UF Online has opted to begin hosting several of its courses on Canvas, a new course management system, starting this semester.
The introduction of this new course website is part of a phased rollout to get all classes offered through UF Online hosted on a platform other than its counterpart, e-Learning, by Spring 2015.
“The reason why we are using Canvas this semester is that with the new UF Online, some of the things we needed to do were not available on (e-Learning),” said Tawnya Means, director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment at UF’s Warrington College of Business Administration.
Means said UF Online is looking for ways to engage students and produce better learning outcomes. Canvas offers interactive features, as well as different ways to communicate with professors and other students in the class.
“Because video is integrated into the entire course site, basically any time you want to interact with your instructor, you can do it by video, audio or text,” Means said.
Canvas isn’t restricted to students pursuing a degree through UF Online. Traditional students may have sections hosted on Canvas, too.
“I think it’s easy to use, but it’s pretty inconvenient having some classes on Canvas and some on e-Learning,” said Virginia Pedigo, a 20-year-old UF applied physiology and kinesiology sophomore, whose macroeconomics class uses Canvas.
Jose Muia, a 20-year-old UF finance sophomore, said he didn’t hear about the switch until he returned from break.
“Two of my three courses are on Canvas,” he said. “It’s very similar to (e-Learning), very easy to use, and you can find coursework easily.”
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 1/21/2014 under the headline "UF Online kickstarts Canvas use"
