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
| Blackboard Feature: Original Courses | Blackboard Feature: Ultra Courses | Canvas Feature | Additional Information |
| Not Available in Original | Accommodations | Moderate | No significant changes |
| Achievements | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Add/Modify Enrollments | Roster, Enroll People | People, + People | You can add or remove Instructors, TAs, and Designers. You can add Students to your courses as soon as they are admitted, but you will not be able to remove them. This is to prevent the accidental loss of data if you were to delete a student who should be enrolled in the course. See Adding and Removing TAs, Instructors, and Other Users in a Canvas Course knowledge article for details and instructions. |
| Adaptive Release | Conditional Availability | Prerequisites and Locking Modules | The following conditions can be used to determine release of materials: date and time for all students, completion of prior modules. Availability cannot be determined by user or group. |
| Additional Attempts to Students in Specific Assessments | Additional Attempts to Students in Specific Assessments | Additional Attempts to Students in Specific Assessments | No significant changes |
| Announcements | Course Announcements | Announcements | Cannot force an email message to students regarding announcements. Can allow students to comment or like announcements. Can schedule to post at a later date. Cannot set an expiration date. |
| Anonymous Grading | Anonymous Grading | Anonymous Grading | No significant changes |
| Anonymous Discussion Board Posts | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Assignments | Assignments | Assignments | Can restrict file upload types. Can accept a website URL as a submission. Can accept additional submission types such as On Paper, External Tool, No Submission. No Submission could be used to add items to the Course Calendar, such as readings. |
| Attendance | Attendance | Roll Call | No additional information |
| Audio/Video Feedback | Audio/Video Feedback | Feedback in SpeedGrader | Available as part of feedback options in SpeedGrader in Canvas. |
| Blackboard Mobile App | Blackboard Mobile App | Canvas Mobile App | Two apps with different functionalities based on role (one for teacher and one for student) |
| Blank Page | Documents | Blank Page | No significant changes |
| Blogs | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | Workaround 1: Pages become editable when editing is allowed for teachers and students. Workaround 2: Collaborations creates a shared document for selected students to edit. |
| Bulk Download of Assessments | Bulk Download of Assessments | Download submissions | No significant changes |
| Calculated Formula | Calculated Formula | Formula Question | There are multiple options for formula questions in Canvas. |
| Calendar | Calendar | Calendar (overview for Instructors) | The calendar automatically populates with due dates and meetings from the course. |
| Calendar Export | Calendar Export | Calendar Feed | In Canvas, you can subscribe to the Canvas calendar to have it add content to Outlook. |
| Not Available in Original | Calendar Import | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Categories | Assignment Groups | Assignment Groups | |
| Contacts | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Content Editor | Content Editor | Content Editor | No significant changes |
| Not Available in Original | Copy Content | Duplicate an assignment / Duplicate a module item | No significant changes |
| Course Copy | Course Copy | Course Import Tool | No significant changes |
| Course Banner | Course Image | Front Page | You can create a custom page, including images, which can then be set to the home page for your course. |
| Course Builder Role | Not Available in Ultra | Designer | No significant changes |
| Not Available in Original | Course Faculty | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Course Link | Course Link | Course Link | No significant changes |
| Course Menu | Not Available in Ultra | Course Navigation Menu | Able to reorder or hide the existing menu items, but unable to edit the names of existing menu items or create new menu items. |
| Course Merge | Not Available in Ultra | Cross-List | Faculty must wait until students are enrolled to cross-list their course sections. Students are loaded to a course two weeks prior to its start date. |
| Course Messages | Course Messages | Course Messages | Course Messages are completely contained within Canvas, they are not an email message, and do not have the option to be forcibly delivered via email. The course messages also do not have the full rich text content editor (RTE) and only allow text, video, audio or attachments. |
| Course Reports | Course Activity | New Analytics | There are significant changes in Canvas. We recommend you review the linked support materials. |
