Who Uses CANVAS?
Canvas provides the industry-leading platform for millions of passionate students and teachers. Most of colleges, universities, and school districts are currently utilizing the Canvas LMS.
What Is CANVAS?
Through open, usable, cloud-based technologies, Canvas enables easy integration of the content, tools, and services that teachers need and students want. As the most usable, customizable, adaptable, and reliable learning platform (think 99.9% uptime), Canvas is adopted faster and deeper (or, is used in more ways by more users) than any other LMS. So, in the end, investing in 21st century education technology actually makes teaching and learning easier. Learn more about us at www.instructure.com/
CANVAS Details
Instructure
http://www.instructure.com
Founded 2008
CANVAS pricing overview
CANVAS has a free version and offers a free trial.
Free Version
Yes
Free Trial
Yes
CANVAS deployment and support
Support
- 24/7 (Live Rep)
- Business Hours
- Online
Deployment
- Cloud, SaaS, Web
- Mobile - iOS Native
- Mobile - Android Native
Training
- In Person
- Live Online
- Webinars
- Documentation
CANVAS Features
Gradebook Software
- Attendance Tracking
- Class Summary
- Curve Scores
- Grade Calculations
- Individualized Assessments
- Lesson Planning
- Parent Portal
- Progress Reports
- Report Cards
- Teacher Dashboard
- Weighted Assignments
Higher Education Software
- Admissions Management
- Alumni Management
- Assessment Management
- Curriculum Management
- Faculty / Staff Management
- Financial Aid Management
- Fundraising Management
- Housing Management
- Scheduling
- Student Information / Records
- Student Portal
K-12 Software
- Attendance Tracking
- Classroom Management
- Communication Management
- Curriculum Management
- Enrollment Management
- Financial Management
- Parent Portal
- Progress Reports
- Skill Testing
- Student Information / Records
Learning Management System Software
- Academic/Education
- Asynchronous Learning
- Blended Learning
- Built-in Course Authoring
- Corporate/Business
- Gamification
- Learner Portal
- Mobile Learning
- SCORM Compliance
- Synchronous Learning
- Video Conferencing
- eCommerce
- eLearning Companies
CANVAS Alternatives
More CANVAS alternatives
CANVAS Reviews
Read all reviewsOverall rating
Average score
Kelly B.
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Overall Rating5 /5
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Ease of Use5 /5
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Features & Functionality4 /5
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Customer Support5 /5
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Value for Money5 /5
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Likelihood to Recommend
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 30/06/2020
"CANVAS makes higher education accessible anywhere you have an internet connection!"
Comments: CANVAS is very user-friendly and an all-around excellent way to engage in continuing education and life-long learning. Personally, as an older student, I love using CANVAS.
Pros: While I am unsure of the College's side in using this software, for me, as a student, I love using CANVAS. I enjoy travelling and with an easy-to-use, school-issued/provided LMS (Learning Management System/Software), I can take many classes online from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. The mobile application is robust and incredibly convenient, allowing 99% all-the-same functionality as the desktop version. Students can even take online quizzes and finals using their internet-connected mobile device (Smartphone). It is very user-friendly and an all-around excellent way to engage in continuing education and life-long learning as an older (personally, 42 years) college student.
Cons: The only drawbacks to CANVAS I experienced were a loss of data if the active internet connection broke while in the middle of completing/submitting assignments and quizzes. I know that CANVAS has since implemented an auto-save feature on the quizzes, so that part of the problem is resolved. Whether or not this is true of the assignment submissions, I honestly do not know at this time.
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 30/06/2020
Kyle Y.
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Overall Rating4 /5
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Ease of Use3 /5
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Features & Functionality4 /5
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Customer Support4 /5
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Value for Money5 /5
-
Likelihood to Recommend
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 18/10/2020
"College on the Web"
Comments: Canvas is an excellent learning tool for most colleges and universities. Not only does it allow for assignments to be turned in over the internet but it also allows students to take quizzes and attend lectures through ConferNow and Zoom. It will notify you through email for any work that is assigned, work that is due, etc. Although it can be a bit complicated to operate through compared to other programs such as Google Classroom, it has all the features you would need in order to run a class online especially during a pandemic.
Pros: With the rise of Coronavirus and online options for college classes, Canvas has been a staple tool for students taking online classes and even with online assignments. Canvas, similar to Google Classroom, is a program that allows teachers to assign work through the web instead of wasting time printing and wasting paper. It allows students to be notified of when assignments are due and even allows them to take quizzes and test online. With most of the world being forced to do everything digitally Canvas allows access to Zoom through ConferNow which allows for teachers to schedule lectures and meetings. Canvas also allows you to message other students if needed. Without Canvas, school online would be incredibly difficult, and although Google Classroom is a solid option for courses in elementary school through high school, Canvas has more features such as users being able to directly embed LTIs such as Flipgrid.
