Canvas Implementation

Athens State has chosen Canvas as the new LMS. All courses will continue to be offered on Blackboard Learn for the Spring 2023 and Summer 2023 semesters. Beginning in Fall 2023 all courses will be offered to students in Canvas. The implementation timeline is below. For Canvas workshops visit the Workshop Calendar page.

March 2023

  • The migration of Fall 2022, Summer 2022, Spring 2022, QM, and designated Dev shells from Blackboard to Canvas is complete, and faculty have access to their courses in Canvas.

Fall 2023

  •  Access to Blackboard for faculty, adjuncts, and students will end on July 31, 2023.
  • ·All courses will be delivered in Canvas beginning Fall 2023 semester.

Canvas Login

To login into Canvas:

Open a browser and navigate to athensstate.instructure.com

Students & Adjunct Faculty
Username:
Use your @my.Athens.edu email address
Password: Use your Athens State PIN


Faculty & Staff
Username:
Use your @Athens.edu email address
Password: Use your Email Password

 Transition Tips for Faculty

  • Keep in mind that Blackboard and Canvas are two different systems and the migration process is not perfect. You will need to review your course material in Canvas. Some Blackboard content imports well, others require cleanup, and some may need to be recreated. 
  • For your records, download your Grade Center in Blackboard at the end of the summer semester.  Because of  FERPA laws student grades are not transferred to Canvas. 
  • Use the Course Link Validator in course Settings to identify any unresponsive links in your course material.
  •  Canvas Questions: Access 24/7 chat and phone support through the Assistance menu within Canvas. Canvas Support can help with anything in Canvas, including importing content from one Canvas course into another.
  • Register for a Canvas Open Lab if you need assistance with a course. One of ATLIS’s designers will assist you.

 Organizations

If you have an organization that you would like to keep please email the Help Desk at helpdesk@athens.edu or contact a member of ALTIS.

When creating courses in Canvas, you have different ways to add content to the individual course shells. There are three ways to add content to Canvas courses:

  • Copy Content from a Canvas Course
  • Export a Course from Blackboard
  • Build Your Course in Canvas

Instructions for adding content via each of these are shown in the following sections.

Just like you could copy content from one course to another in Blackboard, you can do the same in Canvas. Courses from the Spring, Summer, and Fall 2022 semesters, as well as all QM shells, and all Development shells that are five years old and younger, were migrated to Canvas by our migration partners, K16 and Instructure. You have access to these courses, as well as courses created in Canvas to which you are assigned, and you can copy some or all of the content from these courses into other Canvas courses (this includes new (empty) Canvas course shells or existing courses).

Follow the set of instructions shown below based on whether you are going to copy some or all of the course content into another Canvas course.

You can copy some content from your courses by following the steps outlined below:

  1. Login to Canvas using your Athens State email address and network password (if you are an adjunct, use your Banner PIN for the password). Your Canvas Dashboard appears.
  2. Scroll down to the Unpublished Courses section and locate the course into which you want to copy content.
    • If you do not see the desired course, click the Courses button in the left navigation, scroll down in the flyout menu that appears, and click the All Courses link. The “All Courses” page appears, listing all courses in Canvas to which you are assigned. You can find your desired course in this list.
  3. Click the course to open it.
  4. Click the Import Existing Content button in the upper right of the Dashboard. The “Import Content” screen opens.
  5. Click the arrow on the Content Type field and select the Copy a Canvas Course option. Several other fields appear.
  6. Click within the Search for a course field and begin typing the name of the course from which you want to copy. A list of courses matching the criteria entered appears. Select the course from which you want to copy in the list. The name of the course appears in the Search for a course field.
  7. Click the Select specific content radio button. When you select this radio button, you will select the content you want to copy after you click the Submit button.
  8. Click the Adjust events and due dates checkbox if you want Canvas to automatically adjust the event and due dates in the content you are copying to the new class.If you do not check this box, move to Step 10.
  9. Decide whether you want to shift the existing dates in the existing content or remove them completely:
    • Click the Shift dates radio button to update the dates shown in the migrated course (entered in the Beginning and Ending date fields) to the dates indicated in the associated change to fields.
    • If you want to change the weekday on which something is due, click the Substitution button and enter the old and new weekdays in the Move from…to fields. If you need to move more than one weekday, click the Substitution button as needed.
    • Click the Remove dates radio button to remove all dates from the course materials (due dates, event dates, etc.).
  10. Click Import to start the copying process. The Course Copy job appears in the Current Jobs section of the screen. Click the Select Content button to the right of the job and select the content you want to copy into the new course (click the arrow next to a heading to expand the section and view/select the individual components). Click the Select Content button. The Import process begins.
    • You will receive a notification once the copy process is complete.
  11. Review the course to ensure that all content is copied over properly.

You can copy all content from your courses into another Canvas course by following the steps outlined below:

  1. Login to Canvas using your Athens State email address and network password (if you are an adjunct, use your Banner PIN for the password). Your Canvas Dashboard appears.
  2. Scroll down to the Unpublished Courses section and locate the course into which you want to copy content.
    ○ If you do not see the desired course, click the Courses button in the left navigation, scroll down in the flyout menu that appears, and click the All Courses link. The “All Courses” page appears, listing all courses in Canvas to which you are assigned. You can find your desired course in this list.
  3. Click the course to open it.
  4. Click the Import Existing Content button in the upper right of the Dashboard. The “Import Content” screen opens.
  5. Click the arrow on the Content Type field and select the Copy a Canvas Course option. Several other fields appear.
  6. Click within the Search for a course field and begin typing the name of the course from which you want to copy. A list of courses matching the criteria entered appears. Select the course from which you want to copy in the list. The name of the course appears in the Search for a course field.
  7. Click the Select all content radio button.
  8. Click the Adjust events and due dates checkbox if you want Canvas to automatically adjust the event and due dates in the content you are copying to the new class.