| Not Available in Original | Course Schedule | Course Summary | Course Summary is located on the Syllabus page and automatically pulls in the due dates for any items in the course. |
| Course Structures | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | See "Teaching Style" |
| Not Available in Original | Not Available in Ultra | Curve Grades | Can curve grades for an assignment using a bell curve based on a manually entered average score. |
| Import Package/View Logs | Course Tasks and Logs | Import>Current Jobs & Exports | No significant changes |
| Date Management | Bulk Edit | Batch Edit | No significant changes |
| Decimal Points in Tests | Decimal Points in Tests | Decimal Points in Tests | No significant changes |
| Delegated Grading | Parallel Grading | Moderated Grading | No significant changes |
| Not Available in Original | Discussion Analytics | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Discussions | Discussions | Discussions | Anonymous posting not available in Canvas. |
| Dropping Grades | Dropping Grades | Create Rules for Assignment | Canvas allows you to create an exception for assignments that should not be considered for dropping. |
| Edit Mode | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | Workaround: Student View |
| Embed Media | Embed Media | Embed | No significant changes |
| Exempt Grades | Exceptions | Excused | No significant changes |
| Extra Credit | Extra Credit | See Additional Notes | Workarounds for granting extra credit in Canvas |
| Files | Upload or Insert Local Files | Files | No significant changes |
| Forum | Discussion | Discussions | No significant changes |
| Folders | Folders | Modules | Added functionality: indent options to create a hierarchy of content within the module, ability to share modules with other instructors. Loss of functionality: cannot nest modules. |
| Glossary | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | Workaround: Create a page for a course glossary. |
| Grade Center | Gradebook | Gradebook | There are significant changes to the Gradebook in Canvas. We recommend you review the linked support materials. |
| Groups | Groups | Groups / Group Sets | Canvas allows the option for students to create their own Groups . This must be enabled in course settings. Student-created groups cannot be assigned group assignments. |
| Groups - Manual Enrollment | Groups - Custom Enrollment | Groups - Manual Enrollment | No significant changes |
| Group Assignments | Group Assignments | Group Assignments | No significant changes |
| Groups - Random Enrollment | Groups - Randomly Assign | Groups / Randomly Assign | No significant changes |
| Not Available in Original | Groups - Reuse Group | Clone Group Set | No significant changes |
| Groups - Self Enrollment | Groups - Self Enrollment | Groups / Self Sign-Up | No significant changes |
| Not Available in Original | Not Available in Ultra | Groups / Group Leader | Groups may have an assigned student leader. |
| Institution-based Cloud Storage | Institution-based Cloud Storage | Institution-based Cloud Storage | No significant changes. You can add content from your Ohio University OneDrive account directly to Canvas courses and assignments. |
| Item | Documents | Pages | No significant changes |
| Item Analysis | Question Analysis | Item Analysis | No significant changes |
| Journal | Journal | Not available in Canvas | Workaround : Create a Discussion assignment, make it a group assignment, and then assign each individual student to their own group. |
| Not Available in Original | Not Available in Ultra | Missing Submission Policy | The Missing Submission policy allows you to define a grade that will be granted for missing submissions as a percentage of the total points possible. |
| Learning Module | Learning Module | Modules | Added functionality: indent options to create a hierarchy of content within the module, ability to share modules with other instructors. Loss of functionality: cannot nest modules. |
| Lesson Plan | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Manual Grade Column | Manual Grade Column | Not available in Canvas | Workaround: You cannot add a manual grade column directly to the Gradebook in Canvas (as you can in Blackboard). You must create a new assignment, and in the “Submission Type” settings, set to “No Submission.” |
| Mashup: Flickr | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | Workaround: Content can be embedded using the Embed option. |
| Mashup: Slideshare | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | Workaround: Content can be embedded using the Embed option. |
| Mashup: YouTube | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | Workaround: Content can be embedded using the Embed option. |
| Not Available in Original | Office 365 Integration | Microsoft OneDrive | No significant changes |
| Password Protected Assessments | Password Protected Assessments | Quiz Restrictions | No significant changes |
| Performance Dashboard | Not Available in Ultra | New Analytics | There are significant changes in Canvas. We recommend you review the linked support materials. |
| Portfolio Assignment | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Portfolios | Portfolios | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Not Available in Original | Progress Tracking | Student Progress | No significant changes |
| Question Pools | Question Banks | Question Bank | Question banks for New Quizzes and Classic Quizzes are separate. |
| Question Regrading | Question Regrading | Quiz Regrade | Additional options have been added. |
| Question Sets | Question Pools | Question Group | No significant changes |
| Random Blocks (Questions) | Question Pools | Question Group | No significant changes |
| Retention Center | Not Available in Ultra | New Analytics | There are significant changes in Canvas. We recommend you review the linked support materials. |
| Rich Text Editor (RTE) | Rich Text Editor (RTE) | Rich Content Editor | No significant changes |
| Roster | Roster | People | Instructors are able to add/remove users with non-student roles. Instructors are able to add, but not remove, users with Student role. |
| Rubrics | Rubrics | Rubrics | No significant changes |
| SafeAssign | SafeAssign | Turnitin Plagiarism Framework | Turnitin offers an integration called Plagiarism Framework which allows you to use the native Canvas assignment features with the addition of the originality check from Turnitin. |
| SafeAssign Direct Submit | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | No additional information |
| Score Per Question | Score Per Question | Grade by Question | You can choose to manually grade the same quiz question for each student before viewing student submissions for a different quiz question. Note: Quizzes that pull questions from a question bank will shuffle the order of questions for each student. Question order for each submission may vary within SpeedGrader. Available for both Classic and New Quizzes |
| SCORM | SCORM | SCORM | SCORM report is not visible for grading. |
| Student Preview | Student Preview | Student View | No significant changes |
| Surveys | Not Available in Ultra | See Additional Information | Workaround : You can create a graded or ungraded anonymous survey with the Classic Quizzes feature. |
| Syllabus | Not Available in Ultra | Syllabus | The Syllabus feature allows you to add information that is pertinent to your course. You can do so through the Canvas text editor, or by attaching a copy of your existing syllabus. The Course Summary section of the Syllabus page automatically populates with due dates and events that exist within the course. |
| Self and Peer Assessment | Peer Assessment | Peer Review | No significant changes |
| Send Email | Not available in Canvas | See Course Messages | |
| Not Available in Original | Single Student Progress Report | Grades for Student | Instructors can view all assignments, due dates, status, and score for each individual student via the Gradebook. |
| Not Available in Original | Student Overview | Notes | Notes in the Gradebook are visible to anyone with access to the gradebook. |
| Tasks | Not Available in Ultra | To-Do | To Do in Canvas has a similar functionality to the Activity Stream in Blackboard for students. |
| Test Availability Exception | Test Additional Time | Moderate Quiz | No significant changes |
| Teaching Style | Not Available in Ultra | See Additional Information | All the features in Teaching Style are available in Canvas, but in different locations. You can import a template from Commons to provide a structure, choose a course home page and set a banner image by selecting a Front Page , and reorder the course menu under Settings by selecting Navigation . |
| Tests | Tests | Quizzes / New Quizzes | Canvas is in the process of redesigning their quiz offerings and currently have two options. These options are the following: Quizzes, also referred to as Classic Quizzes, and New Quizzes. If you import tests from Blackboard they will be using the Quizzes (aka Classic Quizzes) option. |
| Video Everywhere/Browse My YouTube Videos | Insert YouTube Video | Embed a video | No significant changes |
| Web Link | Web Link | Web Link | Links open in a new window by default. |
| Weighted Total Calculated Column | Weighted Total Calculation | Weighted Assignment Groups | Individual assignments cannot be weighted in Canvas. Workaround: make an assignment group for each individual assignment. |
| Wiki | Not Available in Ultra | Not available in Canvas | Workaround 1: Pages become editable when editing is allowed for teachers and students. Workaround 2: Collaborations creates a shared document for selected students to edit. |