LMS Transition from Blackboard to Canvas
After a yearlong pilot, UMass Lowell (UML) has selected Canvas by Instructure as our new Learning Management System (LMS). We will transition to Canvas in four phases by college as shown below. Colleges will continue to use Blackboard until they are transitioned to Canvas. This transition is scheduled to start in the fall of 2024 and complete in fall of 2026.
Phase / College | Development / Workshops | Teaching in Canvas |
---|---|---|
I. Manning School of Business (MSB) / Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences (ZCHS) | Fall 2024 | Spring 2025 |
II. Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (FAHSS) / Honors | Spring 2025 | Fall 2025 |
III. Kennedy College of Sciences (KCS) | Fall 2025 | Spring 2026 |
IV. Francis College of Engineering (FCE) | Spring 2026 | Fall 2026 (summer 2026 FCE courses will use Canvas) |
Fall 2026 - all courses will be taught in Canvas.
If you are unsure where your course is, please see our Find My Course page for more information.
Canvas Workshops for Faculty and Teaching Assistants (TAs)
We are excited to offer a series of Canvas workshops for faculty and TAs, designed to help you smoothly transition to the new platform. Each workshop will be recorded if you have a conflict or if you would like to revisit the content at your convenience. Please note that workshops with the same name will cover the same materials. You need not register for all of them as they will be identical.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Faculty can register now for Canvas workshops! Please note these workshops are for faculty and TA's only.
After registering, you will receive a calendar invite with a Zoom link within 3 business days. While registration is not required, it will help us to determine if we need to create additional workshops. Registration is not required for the drop-ins.
Students who are in Canvas can go through the "Canvas Student Orientation" course. A free, optional course for all students to help you get to know Canvas.
Recordings are available on Canvas in a module in the "Self-Paced Canvas Faculty Training" course. Canvas is currently available to Manning and Zuckerberg faculty. Canvas will be made available to FAHSS faculty in April.
** All workshops are hosted UML staff on the Academic Technology/IT and GPS teams. **
Date | Time | Workshop / Drop-in Details | Agenda | Zoom Link |
---|---|---|---|---|
Monday, March 24, 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Intro to Canvas | Intro to Canvas Agenda | March 24 Zoom Link |
Tuesday, March 25, 2025 | 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Intro to Canvas | Intro to Canvas Agenda | March 25 Zoom Link |
Tuesday, April 8, 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Tips for Cleaning Up your Migrated Course Content | Tips for Cleaning Up Agenda | April 8 Zoom Link |
Thursday, April 10, 2025 | 10-11 a.m. | Course Flow and Content Creation | Course Flow and Content Creation Agenda | April 10 Zoom Link |
Monday, April 14, 2025 | 11 a.m. - noon | Using Zoom in Canvas | Using Zoom in Canvas Agenda | April 14 Zoom Link |
Thursday, April 17 2025 | 10-11 a.m. | Assignments and Grading Assignments | Assignments and Grading Assignments Agenda | April 17 Zoom Link |
Friday, April 18, 2025 | 9-10 a.m. | Canvas Drop-in | April 18 Zoom Link | |
Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | 1:30-2:45 p.m. (75-minute workshop) | Canvas Studio | Canvas Studio Agenda | April 22 Zoom Link |
Thursday, April 24, 2025 | 10-11 a.m. | Gradebook and Feedback | Gradebook and Feedback Agenda | April 24 Zoom Link |
Monday, April 28, 2025 | 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Canvas Drop-In | April 28 Zoom Link | |
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Discussions and Other Communication Tools in Canvas | Discussions Agenda | April 30 Zoom Link |
Monday, May 5, 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Quizzes, Item Banks, and Grading Quizzes | Quizzes Agenda | May 5 Zoom Link |
Friday, August 1, 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Intro to Canvas | Intro to Canvas Agenda | August 1 Zoom Link |
Monday, August 4, 2025 | 10-11 a.m. | Gradebook and Feedback | Gradebook and Feedback Agenda | August 4 Zoom Link |
Monday, August 18, 2025 | 10-11 a.m. | Intro to Canvas | Intro to Canvas Agenda | August 18 Zoom Link |
Tuesday, August 19, 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Tips for Cleaning Up your Migrated Course Content | Tips for Cleaning Up Agenda | August 19 Zoom Link |
Monday, August 25, 2025 | 1:30-2:30 p.m. | Course Flow and Content Creation | Course Flow and Content Creation Agenda | August 25 Zoom Link |
Tuesday, August 26 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Assignments and Grading Assignments | Assignments and Grading Assignments Agenda | August 26 Zoom Link |
Friday, September 5, 2025 | 10-11 a.m. | Canvas Drop-In | September 5 Zoom Link | |
Monday, September 8, 2025 | 2-3 p.m. | Canvas Drop-In | September 8 Zoom Link | |
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 | 9:30-10:30 a.m. | Course Flow and Content Creation | Course Flow and Content Creation Agenda | September 9 Zoom Link |
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 | 10-11 a.m. | Group Work and Collaboration in Canvas | Group Work and Collaboration Agenda | September 17 Zoom Link |
Monday, September 29 2025 | 10:30-11:30 a.m. | Data and Analytics | Data and Analytics Agenda | September 29 Zoom Link |
Faculty can register now for Canvas workshops!
Please see the Provost's Announcement about this transition: