This FAQs page will be continually updated during our transition to Canvas.
General
Who is this site aimed at?
The Getting Started with Canvas site is aimed at any staff members within the Faculty of Science and Engineering who will be using Canvas. This includes both academic staff as well as professional services staff.
Why have we moved to Canvas?
Our existing contract with Blackboard Learn will end after 14 years in 2025.
With our current provider contract due for renewal and the imminent retirement of their current product, Blackboard Learn, in favour of a more modern system, Blackboard Ultra, there is no option but to explore an alternative product.
Whatever direction we decided to take, substantial effort in migrating to a new system was inevitable. We have therefore undertaken a full open tender process to identify the most suitable CLE to meet our needs.
We evaluated suppliers that responded to our tender bid in three different ways: based on their written responses, demonstrations provided, and usability testing (carried out by a cross section of students and colleagues). Based on the requirements identified as part of the DLE Review in 2022/23, Canvas by Instructure was unanimously identified as the supplier which best met our needs and our ambitions as a university.
Where can I practice working with content in Canvas?
All staff have access to a Canvas Sandbox, where they can practice building content.
What do I do if I do not have a Sandbox space in Canvas?
Raise a ticket via Connect and a Sandbox space will be created for you
How are enrolments managed in Canvas?
For course units, enrolments will happen via the integration with Campus Solutions.
Can I edit my display name in account settings?
No, this is not currently possible in Canvas. If you need to make a change to any of your details and are unable to do so via MyView, you should contact People Services for advice.
Can I select multiple personal pronouns in my user account?
Unfortunately, multiple pronoun sets are not currently available in Canvas. The eLearning team has brought this to the attention of the Faculty EDIA Manager, who is currently reviewing the available pronoun sets and has been asked to provide suggestions for additions.
Could relying on the Canvas calendar function for their timetable lead to students missing events?
Canvas calendar does not replace any existing timetabling systems. Students should access their timetabling information through existing channels.
Will we have a team to help us with the transition?
Yes, the Faculty eLearning team are on hand to assist and provide support – you can visit a drop in clinic, book a one-to-one session or work through an extensive range of video and text guides. Additional support can be provided by the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Leads in each discipline.
Support from the FSE eLearning Team:
Drop-in Clinics – find the schedule for all our future Canvas drop-in clinics on this page.
1-to-1 Virtual Consultation – book onto a 30 minute Canvas help session with the FSE eLearning Team via MS Teams.
Raise a ticket via Connect – use the Blackboard, Turnitin & eLearning form in Connect to raise a request or flag an issue.
Migration from Blackboard to Canvas
When will I get access to my course units in Canvas?
Course units for 2025/26 to be created by the end of March.
Semester 1 Content due to be migrated by end of March.
Semester 2 Content and Full Year units provisionally, migration will start at the beginning of July and be completed by the end of the month
Community Spaces – expect to be migrated in July.
Timelines may be subject to change.
What should I be doing now [April 2025] and over summer? Please can you explain next steps in the process?
Semester 1 Course unit leads can now begin checking their migrated content and copying it across to their Teaching spaces. Any Semester 2 and Full Year teaching teams who may want to start preparing the Teaching Space or do a scratch build can also begin. The Semester 2 and Full Year course unit content will be migrated in July once teaching concludes. For more information on the process please see our Moving to Canvas page.
Will existing courses be migrated to canvas or will these have be moved over manually by us?
The migration of content from Blackboard to Canvas is being done automatically, staff will NOT be asked to do this.
Do I have to use the migrated content or can I build from scratch?
No, it is up to you whether you use the content that has been migrated from Blackboard or build your content from scratch. In some cases, you may find it useful to build from scratch as it will allow you to consider which content is no longer needed. You can find more information on the migrated content here.
How do you tell the difference between Migration spaces and a Teaching spaces in Canvas?
