Departments Trial Canvas – Experiences from Pilot Courses

During the autumn semester, pilot courses were run on a limited scale (eight pilot courses from the departments and the Centre for the Advancement of University Teaching (CeUL), as well as three more exploratory pilots). In the current spring semester, a further 16 course instances are being delivered in Canvas.
Two of the departments participating in the pilot are the Department of Swedish and Multilingualism, which selected one sub-course from Swedish Grammar in a Cross-Linguistic Perspective (7.5 credits), and the Department of English, which chose the course English 1 (30 credits). Once the spring pilots are completed, approximately 1,000 students will have had the opportunity to try the new learning platform.

Why take part in the Canvas pilot?

How were the pilot courses selected?

Goran Maljan, Lecturer at the Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism, chose a course primarily for practical reasons. He wanted to test Canvas in advance in order to become familiar with the platform before all courses move to Canvas at the same time in the autumn.
Patrik Ekström Mezek, Administrator at the Department of English, selected the department’s large course English 1 because it had recently been revised and because many students continue on to English 2. This meant it was beneficial for students to become familiar with Canvas already during their first course.

Goran’s initial impression of Canvas was positive. Much of the system felt intuitive, and overall it seemed both simpler and more clearly structured than Athena. Patrik notes that there is always an adjustment period when switching to a new system, but once he started building the course structure in Canvas, the principles were largely the same as in other learning platforms. Canvas may have a flatter structure, which makes it quicker and easier to navigate.

Learning and pedagogy in Canvas

When asked whether the departments needed to rethink their planned course design, the two pilot departments responded slightly differently. The course Goran is responsible for has a relatively simple structure, which made it easy to convert previous Athena plans into modules in Canvas. Goran particularly values the ability to create pages in Canvas that bring together links, files and messages associated with a course.
The course administered by Patrik at the Department of English is more complex in scope, as it includes several sub-courses, groups and instructors, with students studying together across different syllabi at the same time. After some consideration, the department decided to create one Canvas course site per sub-course in order to avoid an overly complex structure. Patrik explains that group management works differently in Canvas compared with Athena, and that they are still testing various features.
Interaction with students has not changed significantly. There may have been slightly less activity in discussion forums, which could be due to a lack of familiarity with Canvas.

User support during the pilot

Both pilot participants report that user support has worked very well. Extensive support materials are available, along with multiple support channels, such as Zoom drop-in support and a dedicated Zoom support channel. There are also recorded sessions and materials from other higher education institutions.
The local Canvas coaches assigned to each department are also highlighted as a valuable resource to turn to when needed. Both Zoom drop-in support and local Canvas coaches will continue to be available in the autumn, when all courses move to Canvas. Having local discussion forums, for example via Zoom within each department, can be beneficial, as it makes it easier to ask questions and support one another.

Experiences and lessons learned – looking ahead

What would you say to colleagues who are hesitant?

A new system always requires effort, but a major advantage is knowing that this learning platform will be in use for a long time, and that so many other higher education institutions in Sweden already use Canvas. Patrik emphasises the importance of starting to migrate courses well in advance, noting that this is an opportunity to reflect on how to best structure course materials and interact with students as new course sites are being built.

“This seems to be the least painful digital transition I have experienced so far at Stockholm University.”

– Goran Maljan, Lecturer, Department of Swedish Language and Multilingualism