Saint Mary's Transition From Moodle to Canvas

Hello colleagues,

Earlier this spring the Provost communicated the college’s decision to transition from Moodle to Canvas as the school’s Learning Management System. Here are the following official start dates: First, early on-boarding training and course shell access within Canvas will begin in Spring 2023, and continue through the academic year. Second, the launch date for Canvas as the official campus LMS will start Fall 2023. Lastly, Moodle will remain supported by the campus through Spring 2024. 

It will be the role of the Committee on Educational Technology (CET) and EdTech to communicate the exciting opportunities that this transition means for pedagogies—hybrid, remote, and in-person—and to provide the necessary guidance and support to help make the shift as seamless as possible. In that spirit, the CET is excited to share the experiences of some “early adopters” of the Canvas platform.

Assoc. Professor of Teacher Education Mary Raygoza transitioned one of her well-established Moodle courses, Humanizing Education Methods, over to Canvas. She was delighted and relieved that doing so was intuitive, took her just a few clicks, and was possible in less than 10 minutes. She discusses the seamless transition in this short video.

Physics and Astronomy Professor Aaron Lee had never used Canvas and wanted to see how hard it would be to create a course from scratch. He was happy to find the number of resources available in Canvas allowed him to get a simple site up and running in less than 30 minutes. He highlights some of the features he discovered and liked in this short video. 

To learn more about the Canvas Learning Management System, you can visit the Instructure website here. 

If you have questions about Canvas, or want to learn more about the transition, please email your inquiries to the Office of Educational Technology at edtech@stmarys-ca.edu. 
 

Sincerely,

The Committee on Educational Technology

Aaron Lee

Francisco Chavez

James Johnson

Jason Jakaitis

Lauren MacDonald

Linda Herkenhoff

Lydia Greer

Mary Raygoza

Michael Viola

Sarah Speron