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Dear UM Community,

UMOnline and IT are working collaboratively on the implementation planning and rollout of Canvas at UM. Campus communications will be shared through email, and up-to-date information can be found on the Canvas Project Website.

Implementation Timeline and General Information

Canvas is currently providing training for UMOnline and IT staff through February, and the UM Canvas site is under construction. Training for faculty and staff will be available in mid-spring, with numerous opportunities for training throughout the spring, summer, and fall. This includes both on-demand and live training options from UMOnline and Canvas.

In Summer 2024, for-credit courses will have the option to teach in Moodle or Canvas. In Fall 2024, all for-credit courses will be taught in Canvas, with no option to teach in Moodle. Most non-credit and non-instructional Moodle courses will continue to use Moodle through Fall 2024. Faculty and staff will have access to Moodle until mid-to-late December 2024.

Course Migration from Moodle to Canvas

A third-party company is contracted to migrate courses from Moodle to Canvas. This includes the migration of online and blended courses, as well as in-person courses that use Moodle to deliver content and to engage Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ in activities like assignments, forums, and quizzes. The first round of migration includes courses from the past three years that meet these criteria. Remaining courses will be migrated by Canvas or can be manually uploaded from a Moodle backup file.

Summer Pilot Rollout

The decision to use Moodle or Canvas for summer courses will be made by chairs/directors. They can opt-in the full department/program or allow that decision to be made by individual instructors. Instructors will opt-in to using Canvas in Summer 2024 by completing a survey that will collect specific course information. The survey link will be sent to departments by the first week of February. The deadline to opt-in is February 28, 2024. Summer faculty teaching in Canvas will be required to participate in training sessions in mid-spring. If an instructor is not able or willing to complete training and begin preparing their course at least 1-2 months prior to the course start date, the course will remain in Moodle for the summer.

Instructors will have access to our UM Canvas site in mid-spring. Summer faculty will have priority to meet with Instructional Designers (IDs) and to join training cohorts. Prior to mid-spring, they will have access to other training and can meet with an ID to begin preparations. UMOnline will provide a guide to compare features between Moodle and Canvas to assist with preparations.

It will be the instructors’ responsibility to inform Ñý¼§Ö±²¥ in advance if their course will be taught in Moodle or Canvas. UMOnline will provide language for this communication, including links to student tutorials and resources.

Training Opportunities for Faculty and Staff

Various trainings will be available to faculty and staff in the spring, summer, and fall. These will include on-demand and live trainings developed by Canvas and UMOnline. More details and a calendar will be on the Canvas Project website when available.

Training Opportunities for Students

Students will have access to student-focused tutorials and resources developed by Canvas. UMOnline will also develop an on-demand student tutorial that is customized for the UM Canvas Site.

For additional information and updates, please see the Canvas Project website.

- Office of the Provost