UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. —This is an exciting time as Penn State begins the transition from ANGEL to Canvas as its new Learning Management System. In October 2014, Blackboard, ANGEL’s parent company, announced ANGEL’s end-of-life date will be in December 2017. For planning purposes, no new courses will be started in ANGEL after June 30, 2017. To allow time for content to be migrated to Canvas, as well as for students to complete deferred grades, faculty will be able to access ANGEL online through Dec. 31, 2017.
All Penn State faculty, students and staff now have access to Canvas. Anyone listed as faculty in LDAP has immediate access, but staff will need to request access by emailing canvas@psu.edu. As with ANGEL, the use of Canvas is not mandatory. Faculty can begin using Canvas immediately or may continue to teach their courses in ANGEL for now.
To give faculty a head start on converting their courses from ANGEL to Canvas, the period of time between now through August has been designed as a ramp-up that includes the implementation of migration services, training resources, and initial integration of third-party learning tools.
The benefit to starting now is the luxury of having more time to work through the conversion when the availability of resources to help is the highest. Faculty are also encouraged to use the time to improve and transform their courses when moving into Canvas to keep current with modern pedagogical practices.
How to get started
Not sure where or how to start? Don’t worry. There are plenty of resources in place to help.
For those who want to do it at their own pace, the Canvas Learning Center offers tutorials and information to help with the conversion work. In the Learning Center, you’ll learn step-by-step what you need to do and how to do it.
For those who want more direct training help, ITS Training Services is offering a number of live training sessions. The sessions include Canvas Town Halls, which are virtual Q&A sessions with the Penn State Canvas Training Team; Faculty Chats, which are one-hour virtual sessions that combine an overview of Canvas, examples, and best practices; and Hands-on Online Training Sessions, which are in-depth, hands-on virtual sessions that will help participants to develop Canvas skills in a particular area.
Learn more at Canvas Day
Teaching and Learning with Technology is holding Canvas Day from 1 to 6 p.m. on March 18 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. This event is an opportunity for faculty and support staff to learn more about Canvas via educational sessions and networking with those already using the new learning management system.
Canvas Day will feature a main presentation on the Canvas conversion process, along with breakout sessions covering a variety of Canvas subjects, and an end-of-day social networking event. In addition, guests from Instructure, the people who bring you Canvas, will be available to answer questions.
To see the schedule for Canvas Day and register for the event, go to http://symposium.tlt.psu.edu/welcome-to-canvas-day/.
Stay connected
Another way to keep up-to-date on news about Canvas is by subscribing to the Canvas listserv. Email L-CANVAS-AT-PENN-STATE-subscribe-request@lists.psu.edu and type “Add Me” in the subject line and at least a few characters in the body of the email to help it pass through the spam filters.
Faculty and staff are also encouraged to join the Canvas Yammer Group, where users with questions or concerns can get timely feedback and help from fellow Penn State users.
For additional information on everything related to Canvas at Penn State, including news and updates, tips, and best practices, please visit Penn State’s official Canvas website, canvas.psu.edu.