UCLA prepares for winter transition to Canvas system from CCLE

UCLA will transition learning management systems to host all courses via Canvas on Bruin Learn by winter.

A learning management system is a web-based software that manages course materials and resources for institutions, instructors and students. UCLA will fully transition from CCLE, the current learning management system, in the winter and is currently hosting some fall quarter courses on Canvas, according to the UCLA LMS Transformation website.

Bruin Learn is built on the Canvas platform but will also include other tools and programs, according to LMS Transformation. The website also notes that the university decided to transition from CCLE to Canvas because the platform offers more powerful tools to integrate Gradescope and Slack, leads the learning management system market and is better suited for UCLA’s future.

Canvas is widely used among other institutions, including other University of California campuses, California State Universities, community colleges and high schools, according to LMS Transformation. In addition to making the transfer experience smoother, the university decided to make the transition to Canvas because teaching and learning practices have recently changed.

Tim Groeling, a professor of communication at UCLA, said in an emailed statement that some professors may need some time to get acquainted with the platform, but the university is providing technical support for faculty during the transition.

“Any time you’ve used one platform for a while and are asked to use another, there are cognitive costs associated with that change, regardless of the merits of the new or old platform,” Groeling said.

Groeling added that he is worried some faculty may not be aware of the transition. He said he receives around 100 emails a day, so emailed information from the university is easy to miss.

“I’m concerned that faculty putting this off until the last minute will overwhelm any available support,” Groeling said. “I’d suggest faculty get their winter sites set up by no later than finals week this quarter to avoid that sort of crush.”

However, Groeling said the university has provided professors with online and in-person resources to help them get acquainted with the platform. For example, professors had the option to try out Canvas on an unpublished course site and a few faculty members have been using Canvas this fall.

Canvas is a popular learning management system, so online resources for faculty with questions will be easy to find. The mobile app is also convenient, Groeling added.

Mel Theis, a third-year economics transfer student, said she prefers Canvas to CCLE. She said getting acquainted with CCLE was difficult at first, and she continues to experience issues with the platform. Theis added that one of her classes does not show up on the CCLE mobile app, so she needs to log in separately on Safari, which is an inconvenience.

Theis also said she likes how Canvas notifies students when a grade is posted, a feature CCLE does not have. However, Theis said she is concerned professors are not prepared to transition to Canvas.

“Watching the transition from … everyone going online has definitely decreased my confidence in my professors knowing the technology to make that transition easy and seamless for the students,” Theis said.

Angelina Quint, the Undergraduate Students Association Academic Affairs commissioner, also said she is uneasy about professors transitioning to a new learning management system platform.

“One of the main barriers for not recording lectures was that it requires professors to utilize different types of technology, and they might be unwilling to do so and stuff like that,” Quint said. “But now they’re telling professors that they need to transition to this new platform that they probably have no experience using.”

[Related: DSU calls on UCLA to offer more COVID-19 accommodations, clarity for students]

Stuart Soroka, a professor of communication at UCLA, said in an emailed statement that he used Canvas at the previous institution at which he taught. He added that he is new to UCLA, so the university set up all of his classes this quarter on Canvas, not CCLE.

Theis said she understands why UCLA did not introduce new professors on CCLE for the fall quarter when the university is transitioning to Canvas for winter quarter. However, she said having some courses on Canvas with others on CCLE is inconvenient for students.

Quint said she feels the shift to Canvas should have been timed at the beginning of an academic year, rather than in the middle of one during winter quarter.

“Especially during this time of transition for so many students where we’re navigating in-person classes again, … I feel like this transition to Canvas is kind of poorly timed,” Quint said. “There’s so much going on and students are already having to transition to … different ways of learning.”

However, Abeeha Hussain, a third-year labor studies and political science transfer student, said she is happy to see the university transition to Canvas because of the features the platform provides that CCLE does not.

Hussain said Canvas formats all of a student’s due dates into a calendar that can be expanded to show the details of each assignment. She also added that Canvas requires students to sign in less frequently, which was a frustration she had with CCLE.

“I’ve actually been logged out (of CCLE) while doing a midterm,” Hussain said.

She added that she is excited for the transition to Canvas since she found the learning management system easy to navigate and organized at her community college.

“I … completely understand and empathize with students who are worried about whether or not the professor would be able to deliver their content in the same manner,” Hussain said. “But I’m very optimistic about this change.”