FAQs - What...
How will the new learning platform improve the student experience?
There are several changes that the new learning platform will introduce that we think will be positive for students. These include:
What features does Canvas have to make it better than what we have now?
Canvas will be connected to supporting tools to create an integrated digital learning platform. This includes familiar current tools such as Panopto, TurnItIn, and Talis, but also some new tools which we think are quite exciting. These include:
Who will be impacted by this project?
What opportunities for involvement or influence will I have as an academic or teacher during course migration?
My students have started to ask questions about the new LMS. What can I tell them, or where can I direct them to more information for students?
If I need help/access to Blackboard during 2023, will CAD still be able to help me?
There are several changes that the new learning platform will introduce that we think will be positive for students. These include:
- more flexible, engaging, and interactive user interfaces
- better accessibility and usability on mobile devices such as phone and tablets, as well as traditional laptops and desktop computers
- more accessible and equitable, with better tools to support students with learning disabilities, English as a Second Language, international students, and students studying remotely
- inbuilt help for using the new platform; and
- the functional ability to amend, add to, and extend the learning platform we use for teaching. By integrating more tools, gathering more data and being able to make changes that keep pace with changing needs we can provide our students with a quality and future focused learning environment.
What features does Canvas have to make it better than what we have now?
Canvas will be connected to supporting tools to create an integrated digital learning platform. This includes familiar current tools such as Panopto, TurnItIn, and Talis, but also some new tools which we think are quite exciting. These include:
- Ally, which enables accessibility by checking and offers suggestions on course functionality and design for differently abled users
- Impact, which is an integrated desktop assistant for just-in-time help and tips for using Canvas
- Badgr Pro and Portfolium, which will enable users to collate their informal learning across programmes and degrees, and to share badges recognizing their success on their CVs and professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn; and
- Gradematter (to be piloted first, and if accepted, delivered toward the end of the project), which will eventually help to eliminate some manual spreadsheets and improve workflow and data accuracy around grade moderation and submission processes.
Who will be impacted by this project?
- Every student and member of staff at Te Herenga Waka will be impacted in some way by this project.
- For students, and particularly undergraduates, this will be the new platform through which they will access their courses, complete course modules, submit assignments, and communicate with their teachers and peers.
- For staff involved in the teaching or administration of courses, this project will have a large impact. Courses will be migrated to Canvas, and people will need to learn how to use it and integrate it into how they do their jobs. Analysis and planning are underway to identify these impacts and provide support to staff.
- For teams with student support or advising functions, Canvas will offer opportunities for new ways to engage with and help students, particularly for student services like Library, Tītoko, and Student Support Services.
- Staff who are responsible for delivering internal professional development courses or training will start using the new platform. It will be the first time that we have a unified online delivery platform for these activities. This also means that all Te Herenga Waka staff will eventually become users of the new platform to access their own internal professional development and training.
What opportunities for involvement or influence will I have as an academic or teacher during course migration?
- If you are a course coordinator or teacher you will, at minimum, need to be involved in the migration and review of your courses. The amount of your time needed will depend on what level of development and configuration work is appropriate for your course, and this is something you will have the ability to influence.
- If you are excited about the new learning platform and want greater opportunity to be involved, you might like to be an early adopter or a change champion.
- Change champions are people who can draw the connection between the current state (how things are now) and the future state (how things will be) in ways that are real and meaningful for people in the same or similar roles, who may otherwise struggle with adapting to a new system or adopting a new way of doing things.
- If you are interested in helping to advocate for the new learning platform or the best ways to use Canvas in your school or faculty, please contact your Faculty Learning Designer and we can work together on how you can be involved.
My students have started to ask questions about the new LMS. What can I tell them, or where can I direct them to more information for students?
- You are welcome to share information you know with students if they ask, though information that has been shared to date has been targeted towards staff.
- We are developing student-focused questions and answers which will be shared with student-facing staff and published online for students to access directly. In the meantime, if students are asking questions that you can’t answer, please contact your CAD Learning Designer or FLATA, or email [email protected] and we will get the answers for you.
If I need help/access to Blackboard during 2023, will CAD still be able to help me?
- Faculty support staff and school administrators will continue to support teaching teams, and the Service Desk will also continue to provide trouble-shooting support.
- FLATAs will help teachers access materials from Blackboard as part of the process of migrating courses from Blackboard to Canvas. More information about Blackboard ending.