Blackboard Vs Canvas: Choosing The Winner!

Blackboard vs Canvas Are you looking for the right LMS (Learning Management System) tool? And what about the employee skill gaps you aim to address? Can Blackboard or Canvas fulfill those requirements? In this guide, we will provide a thorough comparison of the standout features, pricing, integrations, scalability, customer support, data security, and compliance approaches of both Blackboard and Canvas. By reading further, you'll discover which system would be the most suitable fit for your organization.

Blackboard

Blackboard by Anthology offers online learning programs for educational institutions and the corporate world. With its robust features and user-friendly interface, it enables students, instructors, curriculum developers, corporate trainers, and professionals from various fields to learn quickly and effectively.

Canvas

Canvas, a prominent LMS, is widely sought after as both an academic and corporate training platform due to its innovative setup and forward-thinking approach to learning. It serves as an excellent choice for individuals seeking an engaging and efficient educational experience, whether they are students, educators, school administrators, or course facilitators.

Canvas Vs Blackboard

Time to compare Blackboard and Canvas features…

When considering the LMS market share in North America, Blackboard and Canvas currently hold 21% and 34% respectively. Now, let’s delve into their features and differences for a more detailed understanding. By the end of this section, you will have a clearer grasp of which system is more suitable for your requirements!

Content Management

Valuable and engaging content serves as the lifeblood of any LMS tool. However, creating useful content for learning programs poses a significant challenge for users of various learning management systems. In this regard, Canvas’s content creation feature comes equipped with the following functionalities:

Dedicated toolbar
Convenient uploading of tables, images, links, documents, and equations
Keyboard shortcuts
Content repository
Customizable assessments such as quizzes, exams, assignments, and group discussions

On the other hand, Blackboard (or Blackboard Learn) offers the following features:

Content editing capabilities
Online lectures, tests, and integration with social media links
Ability to add tables, text, attachments, multimedia, etc. to course materials

Incorporation of mathematical formulas using WIRIS technology

Signs You Need to Change

Assignment Grading

Assignment grading isn’t always fun, which is why different LMS tools try to change this monotonous undertaking into a more streamlined operation. For instance, take Canvas, for example. It allows teachers to assign roles to trusted individuals, such as teaching associates or honor roll students. This means that multiple users can participate in grading student assignments. Non-administrator users can provide temporary annotations and comments on DocViewer for final revisions. Moreover, the scoring process has an anonymous feature to ensure that graders do not know the identities of the students. On the other hand, Blackboard also allows multiple users to evaluate assessments, review changes made by others, and determine final grades. However, its assignment grading feature is not as comprehensive as Canvas, as it lacks the ability to add comments and annotations to documents. Blackboard-Grading

Plagiarism Detection

The modern digital world presents various challenges, and plagiarism is one of them. This issue is particularly significant for academics, professional trainers, content creators, and others. When grading students’ work, it is crucial to efficiently identify signs of plagiarism in order to maintain the integrity of their coursework. The same applies to professional trainers, administrators, and course creators. To address this concern, Blackboard has integrated with SafeAssign, a plagiarism detection tool. SafeAssign compares students’ assignments with a vast database of existing academic works and calculates the percentage of similarity between the two. It also highlights any repeated text within the project, allowing for further investigation or exclusion if properly cited from another source. In contrast, Canvas does not currently have an automatically integrated plagiarism detection tool. However, users can utilize third-party plugins such as Copyscape and Turnitin. Nevertheless, Canvas does not have a built-in plagiarism tracker within its system at this time.

Reusing Content

Access to content library is required from time to time, especially for teachers and their colleagues. Let’s say you’re leading a course in the fall semester and plan to use the same material in the following term. Instead of recreating the lessons, you can simply upload the previously used material on Canvas. This saves you time and resources. To facilitate this, Canvas offers a course import tool. With it, you can re-upload content, assignments, quizzes, announcements, and discussion boards from past terms. You only need to adjust the due dates as required. Additionally, Canvas allows you to select specific parts of the course material, so you don’t have to include the entire package if you don’t want or need it. In contrast, Blackboard generates ZIP files of exported content that can be reused for a new course. However, unlike Canvas, you don’t have the option to select specific material for reuploading. The entire course content must be uploaded as a whole.

Self-Assessment

Self-assessments enable learners to obtain feedback on themselves and their peers without requiring intervention from the instructor(s). This process provides insight into their strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to make improvements prior to the final assessment. Blackboard-Self assessment Canvas does not have an inherent self-assessment mechanism. In contrast, Blackboard provides anonymous self-assessments to aid course participants.

