Bye, Bye Blackboard. Canvas Coming Soon

By Isabelle Guthrie | Published February 13, 2023

When students and faculty arrive at Kean University in Fall 2023, they will use a new online Learning Management System called Canvas that is replacing Blackboard, in use since 2005.

Ironically, after years of complaints about technical difficulties with Blackboard –  issues that were heightened during the pandemic when Kean went remote – the switch to Canvas is not universally welcomed.  

While many celebrate the end of the clunky Blackboard system, some students and professors interviewed say they have grown comfortable with it and are concerned about learning a new system.  

Gabriela Melgar, a junior at Kean majoring in marketing, prefers Blackboard but said that she is open to the idea of learning how to navigate Canvas and can see herself getting used to it.

“I definitely prefer Blackboard only because I am much more comfortable with it,” Melgar said. “I know where everything is, but Canvas is definitely a site that I can see myself getting used to and liking.”

Melgar is not the only student who prefers Blackboard over Canvas. Za’ree Neal, a Kean junior majoring in business, also prefers Blackboard, even with past experiences with Canvas. 

“It’s not my first time using Canvas and it’s easy to use. I would prefer Blackboard honestly, but that’s because I have been using it for a while now and I am used to it,” Neal said. 

Faculty members were given the opportunity to adopt Canvas as early as Fall 2022 by using it to upload lectures, assignments and the class syllabus.

Melgar’s professor gave Canvas a try for this semester. 

“My professor that is using Canvas actually explained to the class why she chose Canvas. She basically said that since Kean is transferring to Canvas next semester, she wanted to help us get familiarized with it and get used to it. That way next semester it’s not hard for us because we will already know how to use it,” Melgar said.

Billy Notté, a junior student majoring in business management, who also has past experiences using Canvas, prefers Blackboard. 

“I used Canvas in high school so it’s not new to me and it’s overall easy to navigate through everything. I prefer Blackboard because I’ve gotten so used to using it in college and it’s a little more simplistic than Canvas,” Notté said. 

Linda Davis, a graduate in fine arts at Kean, prefers Canvas. She also used it before and found it more useful.

“It was easy. I also used it as the teacher, as I was a Teacher Assistant. Canvas is more user friendly and has less bugs, especially when using it as the instructor,” Davis said.

When Kean University made the announcement on switching to Canvas, they offered early access to teach courses through Canvas during the Fall 2022 term. Some professors jumped at the opportunity, while some stuck to the platform they know best. 

Alexandria Ward, Adjunct Instructor in the Communication, Media, and Journalism Department at Kean, currently uses Blackboard for her classes.

“I am currently using Blackboard because it is the platform that has been used for many years within the Communications Department at Kean. I am aware of the switch that will be mandatory from Blackboard to Canvas in the Fall of 2023, but I am comfortable with using this platform until that change becomes mandatory,” Ward said.

Ward would rather wait until the switch becomes mandatory, considering that it has been used for many years. 

“I was not trained in using Blackboard, however, I was comfortable with the platform because I have used it for my undergraduate and graduate studies as a student. I believe Blackboard is effective in keeping the course organized and allowing for students and faculty to keep track of student assignment submissions and grades,” Ward said.

President Lamont O. Repollet Ed.D. sent an announcement via email to the Kean Community last semester announcing the new LMS along with explaining the switch from Blackboard to Canvas.  

“Blackboard has been Kean’s LMS since 2005. It was the dominant player in the market at that time but has been steadily losing ground to competitors in the years since. Criticisms range widely, but most have to do with the complexity of the interface, the quality of support, and the difficulty of performing even routine actions. Similar concerns were voiced at Kean as well,” Repollet said.

It came down to two alternatives: Brightspace and Canvas, according to Repollet’s message. 

The LMS Task Force conducted its work during the balance of 2020 to 2021 to see which platform was best to use.

“The results were clear. Among all constituencies and on almost every LMS-based task, Canvas came out on top. Brightspace was in second place. Blackboard, even in its newest iteration, was a distant third,” Repollet said. 

The website, Instructure Community, defines Canvas as “a web-based learning management system, or LMS. It is used by learning institutions, educators, and students to access and manage online course learning materials and communicate about skill development and learning achievement. Canvas includes a variety of customizable course creation and management tools, course and user analytics and statistics, and internal communication tools.”

On Kean University’s website, a link includes a guide to using Canvas to help learn Canvas. A series of video instructions is also available.

The switch to Canvas may not be everyone’s preference, but the university says it is a switch for the better. Blackboard has caused issues in the past, and  Canvas, for the most part, is easy to use and seems to be a platform to trust and grow to love.

---