With the ensuing arrival of the Canvas learning management system, Fall 2016 will be the last semester for Blackboard on the Fresno City College campus. By spring of next year, the program will be in full swing, according to Harry Zahlis, the Interim Director of Technology.

“The state went out to try and get everybody on one [program],” Zahlis said. “[They] offered money to pay to switch over and so from a cost perspective, that was one of the big reasons which caused us to go from Blackboard to Canvas.”

CIT Professor Rio Waller assisted in training teachers to get them ready for the switch. “In terms of training faculty it does cost some money,” she said. “But, the cost comparison of what it takes to run the blackboard site versus the canvas site is much less.”

There are advantages beyond cost as well. “Students can do virtually everything. You can look at it natively or download the app,” Waller said. “Its an easy translation from a desktop to mobile device.”

Blackboard’s limitations were largely due to its legacy programming, according to Waller. “Rather than redoing it [programming] from scratch they just kept layering it on top,” she explained. These factors often explain recurring slowness and management issues with the program.

Canvas, however, is built on current web technology. It runs on HTML 5 and for many students, it is more mobile-ready. “Due to its legacy limitations,” said Waller, “making Blackboard work on a mobile environment was a challenge. It just did not look like what students were used to in the interface.”

According to Waller, though, Canvas is capable of doing everything Blackboard can, except faster. “[Canvas] conducted a lot of data analysis of how students use the site. They’re constantly trying to see if they are doing a good job.”

Students are already noticing some of the benefits of the new site. “It [Canvas] is easier to navigate, everything is right there,” said Kellie Flippin, a fifth semester English major.

She also liked some of the more subtle features. “You can email your teachers straight from canvas.”

For students like Flippin, many classes are already using the new program. Out of five of her classes, four of her teachers are using it.

“There was some training that happened to get people to move over and it was kind of a ‘yes, this is coming, so you better start learning,’” Zahlis said about the transition to Canvas.

Training was offered throughout the summer for learning the new program for faculty.

Many people were anticipating this semester to be the official date for the launch of the program, but, according to Waller, they made the deadline Spring 2017 “to allow one more semester to allow faculty to get up to speed.”

“There was a decision that was made that said here is the hard deadline,” Waller said.  “Without one, students and faculty would just wait.”

For Waller, though, the decision was easy. “How often do you get to make a choice for something that works better and costs less?”