into the different ways Canvas does things from Blackboard. As I work more and more in Canvas, I’m liking it more and more.”

Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, said Morissette.

“When I asked the students if they wanted me to go back to Blackboard or stay with Canvas, only one student stated he preferred Blackboard,” she said. “The students let me know that they really like the Canvas format and that many of them are used to Canvas, either from high school or from another college. That, to me, makes the transition worth it.”

Somer Meade, a sociology professor, agreed.

“I’ve been teaching online at SWC for almost nine years,” she said. “I’ve also taught in other course management systems and Canvas is superior to them all.”

Meade said the change was worthwhile.

“I don’t think it’s possible to have a major transition like this without a hiccup or two, but by and large it has gone smoothly,” she said. “Probably the most important thing that I can do on Canvas that I really struggled with in Blackboard was make every single aspect of my course accessible with very little effort. Students don’t have to open file after file to get the course information, they just open the module and it’s all there.”

Luis Sandoval, 20 and a sociology student of Meade, said he likes Canvas so far.

“I find Canvas to be much better than Blackboard and also much more effective,” he said. “I have had problems with Blackboard in the past and to the present day I have yet to have any problems or issues with Canvas.”

Tracy Schaelen, SWC’s distance education faculty coordinator, said she expects to be fully integrated and used exclusively by summer 2018.