Sakai will no longer be in use starting Spring 2016, completing UF’s migration to Canvas.
The university selected Canvas as the new course-management system to replace Sakai in Spring 2014 for UF Online courses, wrote Tawnya Means, director of the Warrington College of Business Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment, in an email.
But chemistry professor James Horvath said he was unhappy with the switch.
"I already knew (Sakai)," he said. "Why did I have to learn something else?"
Means wrote that Canvas allows professors to add video or audio, as well as the ability to integrate e-texts and simulations — features she said Sakai didn’t have.
"Canvas is neater and less clustered," said Zach Thomas, a 20-year-old UF history junior. "It feels like a natural step toward modernization."
But Yaniffer Castillo said she doesn’t feel like there’s much of a difference.
The chemistry freshman never used a course-management system before Summer B but had to maneuver both Sakai and Canvas at the same time.
"I really have no preference," the 18-year-old said. "It’s just something to get used to. Everything is online now."
UF history professor Steven Noll used Sakai for "a really long time," he said, laughing.
Now, he said he prefers Canvas because it integrates better with students. It’s easier and faster to send messages to students, an improvement from Sakai.
"UF is migrating to Canvas," Noll said. "It’s not necessarily something you want to do. It’s what you have to do."