    If you do not check this box, move to Step 21.

  9. Decide whether you want to shift the existing dates in the existing content or remove them completely:
    • Click the Shift dates radio button to update the dates shown in the migrated course (entered in the Beginning and Ending date fields) to the dates indicated in the associated change to fields.
    • If you want to change the weekday on which something is due, click the Substitution button and enter the old and new weekdays in the Move from…to fields. If you need to move more than one weekday, click the Substitution button as needed.
    • Click the Remove dates radio button to remove all dates from the course materials (due dates, event dates, etc.).
  10. Click Import to start the copying process.
    • You will receive a notification once the copy process is complete.
  11. Review the new course to ensure that all content is copied over properly.

If you have a course in Blackboard that was not migrated and you want to access it in Canvas, you can export the course from Blackboard and upload it into Canvas. To do this, complete the following steps:

  1. Contact the Help Desk or a member of the ATLIS staff to request a new course shell in Canvas into which the exported Blackboard course can be imported. Exported Blackboard courses must be loaded into an empty Canvas course shell.
  2. Login to Blackboard and open the course you want to move to Canvas.
  3. Scroll down toward the bottom of the screen and expand the Packages and Utilities section under the Course Management heading on the left navigation menu.
  4. Select the Export/Archive Course option. The “Export/Archive Course” screen opens.
  5. Click the Export Package link (located below the screen title and description). The “Export Course” page opens.
  6. Accept the default selections in the File Attachments section fields.
  7. Select the course content you want to export for use in Canvas in the Select Course Materials section by checking the boxes next to the areas you want to include in the export. If you want to include all course content, click the Select All button.
  8. Click Submit. You will receive an email once the export file is ready.
  9. Return to this page once the export file is ready and double-click it (if you remain on the page during the export, you may have to refresh the page to see the file). The “Save As” box appears.
  10. Navigate to the location on your computer where you want to save the file and click Save.

    NOTE: Do not proceed with the following steps until you have received notification that the course shell you requested in Step 1 has been created and you are added as an instructor.

  11. Login to Canvas and locate the course shell created for you in Step 1 of this section in the Unpublished Courses section of the Dashboard.
    • If you do not see the desired course, click the Courses button in the left navigation, scroll down in the flyout menu that appears, and click the All Courses link. The “All Courses” page appears, listing all courses in Canvas to which you are assigned. You can find your desired course in this list.
  12. Open the course and locate the Import Existing Content button to the far right on the Dashboard. The “Import Content” page appears.
  13. Select the Blackboard 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ Ultra export.zip option from the Content Type field.
  14. Click the Choose File button and navigate to the location where the export file is saved. Select it and click Open. The name of the file appears next to the button.
  15. Select the question bank you want to use as the default in the Default Question bank field. If you don’t want to choose a default question bank, leave the default entry in the field. All question banks will be copied into the course regardless of the selection in this field.
  16. Click the Select all content radio button.
  17. Click the Adjust events and due dates checkbox if you want Canvas to automatically adjust the event and due dates in the content you are copying to the new class.If you do not check this box, move to Step 19.
  18. Decide whether you want to shift the existing dates in the existing content or remove them completely:
    • Click the Shift dates radio button to update the dates shown in the migrated course (entered in the Beginning and Ending date fields) to the dates indicated in the associated change to fields.
    • If you want to change the weekday on which something is due, click the Substitution button and enter the old and new weekdays in the Move from…to fields. If you need to move more than one weekday, click the Substitution button as needed.
    • Click the Remove dates radio button to remove all dates from the course materials (due dates, event dates, etc.).
  19. Click Import to start the copying process.
    • You will receive a notification once the copy process is complete.
  20. Review the new course to ensure that all content is copied over properly.

If you are teaching a new course, you will need to build it in Canvas from scratch. You may also decide to take this route if your migrated course needs a great deal of modifications before it can be taught live.  The Canvas Intermediate course offered by ATLIS provides the information you need to build a Canvas course; you can also attend a Canvas Open Lab session to receive one-on-one assistance from an ATLIS staff member.

In addition to these opportunities, the ATLIS staff is available to assist you with Canvas course design and building activities. Access the ATLIS Instructional Design page on the university website to schedule an appointment with one of the university’s instructional designers.

Computers:

  • PC Running Windows 10 or 11 (version 22H2 or newer)
  • Mac running macOS 11 or newer
  • Screen resolutions of 800×600 and higher are required. Minimum 1280×720 recommended.
  • Supported browser – Chrome is recommended. Firefox and Safari are supported. Edge is not recommended.

Mobile:

  • iPhone running iOS 12 or newer
  • iPad running iPadOS 12 or newer
  • Android Phone or Tablet running Android 9 or newer
  • On Mobile devices with screens smaller than 8”, the official Canvas app is recommended as Canvas does not officially support browsers on smaller screen sizes.

Computer Speed and Processor

  • Use a computer 5 years old or newer when possible.
  • 1GB of RAM
  • 2GHz processor

Internet Speed

  • Minimum of 512kbps

Screen Readers

  • Macintosh: VoiceOver (latest version for Safari/Chrome and iOS mobile)
  • PC: JAWS (latest version for Chrome/Firefox)
  • PC: NVDA (latest version for Chrome/Firefox)
  • Android mobile: Talkback