Migrated spaces: these will not have students attached and will have the prefix BB_Migration. For example: ‘BB_MIGRATION I3132-COMP-10001-1241-1YR-‘ and any previous year courses will be prefixed with LEGACY. For example, ‘LEGACY I3132-COMP-10001-1231-1YR-‘
Teaching spaces: these are the spaces where you will build your content and will have students attached to them. The teaching spaces have no prefixes. For example, ‘I3132-COMP-10001-1251-1YR-‘
Are staff going to get some allocated time in FCM for the Canvas transition and setting up their unit pages?
The Dean, Vice Dean for TLSE and Heads of School have agreed that the Canvas rebuild work will be covered by the normal Teaching prep time allocation and no separate FCM for Canvas will be allocated.
Staff anticipating issues in this regard should consult their DHoE or SHoE for advice. Some departments will be using GTAs to assist in the rebuild and Faculty are recruiting a team of Interns to perform similar levels of support.
I am currently on sabbatical. I am going to lose a significant chunk of my sabbatical sorting out the Canvas Pages for when I return from my sabbatical. Is there any way I will be able to get that time back?
Impacts on Workload and Sabbaticals should be discussed with line managers and Discipline Heads of Education in the first instance.
Differences Between Blackboard and Canvas
What is the course structure difference between Canvas and Blackboard?
One of the fundamental differences between Blackboard and Canvas is how they present materials. Blackboard has a folders and file structure, whereas Canvas presents materials within ‘Modules’, specifically designed for learning. The Canvas Modules provide a linear path through the course which will aid students for most of our course units.
Which LTI version will be supported by Canvas? The most recent version is 1.3
Canvas uses the LTI 1.3 standard, the same as Blackboard. However, there may be slight changes in how the LTI tools work within Canvas.
Can Canvas duplicate the types of questions in exams that are available in Blackboard (i.e. jumble questions)?
Almost all common question types in Blackboard are available in Canvas – Multiple choice, Multiple Answer, True/False, Ordering, Matching. Slight differences in Hot Spot and Calculated Number questions means they will need to be rebuilt: the technology that supports these question types is very different, but quite powerful.
Most question types will be automatically migrated successfully, requiring minimal modification. However, it is recommended that every question is checked for correctness. There are some issues – particularly in how images are used within questions – that may require some modification.
Unfortunately Jumbled Sentence question types aren’t available in Canvas.
Will Canvas support Guest View Access like Blackboard currently does? If not, what’s the proposed alternative?
We are working on a solution for Guest Access, there is some technical issues with 3rd party tools to be resolved. Guest Access may not be available for September but hopefully at some point in the 2025-2026 academic year.
All the Blackboard structure is gone in Canvas. Could you copy the structure of Blackboard as well?
The (lack of) structure of Blackboard courses has proven problematic for our students. Canvas will be rolled out using a university wide template that has been designed by a team of PS and Academics colleagues to aid a consistent approach to the organisation of materials. This template has been targeted at the most common model of incremental (week-by-week, topic-after-topic) teaching. Use of this template is mandatory across all our course units that fit that model, to improve the course experience for students. Where a course unit is taught in a very non-linear way, e.g., in laboratory only units, we will have an alternative model.
Find out more about the university wide template below:
Training
Where can I find out about the training available to me?
You can find all our training opportunities, including our Canvas Clinics and Consultations, on our Training page.
I was unable to attend a TLSE training session, where can I find the resources?
All resources from the TLSE training sessions, including slides/activities/recordings (if online), can be found on our TLSE Training Resources page.
Course Unit Standards/Canvas Template
What is the Canvas template?
The Canvas template will be applied to all new courses to ensure a consistent structure and student experience. It provides a framework for unit leads to organise content effectively, with placeholders for essential information such as unit introductions, assessment details, and teaching staff profiles.
The template aligns with the Course Unit Standards guidance, which outlines expectations for course delivery. While the core elements of the template must remain and be adapted accordingly, staff have flexibility to deliver content as needed in other areas.
For further information on the course template, visit the page below.
Canvas Course Template
What is the flexibility in the use of the template? For example, how should the lecture notes be included?
