Canvas LMS Reviews

“staying current with tech trends

Pros

I must say they are doing a good job staying current with tech trends like adding AI features and focusing on a user-friendly experience.

Cons

The recent improvements have been great. It feels like they are actually listening to user feedback and making needed changes. I do not have any negative feedback right now.

“a top-tier platform for teaching

Pros

Canvas remains a top-tier platform and I have discovered many new features as I have taken on more teaching. Having only used Blackboard for comparison, Canvas seems better equipped for online exams, especially for tailoring them to student needs with extra time or attempts. I also value how easily it calculates the final grade from various quizzes, exams and assignments when I just set the weights at the course start. Uploading files, links and other materials for students is also very simple.

Cons

I feel like a student participation and learning could get a big boost if the platform included more interactive tools to keep them engaged.

“Great updates for instructors

Pros

It has rolled out some great updates such as instructors can now submit assignments for a student which helps those who miss deadlines for valid reasons. The new quiz tool offers more question types and lets us set accommodations for a whole term. The assignment page is better for students, there is a screen recording feature for tutorials and a richer editor for comments.

Cons

Copying assignments from one course to another is an annoying process. The original due dates carry over which can automatically give students a zero if they do not submit on that date. Plus I noticed the To Do list for students also is not very effective.

“effective for homeschool lessons

Pros

Well it is really effective for putting together short, daily homeschool lessons and designing PDF projects. And its design tools are top-notch.

Cons

Working with certain elements like drawing flow diagrams, can be time-consuming because it takes a while to figure out how everything works.

“connects me with my classes

Pros

This platform lets me connect with my classes and coworkers and it gives me faster access to my course information than before. Overall it is an essential tool you can use anywhere like at home, school, work or traveling and it is helpful for anyone who needs to do or grade coursework at any time.

Cons

The only downside I noticed is the scheduled maintenance which locks you out until it is finished. It is understandable but it can be an inconvenience. Other than that it is a fantastic tool.

“Very helpful and reliable

Pros

It continues to be very helpful. After using it daily for a few months, I have found that it makes moving around the platform much easier.

Cons

No complaints here. The platform is consistently reliable. There is a bit of a learning curve at first but it gets much easier after we use it for a while.

“a simple interface to navigate

Pros

The interface has stayed simple to navigate. Plus checking past assignments and old courses is no trouble at all.

Cons

To me the visual design looks a bit old and could use a refresh to make different menu items stand out more clearly.

“Much simpler to get around

Pros

Getting around the site is much simpler now. My students can see all their important items like quizzes and modules, right on their homepage.

Cons

Scrolling on the left-hand side where the tabs are located is not always smooth, making it a little difficult to reach some of the options up there.

“Highly Flexible setup but Hard-to-Find settings

Pros

You have a lot of freedom in how you arrange content, lessons and units, organizing them just how you like. It can be a little overwhelming occasionally but I must say it is perfect for tailoring the class to your preferences.

Cons

Locating certain settings and options is still tricky. When I need to adjust something, it often takes me much longer to find the right spot than I feel it should.

“smooth connections with other apps

Pros

The newest updates that allow for smoother connections with other apps and websites are fantastic. Getting everything integrated is also simple and does not cause much trouble.

Cons

Manually marking each student's grade as late or missing for every single assignment is a tedious process.

“simple and packed with features

Pros

Canvas is simple to use and packed with features for managing both in-person and online classes. The gradebook is especially useful for students, giving them immediate feedback on their progress.

Cons

There is absolutely nothing negative to report. I find it so simple to use and is far superior to other learning management systems available.

“Incredibly easy with excellent support

Pros

The platform is incredibly easy to use and their support team is excellent. We can create everything from quizzes and links to full lesson plans and there are loads of add-ons to make lessons more interactive and simple to manage.

Cons

I genuinely cannot think of a single bad thing to say. It connects with almost everything and I use it for all my classes and even for managing club activities.

“central spot for all course materials

Pros

Having a single, central spot for all curriculum materials and assignments was great because it was so easy to find what we needed and interact with it.

Cons

The layers of menus and dropdowns could feel a bit complicated to navigate sometimes though it stopped being a big issue once I got used to it.

“an excellent experience for all

Pros

My experience with Canvas was excellent, both as a student and a teacher. Adding courses, assignments, learning objects and links was a smooth and satisfying process. My school used it as the main hub for learning and external resources and it worked very well. Entering grades was simple and reviewing student work with comments was simple. The Google Suite integration had a slight learning curve but once we figured it out, it became essential. Overall I was very happy with the platform.

Cons

There is not one specific negative feature that stands out. Sure there were occasional bugs and glitches but for the most part, my experience with the program was great.

“all the tools teachers need

Pros

It has all the tools K-12 teachers and students need including auto-graded quizzes, video uploads and classroom management. Its API is excellent too so whether you are managing classes with spreadsheets or an automated system, it is very easy to handle.

Cons

Managing big groups of classes or people in bulk through the interface can be challenging. Some tasks involve a lot of scrolling and I feel like the filtering options could be more effective.

“simple and user-friendly basics

Pros

Learning the basics is simple and user-friendly. It does take some time investment but you can learn at your own comfortable pace.

Cons

Getting started is a bit difficult for me personally since I do not have much free time to learn and explore the program properly.

“Love the customizability

Pros

The customizability is a feature I really love. You can arrange your classes as a list or cards, change the colors and even use external sites for more personalization. Plus being able to toggle your grade view, easily check your to-do list and upcoming assignments and clearly see your inbox and overall profile layout are all fantastic.

Cons

Well the notification system is not my favorite so I would love more control over it. For instance, I want an alert when a grade is posted, but not for every single edit a teacher makes that results in 20 update notices. Also using it on my phone was harder as navigating assignments was tricky and some features did not work as well as on my computer.

“simple and easy to access

Pros

Canvas LMS was simple and easy to access. I could log in and immediately see my assignments and classes, including what work was due and when I needed to complete it.

Cons

It is definitely my preference over Brightspace. And I have no negative feedback because it is so easy to use.

“a very thorough LMS

Pros

This is a very thorough LMS that supports different user roles like instructor, teaching assistant and student. Every student gets a record of their past courses and it keeps everything for a class such as communication, grades and files that too neatly organized in a clean web and mobile app which I like the most.

Cons

I feel like the user interface could use an update. Most of the navigation is just basic links so they should work on a more modern, clean design system. Like it works fine but the look and feel are dated.

“Made my higher education possible

Pros

Using Canvas has made pursuing my higher education possible. All the daily resources I need are simple to find and use.

Cons

It is annoying that we have to return to its homepage to access a different feature but there might be a shortcut I do not know about.