Canvas is the leading LMS among major public research universities. Already in use by a majority of University of California campuses, California State Universities and Community Colleges, Canvas has proven to be a reliable solution to support teaching and learning. The Canvas learning platform is known for being customizable, adaptable, and reliable.
The transition to Canvas will require time, effort, and careful thought, with engagement and representation from faculty, students, and staff. A project steering committee with representation from across the university is currently under development. The steering committee will provide guidance and oversight as UCSB adopts Canvas as the campus-wide LMS and retires the existing GauchoSpace LMS.
Canvas is currently undergoing a pilot and is available to a very small subset of our student population. We hope to be able to slowly expand our Canvas instance to incorporate additional courses over summer and fall of 2022. Below are some FAQ’s related to the change.
Are current courses using Canvas?
For Spring 2022, three courses are using Canvas for their learning management system (replacing GauchoSpace). Feedback will be collected from both the instructors and students to guide future migration efforts.
What is the timeline for moving to Canvas?
Per the California Budget Act of 2021, the expectation is that the University of California should adopt a “common LMS by 2023-24.” To meet this, the committee has put forward a proposal to complete our migration in advance of the 23-24 academic year.
Can my Summer/Fall 2022 course be in Canvas?
We are still determining the scope and size of the Summer and Fall 2022 pilot. Instructors: If you are interested in using Canvas for an upcoming course, please email help@collaborate.ucsb.edu.
Will I still have access to my materials in GauchoSpace?
Instructors: Yes, you will be able to obtain all previous course materials. In addition, recent courses will be mapped and migrated to Canvas which will allow you to reuse these courses in Canvas with some variations to the formatting and features found in GauchoSpace.
Students: Generally able to access course sites from the current and one previous quarter (unless the instructor has made a current course unavailable to students, or an older course site available again). Students will be able to access courses on GauchoSpace based on these guidelines.
Why is UCSB moving to Canvas?
Canvas is a cloud-hosted learning management system that can scale better to meet instructional needs for both synchronous and asynchronous learning, particularly for quizzes and exams.
A majority of students have experience using Canvas either in high school or at other higher education institutions.
Moodle (Open source software GauchoSpace is based on) is undergoing a UX overhaul which will require GauchoSpace to update to this updated UX version in 2023 to remain up to date with security releases. This UX change will change the look and feel of the platform as well as functionality.