Cons: Although Canvas is better than Google Classroom in terms of the number of features, Google Classroom's interface is simpler and easier to understand than Canvas's. Google Classroom, being a Google program, also makes it slightly easier to turn in assignments using Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. Canvas's user system can also use some work as well. Canvas may have the ability to allow you to see other students but it's obscure. There's no way to search for other people unless they're in your class and most people don't even know of the profile feature. Personally, I don't believe there are many problems with Canvas except that they should redo its design because to me it seems a bit bland and that they should make its interface a bit more simpler since it can be confusing to navigate through.
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 18/10/2020
Samridh S.
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Overall Rating3 /5
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Ease of Use3 /5
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Features & Functionality3 /5
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Customer SupportUnrated
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Value for MoneyUnrated
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Likelihood to Recommend
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 01/02/2019
"Canvas as a student user"
Comments: Compared to Moodle, I like Canvas much better. It is very much focused and geared towards enhancing the student's learning experience.
Pros:
I have been using canvas regularly for all my graduate classes. It has been the epicenter/hub for the instructor and all other students to come together and create a intuitive learning environment. Things I really like with canvas:
- Discussions and Help Forums
It's so easy to post questions in canvas and ask the professor and other students for help or clarifications. my graduate classes are pretty demanding and requires lot of back and forth with the instructor. But imagine if every student asked the instructor the same questions over and over again. On canvas I can see other student's questions and responses so it's like big FAQ hub.
- Easy to navigate Contents
All of the contents such as lecture slides, videos, homeworks, grades etc are in one location under different tabs. It has been organized properly and I don't have to click 100 times to get tot the page I want.
- Interaction with other students
I think this is what differentiates Canvas from moodle and what I have used in the past. This platform is very much student geared and student centered. It is there to help students interact with each other and learn from each other.
Cons:
Canvas is not perfect though if you are not an expert user or instructor.
- Many times instructors said the contents are released but it wasn't
- The grades accumulation does not always makes sense
- Very much dependent on how the instructor has laid out contents.
- Redundant information
- Not always user friendly. Does take a while to get adjusted to it
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 01/02/2019
Prashant J.
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Overall Rating4 /5
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Ease of Use5 /5
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Features & Functionality4 /5
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Customer Support2 /5
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Value for Money4 /5
-
Likelihood to Recommend
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 26/09/2020
"Good offering but bad user interface"
Comments: Overall, the product is pretty easy to use and easy to onboard new users on the usage of the product as well. For certain features, a 'help' section would have been useful but there are ways to get around and learn how to use a functionality present in Canvas.
Pros: Most useful feature is revisiting the previous courses and going through the material that was covered in those courses. Typically, in other similar software, this is disabled after a certain period of time but Canvas keeps this feature open. The product is definitely easy to use as apart from showing the current courses, it also displays the upcoming deadlines and announcements that comes in very handy as soon as a user logs into the system and navigates to the home screen
Cons: The worst thing about this product in a lack of search functionality. Manually going through the complete list of options/courses/documents or whatever is present in the Canvas to find one required element is time-intensive process. A search feature would have been really useful in quickly searching what we are looking for.
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 26/09/2020
David C.
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Overall Rating5 /5
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Ease of Use4 /5
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Features & Functionality5 /5
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Customer Support5 /5
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Value for Money5 /5
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Likelihood to Recommend
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 16/12/2019
"Like a Fine Wine, It Gets Better with Age"
Comments: Canvas has made online and blended education much less of a hassle for students and teachers. It is simple, elegant, and functional. There is almost NO downtime, which is phenomenal. I highly recommend it above any other LMS. Both students and faculty love using Canvas for online and blended courses.
Pros: Canvas by Instructure has only improved as it has grown. For an LMS, it is easy to learn and use. It has integrations with various other useful software, but I often encourage faculty who have trouble learning software to just use the tools in Canvas. It's easier to navigate and function. The new gradebook promises to make the whole experience even better.
Cons: This is petty, but the thing I like least about Canvas is the rich text editor on content pages. I wish it could handle more drag and drop features, like Squarespace or Wix. That said, it is perfectly fine. It's not that I don't like it, but I like it least.
- Reviewer Source
- Reviewed on 16/12/2019
