Canvas, which becomes Illinois State University’s official learning management system (LMS) in the fall, shares many similarities to ReggieNet. But as instructors prepare to teach with this new system, they will undoubtedly notice some important differences between the two. More to the point: Instructors may need to shift how they approach their teaching.
Besides looking cleaner and more modern, Canvas has undergone improvement at a greater rate than Sakai, the open-source engine behind ReggieNet. While both systems meet the same overall need—providing a digital space for learning—Canvas has taken a slightly different (and more deliberate) evolutionary path. Here are five important differences instructors will notice when comparing the two.
There’s an app
Actually, there are two apps, one for teachers and one for students. Having an app for the LMS has been a top request by students, something that was never really achievable with ReggieNet. The Canvas app experience will allow students to stay more connected with their learning, more informed about what’s due when, and in better contact with their professors and other students in their classes. While the app is not recommended for some learning activities in Canvas (taking a quiz or writing an essay, for example), it does represent an important step towards “meeting students where they live,” in terms of the technology they’re already using every day.
The inbox and notifications
The app, and the desire to provide students with a more integrated experience overall, means that Canvas takes a different approach to communication. It’s an approach that some instructors will find jarring.
For years, ReggieNet offered faculty members a choice of two tools in which to communicate with students: The messages tool, which required all users to sign into ReggieNet, and the email tool, which allowed instructors to send messages from ReggieNet directly to students’ campus email address. Both of these tools were tied to individual courses. Usage was split about 50-50 among Illinois State instructors.
Canvas works differently. The Inbox is a global communication tool tied to users’ accounts, not individual courses. Through this tool, instructors can view, manage, and send messages to individual students or groups of people. It cannot be turned off. This is, again, because one important goal is to provide students with a consistent learning experience across their courses. Instructors can read more about how to effectively use the Inbox in this Canvas help article.
The inbox (and the related announcements tool) works hand-in-hand with the notification settings in Canvas. Notifications can be configured to send users emails or push to their mobile devices. Users cannot be forced to receive email notifications, so instructors should encourage students to configure notifications at the beginning of each semester. In addition, there is a workaround for instructors who want to send announcements to students’ email regardless of how the student has their notifications set.
The dashboard
Whereas users would navigate between courses pinned to the top of the screen in ReggieNet, Canvas offers a different experience. Many, but not all, courses live on the Dashboard. The dashboard is the first page users see when logging in through Canvas.IllinoisState.edu, and it can be accessed at any time using the link in the main navigation.
By default, courses appear as cards in the dashboard. This view is highly customizable, allowing you to display favorite courses, give courses nicknames, and even color code them. The dashboard will display up to 20 cards (i.e., courses) at a time. Users can find other courses, or mark courses as favorites so they appear on the dashboard, by going to courses > all courses in the main navigation. Check out this help article for more on how to use the dashboard as an instructor.
Files
Another noticeable difference between ReggieNet and Canvas is how files are stored and how much space is allocated per course.
ReggieNet’s now-outdated design required any files that students could access (documents, PowerPoint presentations, media files, etc.) be stored in the resources tool for that course. As a result, ReggieNet courses became bloated over time, from a data storage standpoint. In addition, when ReggieNet was first adopted, it was common practice for instructors to upload videos directly into the Resources tool. Better options are now available.
In Canvas, the files tool is much more sophisticated. It allows you to upload content once and share it with students across multiple courses and multiple semesters. In addition, Canvas Studio is a built-in video platform which does not count against course file storage totals. It provides the added benefit of some interactive features and the ability to display captions.
The overall storage capacity of Canvas courses is smaller than ReggieNet. If instructors need to share big files, they should do so using their Illinois State OneDrive account.
Canvas Studio
As mentioned above, Canvas Studio replaces the different ways instructors could share videos in ReggieNet. Many instructors at Illinois State used Microsoft Stream Classic to store videos that are later linked or embedded in their ReggieNet course sites. With the adoption of Canvas and changes being made by Microsoft, instructors will have to use Canvas studio, instead of Stream, beginning in fall 2023.
Canvas Studio also brings a lot of features not found in ReggieNet. Both faculty members and students can record their webcams and screens. Students can record and submit videos for their assignments and participate in video discussions. Instructors can create video-based announcements, lesson materials, discussion forums, assignments, and provide audio and video feedback for student assignments. Instructors can also embed quiz questions within videos and view how long students watch videos. Canvas Studio also provides closed captioning for videos and simple editing tools.
To get started using Canvas Studio, check out these guides to transitioning your video files to Canvas Studio and how to record and edit video in Canvas Studio.
Honorable mentions
There are, of course, other functional differences between ReggieNet and Canvas, some of which are being tracked by the Technology Support Center. Canvas’ modules and pages replace ReggieNet’s lessons tool. And many of ReggieNet’s gradebook functions are instead controlled in Canvas from tools like assignments or quizzes.
The bottom line: Learning to teach with a new set of tools like Canvas will take a little practice. Even the most seasoned and experienced instructor should expect tasks to take a little longer, and questions to come up more frequently, especially for the first semester.
Get help
When those questions arise, you don’t have to try and answer them alone. Extensive teaching support is available on the Center for Integrated Professional Development’s Canvas Instructional Support pages.
The Center’s support team is available to assist instructors and staff Monday—Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at ProDev@ilstu.edu or (309) 438-2542.
Instructors should send their students to the Technology Support Center (TSC) for assistance using Canvas. The TSC can assist all users on campus with basic technology concerns, like logging into Canvas or installing mobile apps.
