All sides of the story—investigating Canvas

In this world where nothing is constant and everything could seemingly fall apart in a split second, why must we change something that we have used our entire school career? Students and teachers alike have been thrown every obstacle possible this year. From learning how to take and teach classes through Zoom to having our sports and dances cancelled, we have adapted to hybrid, online, and back to f...

The never-ending cycle of changes that belongs to a typical school day seems to be one of the only constants in the past year: virtual, hybrid, in-person learning. The bounce between the three learning models has brought a considerable amount of stress to students’ lives, and many students hoped that would be the only major change this year.  However, Canvas broke that hope.  Before the second semester...

Name: Paige Fron Grade: 10 1. How are you acclimating to the switch to Canvas? "[I am not acclimating to [Canvas] the greatest right now because the Canvas platform is similar to Google Classroom, but it’s not as easy to navigate as Google Classroom." 2. Do you feel like switching to Canvas has improved your learning and/or the structure and organization of your classes? "A little...

Name: Owen Kennedy Grade: 9 1. How are you acclimating to the switch to Canvas? “I am not acclimating well to Canvas. Since 7th grade we have used Google Classroom, and now I’m clueless when it comes to Canvas.” 2. Do you feel like switching to Canvas has improved your learning and/or the structure and organization of your classes?  “Switching to Canvas has not improved my learnin...

Name: Madi Evans Grade: 9 1. How are you acclimating to the switch to Canvas? “I’m not acclimating well; it’s really hard to try and switch to a new platform, especially when none of the teachers really know what they are doing.” 2. Do you feel like switching to Canvas has improved your learning and/or the structure and organization of your classes? “I think Canvas has made...

Name: Chad Scholten 1. How are you acclimating to the switch to Canvas? "For me personally, Canvas is what’s called a Learning Management System, which is a fancy website that allows you to organize a course. I’ve been using Moodle, which is also an LMS, for several years. For me to go from Moodle to Canvas, it wasn’t that big of a difference--it was just a different style. So, for me, I d...

Name: Delaney Michalski Grade: 12 1. How are you acclimating to the switch to Canvas? “I’ve adjusted [to Canvas] pretty well, but I would definitely say it’s a lot more confusing than Google Classroom.” 2. Do you feel like switching to Canvas has improved your learning and/or the structure and organization of your classes? “Honestly, no. On Google Classroom, it was a lot easier to ...

Name: Reid Davison Grade: 12 1. How are you acclimating to the switch to Canvas? “[Canvas] hasn't really affected me very much, so I haven't really noticed [the change]." 2. Do you feel like switching to Canvas has improved your learning and/or the structure and organization of your classes? “I feel like [Canvas] has deteriorated my learning and really just the entire structure of...

Name: Abby Berlin Grade: 11 1. How are you acclimating to the switch to Canvas? “[The transition to Canvas] has been okay so far. I'm still having issues with certain parts [of] it." 2. Do you feel like switching to Canvas has improved your learning and/or the structure and organization of your classes? “Personally, I prefer Google Classroom because I already knew how to work it...

Name: Quentin Rudolph Grade: 11 1. How are you acclimating to the switch to Canvas? “It's been kind of tough, because not all my teachers have been using [Canvas], and there isn't much transparency when it comes to where to turn in assignments." 2. Do you feel like switching to Canvas has improved your learning and/or the structure and organization of your classes? “No, not at ...

Name: Jacob Tishon Grade: 10 1. How are you acclimating to the switch to Canvas? "It's actually pretty easy. It took a little bit of getting used to, but it's not [that] different from Google Classroom." 2. Do you feel like switching to Canvas has improved your learning and/or the structure and organization of your classes?  "Yeah, I do. It's organized better than Google Classroom...

Since last spring, a few things have been made clear to the Technology Department, principal Steve Passinault, and counselor Kyle Perkins: we need a district-wide system that is more comprehensive and capable to aid in all students’ learning. It may sound easy to find a new system, but this switch was months in the making, complete with discussions with other school districts and companies, a...

After years of loyalty to Google Classroom, Forest Hills Public Schools District has made the decisive and divisive switch to Canvas, completely altering the way our students and teachers handle online school and its challenges. With such an important decision being made halfway through the year, it’s no surprise that FHC’s staff and student body have been left polarized on the topic of Canvas. This se...