June 14, 2022

This message is distributed to senate-faculty, non-senate-faculty, Academic-Assistant-Deans, and Academic-Department-Managers.  (Click here to view description of distribution groups.)  

The following is being sent on behalf of Pierre Wiltzius, Executive Dean, College of Letters and Science and Linda Adler-Kassner, Associate Vice Chancellor, Teaching and Learning

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Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to let you know about a planned upcoming change to UC Santa Barbara’s Learning Management System (LMS) currently known as GauchoSpace. Beginning this summer and continuing through the 2022-2023 academic year, instructors will have the opportunity to authorize moving courses from GauchoSpace to a new LMS, UCSB Canvas. This will entail a transition from Moodle, the platform used by GauchoSpace, to a new platform, Canvas. 

The decision to move from Moodle to Canvas was recommended by an advisory group of faculty, staff, TAs, and students. It was necessary for two reasons. First, the current version of Moodle will, in essence, no longer be available as of Fall 2023. A required upgrade and redesign will result in an entirely different platform than the one faculty currently use. Without the upgrade, GauchoSpace would no longer receive Moodle’s critical security updates, putting critical campus data at risk. The new Moodle, though, will be sufficiently distinct from the current version that it would be the equivalent of transferring to an entirely new LMS. 

Second, the California Budget Act of 2021 (passed by the state legislature) provided funding for all UC campuses to adopt a common LMS (that would also be used by CSUs and community colleges) by the 2023-2024 academic year. All other campuses (except UCSF) have moved or are in the process of moving to Canvas. 

The Canvas Transition Steering Committee (of administrators, faculty, and staff) is working to provide instructors and staff with extensive training opportunities through the year and ample resources to fully support our instructors with the change, including a website which includes preliminary FAQs. Letter and Science Information Technology (LSIT), which supports the LMS, is committed to keeping the website updated and communicating with our community throughout the transitional year. Instructors may also send questions to help@collaborate.ucsb.edu

We have highlighted some initial FAQs about Canvas at the end of this letter. Letters and Science Information Technology (LSIT) staff are also working with a number of instructors who volunteered to use Canvas in Spring and Summer 2022 to develop training resources and needs and to identify potential challenges. Instructors who would like to pilot Canvas in Fall quarter 2022 are also welcome to do so. Instructors interested in using Canvas in Fall 2022 may complete this form

Instructors can also expect regular updates on the campus’s conversion to Canvas via messages from the Instructional Support Team and the Canvas Transition Steering Committee. 

Sincerely,

Pierre Wiltzius, Executive Dean, College of Letters and Science
Linda Adler-Kassner, Associate Vice Chancellor, Teaching and Learning

 

Canvas Transition Steering Committee Members
Linda Adler-Kassner, Associate Vice Chancellor, Teaching and Learning

Mike Miller, Associate Vice Chancellor of Undergraduate Education

Hector Villicana, Executive Director, Letters and Science Information Technology

George Michaels, Executive Director, Instructional Development

Shae Lovan, Interim Chief Information Officer

Bret Brinkman, Director of Instructional Technology

Dawn Gregory, Business Systems Project Manager

Gus Wood, Instructional Applications Operational Expert

Lisa Berry, Senior Instructional Consultant, Instructional Development

Mindy Colin, Instructional Consultant, Instructional Development

Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, Associate Professor, GGSE

Ken Hiltner, Professor, English

 

Canvas Features

  • Instructors and students from UC Santa Barbara who are familiar with Canvas report that it is easy to learn and easy to use because it is more clearly structured than Moodle.
  • Canvas includes all of Moodle’s widely used features like assignments, attendance, files, forums, quizzes, email, GauchoCast (Panopto), iClickerCloud, Nectir, H5P, Gradescope, Google Assignment, Google Apps, and Eli Review. Instructors can read about Canvas here. Most UCSB students have used Canvas in high school and/or community college.

Converting Courses: How and When

  • The campus has hired an experienced firm to migrate courses from Moodle to Canvas. The content and activities in the current course will be available in Canvas.
  • This move can take place whenever an instructor authorizes it as long as it is prior to August 1, 2023, when it is expected that Moodle (GauchoSpace) will no longer be available for Fall 2023 courses. 
  • All faculty will use Canvas for their courses by Fall 2023, but faculty may choose to move to Canvas during the 2022-2023  academic year, if desired. 
  • The earlier instructors decide to move their courses from Moodle to Canvas, the more time they will have to ensure that the move has been accomplished to their satisfaction. Courses archived in Moodle (GauchoSpace) will continue to be available for reference and to import into Canvas for 2-3 years after the transition.

How Can I Learn to Use Canvas?

  • Letters and Science Information Technology (LSIT)  and Instructional Development have already started training sessions and workshops on Canvas. These will be available through the summer the 2022-23 academic year. Instructors are also invited to begin using Canvas for Summer Sessions 2022 or any quarter of the 2022-2023 academic year. 
  • LSIT will supervise the transition of existing courses from Moodle and/or provide assistance with the development of new courses in Canvas.
  • Instructors can request a consultation for a Canvas course site or for assistance with a course by emailing help@collaborate.ucsb.edu. You can read more about the Canvas transition at canvas.ucsb.edu, and submit questions via that site or by emailing help@collaborate.ucsb.edu.