The template has been designed to provide a level of consistency of course unit information. The Course Unit Information Module needs amending to include information about your course unit. Use of this Module is mandatory and will be checked within the Faculty.
In most cases, the creation of one Module per week is the best way to present a course in Canvas. Each Module should be clearly labelled and include references to time of delivery (e.g ‘Week 1,2,3’ etc and the topic of the content).
For courses which do not use a linear delivery of materials – for example, a Lab unit where groups of students do different activity each week. The materials should be organised in a logical fashion, examples could be a Module or Page per experiment, or Modules set up in blocks of activity for which a separate key or timetable is then provided to tell which students do which Activity each week.
For further assistance on designing this, please talk to your Discipline TLEL or the Faculty eLearning team.
The UoM Template doesn’t appear when I search for it in the Commons area.
The UoM template has been removed from Canvas Commons as it is not the final version. The UoM template will automatically be applied to course unit spaces.
To find out more about the Canvas course unit template, see this page: Canvas Course Template.
Can the Canvas template’s Course Unit Information section link to Slate’s course unit details?
Unfortunately, this option is not currently available.
Virtual Common Rooms/Community Spaces
What is the difference between setting up a course unit and setting up a Virtual Common Room?
Staff won’t need to set up spaces in Canvas. Teaching spaces (course units) will be automatically created from Campus Solutions data. Non-teaching spaces (including VCRs and what are known as Communities in Blackboard) will be created by the eLearning team, who will also manage enrolments for these spaces.
Does all the information in the Virtual Common Rooms in Blackboard get automatically added to the Canvas Virtual Common Rooms?
No, the bulk of the information from Bb Common Rooms will be added to School level Student Hub Sharepoint sites (policy, guidance, forms, generic student info). Disciplines will still have a Canvas common room to support T&L activity and as a mechanism to communicate with students.
Are groups in Canvas similar to community spaces in Blackboard?
No, groups are not like Community spaces in Blackboard. Canvas groups are a way of grouping students together so that they can work collaboratively within their course unit (for example, on a group project).
In Canvas there will be three different types of spaces:
- Course units. These are teaching spaces for credit-bearing course units, and are set up in Campus Solutions.
- Non-teaching spaces. These are known as Community spaces in Blackboard. Examples of such spaces would be Virtual Common Rooms, PASS Study spaces, Health and Safety Training spaces. These spaces can be set up by the eLearning team; some integration of Campus Solutions enrolments will be possible but will be set up manually.
- Virtual Common Rooms (VCRs). Over the years, Departmental VCR spaces have expanded significantly, resulting in an overwhelming amount of content that would not translate into a usuable space in Canvas. There is also considerable overlap with policy and process documentation, much of which is outdated and is challenging to manage. To address this, the majority of program- level information – including Mitigating Circumstances, policy process documents, wellbeing resources and careers information – will be moved to the School- level Student Hub SharePoint sites. Each Department will retain a Canvas VCR space, but its primary purpose will be to specifically support teaching and learning activities and serve as a communication platform for all UG or PGT students.
Will Virtual Common Rooms (VCRs) appear under the Courses tab?
Yes, both course units and non-teaching spaces (including VCRs) will be accessed via the Courses menu in Canvas.
Assessment & Feedback
Is Canvas replacing Turnitin?
No, Canvas is replacing Blackboard across the University. The way that Turnitin is used will change. Currently, to use the Turnitin Original Content checker, students upload to Turnitin and staff mark directly within Turnitin. To streamline the assessment process and reduce the number of platforms we use, coursework submissions will be uploaded to Speedgrader, the Canvas assessment tool. Speedgrader has been configured to utilise the Turnitin Original Content checker in the background and generate similarity reports without requiring users to leave Canvas.
Will a Similarity Report be generated if a student submits text as an image rather than a genuine text-based document?
If a student submits a PDF document as an image, a similarity report or score will not be generated and an exclamation mark icon [!] will be displayed in both Gradebook and Speedgrader.
