What is Different in Canvas?

Selected differences between Canvas, Blackboard Ultra, and Blackboard Original:

Tables of Contents (Blackboard Original) 

• The organizational structure of Canvas is different than that of Blackboard.  When preparing your Blackboard Original Course (the type of Blackboard course that has a customizable left navigation menu) for migration to Canvas, please note that the menu structure will not transfer between systems. 

Teaching and Learning Tool Integrations  

• All integrations (third-party tools like McGraw Hill and VoiceThread) must be installed by OIT in Canvas before they can be used in Canvas courses. Since these are new connections between the tools and Canvas, any links and assignments you created with these tools in Blackboard will not automatically transfer to Canvas.
  • In the best case scenario, you will need to relink the content you created on the third-party tool page (such as publisher assignments) to your Canvas course.
  • In the worst case scenario, such as with Turnitin Assignments, you may need to create a new assignment in Canvas. 

To view the full list of integrations and their expected availability within Canvas, visit the Using third-party integrations in Canvas help article.

Access to Student Data Stored in Blackboard 

• No student data from Blackboard will be imported to Canvas. Any archival process will store data in a separate space outside of Canvas.  
• Student portfolios from Blackboard will not import to Canvas and will have to be exported in a different format for later access. OIT is not providing an alternative tool for backing up student portfolios.

Test Courses, Manually Created Courses, and Organizations 

• Users will not be able to create their own courses in Canvas, but OIT will create courses on request. Please view the instructions for requesting a manually created course. 
• Manually created courses are not connected to the data feed that populates courses with students or other users. Manually created courses are best used as a space to design a course and then copy content into term-based course shells as they are created. 
• Manually created courses can also be used to house organizations, as a replacement for the Organization feature in Blackboard. 

List of Comparisons for Commonly Used Features