Offline Content

Offline content allows you to access course material even without an internet connection, giving you the flexibility to learn from various locations. In Canvas, users have the option to export course folders, embedded files, and pages in HTML format, which can be accessed offline. However, this feature is dependent on the administrators enabling it. If not available, users can still download course material as an ePub file or an eBook. Blackboard offers an iOS and Android application that supports offline content for an entire course or specific items. However, offline web access is restricted to instructors for offline grading purposes.

Analytics

Any Learning Management System (LMS) would be considered incomplete without a robust analytics and reporting mechanism. This is precisely why Canvas offers users valuable data on both account and course performances. Packed with various tools, Canvas allows for the diagnosis of user interactions with the course, prediction of how learners engage with different activities and learning modules, and analysis of which participants may require additional assistance. Blackboard, on the other hand, provides educators with important information through user and student dashboards. By utilizing the user dashboard, educators can examine reports such as grade scatter plots and an activity matrix, which offer visibility into students’ performance. Likewise, the learner dashboard presents a comparison of a student’s performance with that of their peers enrolled in the course, providing participants with a clear understanding of their standing among their fellow classmates.

Integration

Both Learning Management Systems provide useful integrations with multiple third-party applications. The chief integrations of Blackboard include:

Microsoft
Google Meet
Dropbox
Badgr

Canvas offers the following integrations among many others:

Google Workspace
Microsoft Teams
Zoom

Canvas customers

Blackboard And Canvas Comparison: The Pricing

Both systems provide various pricing plans and billing options. Additionally, you have the option to request a personalized quote tailored to the features, plugins, and integrations of your selected LMS tool. For further information, please refer to our vendor profiles on Blackboard and Canvas.

Get Pricing Guide 2023

Use Case Comparison

Now that you’re aware of the primary features of both LMS solutions, let’s see how they stack up against one another in terms of user experience…

User-Friendliness

Both Canvas and Blackboard place significant emphasis on developing an intuitive and user-friendly interface. However, there exist subtle distinctions between them. It seems that the decision-makers at Blackboard appreciate conventionalism. This does not imply that their system is outdated in any manner. Nevertheless, the dashboard exudes a vintage vibe with its clickable features and efficient modules. In contrast, Canvas boasts a sleeker and more contemporary appearance, which contributes to user engagement. Additionally, the dashboard of Canvas offers extensive customization options, creating a comprehensive learning experience for users.

Compliance And Security

Blackboard has implemented a robust product security program based on NIST standards. The company holds ISO 27001 certification for its information security management systems, demonstrating its commitment as a cloud service provider to safeguard clients’ data. In addition to complying with ISO 27017 and ISO 27018 controls, Blackboard integrates secure controls into its operational framework globally, aligning with regional and emerging global security standards. Certain products undergo annual SOC2 Type 2 audits and obtain regional certifications to ensure the highest level of security. Blackboard vs Canvas-Security Meanwhile, Canvas constructs its security program based on ISO 27001, NIST’s Cyber Security Framework, AICPA’s Trust Services Principles and Criteria, and SANS’ CIS Critical Security Controls. The company develops applications in compliance with OWASP’s Top 10, incorporating preventive and detective measures through multiple processes, controls, and tools. As a leading LMS service provider, Canvas employs robust cryptographic protocols and ciphers to encrypt data during transit and at rest, ensuring exceptional security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and privacy. The company further reinforces its commitment to security by issuing SOC2 Type 2 reports on an annual basis.

Customer Support

Efficient customer support plays a crucial role in determining whether clients are satisfied or disgruntled. Without the right support, an LMS (Learning Management System) becomes essentially useless. That’s why both Canvas and Blackboard prioritize the provision of timely and effective customer support. To address this, Blackboard offers extensive learning resources on its website, along with the option to contact their support team via phone or a contact form. Canvas users can access support through emails, phone calls, and a dedicated FAQs section on their website. Additionally, there is a vibrant Canvas Community available to assist fellow users at any given time.

Parting Thoughts: Which One’s Right For You?

As you can see, there are plus points of using both systems. At the end of the day, it comes down to what you’re looking for and which system fulfills your needs better. Blackboard vs Canvas-Final Verdict This guide compares the standout features of Blackboard and Canvas, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of both. The use case comparison section provides clarity on which system would be better suited for your academic or business requirements. We hope this piece provides you with enough information about both LMS tools to make an informed decision. Find your organization’s perfect fit now! Call +1 661-384-7070 to speak with our LMS experts. We value your feedback and welcome suggestions for improvement. Until next time, adios!