Have you ever had a professor that hated Blackboard so much, they just did not use it, or opted to use OneDrive or another platform instead? It is more than likely that you have heard a professor or student complain about their frustrations and difficulties with Blackboard, during your time at WSU Vancouver.
For some students, logging into their Blackboard account prompted the realization that their classes were not appearing on the platform. This issue is causing WSU faculty to consider an alternative online experience: Canvas.
The current contract WSU has with Blackboard ends late spring and this has prompted WSU to consider what is best for students and faculty who use these platforms daily.
According to Michelle Eccles, manager of information technology at WSU Vancouver, there have been many discussions on whether to stick with Blackboard or not.
Eccles said, to see whether Canvas is a better option than Blackboard, WSU Pullman and Vancouver faculty are running “pilots” during the fall semester with a small list of classes through Canvas.
According to Eccles, WSU is able to use Canvas because of a state license. She said WSU started the pilot over the summer across all campuses and are continuing now.
“Pilot courses are being run to figure out what does work, what has issues and what are some of the more complex things that need to be integrated,” Eccles said. “For example, myWSU is integrated directly with Blackboard. You sign up for a course in myWSU and then it shows up in Blackboard as a course.”
Michael Caulfield, director of blended and network learning at WSU Vancouver, is involved in the decision making process for this potential switch.
“There’s been a number of problems with Blackboard,” he said. “Particularly around some roster issues that caused us to take a close look at whether we thought Canvas would solve those particular problems.”
For now, Caulfield reported that Blackboard will remain in operation throughout this school year. In the meantime, the committee that will make this decision will be analyzing what Caulfield called “two levels.”
“The first [consideration] is, does it solve the systemic problems we’ve been having on the backend of [Blackboard]. The second is, does Canvas provide an equivalent or better experience for students and faculty,” Caulfield said.
As for what might prompt WSU to stay with Blackboard, Caulfield says it comes down to whether or not Canvas can solve these campus-wide issues. “We’re going to make the decision based on the data we get back from the students and the faculty from the pilot.”
Brody Voge is a junior at WSU Vancouver studying strategic communications.
Sounds like a great idea to me!
As a transfer student from Clark College, I have used both Blackboard and Canvas. I prefer Canvas for a number of reasons (from a user perspective). Specifically, the grade page, notification system, and class modules on Canvas tend to be easier to use or include technical features Blackboard does not. There is also a messaging center and a list of classmates, which makes it tremendously easier to contact others in your class. In general, I would be all for a switch! Canvas wins on many levels.
I transferred to WSUV from Western Washington, where we also used Canvas. I was pretty stupid as a freshman and really didn’t take advantage of the awesome portal we had. Blackboard has become a real struggle to use. Whenever I try to upload multiple files to an assignment submission, my whole browser goes bonkers! Not cool man!