A message will also appear in Speedgrader saying: “The file type of your upload is not supported. Try again in one of these formats: [.doc, .docx, .rtf, .txt, .pdf, .htm, .html, .odt, .eps, .ps, .wpd, .hwp, .ppt, .pptx, .ppsx, .pps, .xls, .xlsx].”
Similarly, if a student submits a Word document that contains images of text rather than actual text, the exclamation mark icon will appear. If applicable, a message will also be presented saying: “submissions need to be greater than 20 words to generate a similarity report”.
Late submissions – Can students see what penalties have been applied along with the calculations against their submissions?
Yes. Students can see a summary of the breakdown of their grades, along with any late penalties applied (if applicable) within the ‘Grades’ section of the course.
Multiple and Moderated Marking Guidance?
Guidance for this will be available in due course.
Are there settings to handle student exceptions (e.g., extensions or extra time)?
Yes, the Assign to feature in Canvas lets you set bespoke dates for specific students, and can be used to manage extensions for assignments or extra time for quizzes.
Assignment deadline extensions: If certain students have submission extensions, will all students see that an extension deadline exists?
No. Assign To dates can only be seen by the individuals that they have been granted to. Students cannot see alternative deadlines; they will only see the deadline that applies to them. For example, students who have a standard deadline would not be able to see any extensions granted to other students.
Do markers get alerts when coursework is handed in?
When students upload coursework to a Canvas assignment, it will appear in the markers’ To Do list as a task requiring grading. However, markers will not receive an email notification about the submission unless they have enabled the all submissions notification setting in their Canvas account preferences (Account > Notifications > Course activities > All submissions). When notifications for all submissions are enabled, staff receive an email each time a new submission is made, even after the deadline has passed.
Notification settings can be applied to all courses or customised for individual ones.
How do I restrict the file types that students can upload to a Canvas assignment?
To limit the types of files students submit, use the Restrict Upload File Types option in the assignment settings. Further information can be found in the following guide: How to restrict file types.
How well is staff prepared to support the set-up and execution of exams in Semester 1, which are assessed via online tests (in-person and invigilated on campus)?
Work is underway to explore how Canvas will work with the current eAssessment Desktop tools we use to provide a secure online exam environment. We are confident that Canvas can be used in a very similar way to Blackboard to deliver this type of assessment. It will be vital that anyone wishing to run an online exam before the January Semester 1 exam period contacts the Faculty eLearning team so we know exactly when these exams will happen.
Lecture Capture/Video/Conferencing Tools
What is happening with Lecture Capture, the Video Server and Canvas Studio?
The processes for the lecture capture process will remain the same. The links that students use to access recorded lectures will be included in the migration and will need to be copied from the migration sandboxes to the teaching spaces.
For asynchronous video materials… there’s currently no expectation that staff migrate any existing video server content to Canvas Studio, although staff can download and re-upload video from the video server to Studio quite easily. Videos currently embedded within ‘Items’ in Blackboard will migrate to Canvas as ‘Pages’ and the embedded video will still work.
Any staff looking to create new video materials should consider creating this material within Canvas Studio. The additional features – student timeline comments, engagement data, overlayed quizzes and the ability to record and publish screen recordings all within Canvas Studio make this a very useful tool.
The current strategy is that Lecture recordings and any external facing video will continue to be hosted on the University video server. Asynchronous video content used for blended learning will sit within Studio – although this ‘migration’ will most likely happen organically over the next few years.
Is there an alternative to Blackboard Collaborate on Canvas?
No, there is no built-in video conferencing tool in Canvas. We recommended that you use Microsoft Teams for this.
Student Support
What support is available for students?
Students will be able to access support via the Support option in the Canvas menu.
We also have a guide on this website that provides a comprehensive introduction to Canvas for students. You can access it here: Introduction to Canvas for Students
How is the change being communicated to students and what resources for students will be available for the switch in 2025/26?
A campaign of student communications, meetings and workshops are planned as part of the University project—a first email has gone out to students discussing the need to back up feedback to assessments on Blackboard. Special induction materials will be provided for welcome week, and earlier for online usage.