The University of South Florida Moves to Canvas

Canvas is a flexible, cloud-based, open-source learning management system

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Sep 17, 2012, 09:00 ET

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of South Florida has chosen Canvas by Instructure as the institution's new learning management system for its 47,000 students in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland, Florida. The move is expected to reduce overall operating costs while also enhancing support for student success with learning outcomes, analytics and mobile applications.

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"Canvas meets the demand from our students and faculty for a 21^st century platform," said Michael Pearce, System Vice President of Information Technology and CIO at USF. "We chose Canvas because it is flexible, cloud-based and easy to use."

In 2011, USF faced a substantial impact to faculty if it upgraded to Blackboard 9.1, so it chose to compare learning management systems by inviting providers to visit the campus and run a pilot program with its faculty. After the tests were completed, 80 percent of faculty members said they preferred Canvas for the following reasons:

Video (seamless playback, students able to upload)
Performance evaluation (outcomes, rubrics, accreditation artifacts)
Intelligent course features (communication, calendar, syllabus, plagiarism detection integration)
Innovative applications (SpeedGrader mobile, ePortfolio, peer review)
Optimized user interface (consistent, built-in workflow)
Assessment feedback (activity reports)

"Canvas is a lot like using the Web. Students love it. It's fast, flexible and intuitive," said Mark Walters, an associate professor in Journalism and Media Studies at USF St. Petersburg. "I can now concentrate on getting students the material they need, seamlessly and in virtually any format. Canvas' reliability and ease of use actually make online teaching fun and exciting."

The USF evaluating committee also reported that Instructure as an organization is easy to work with, transparent to community recommendations, responsive and rapid in its implementation of product enhancements.

"Canvas enables the individual to transform learning, whether it be the student or the faculty member. Our goal is to get out of the way so learning can flourish," said Devlin Daley, co-founder and CTO at Instructure. "We welcome all 232 degree programs from USF to our Canvas Community and look forward to serving them."

"Canvas is the best solution for the modern mobile student," said Michael Canfield, a student who participated in the LMS evaluation process and graduated this year from USF. "Students will no longer be tied to a computer and an outlet. Canvas places control in the hands of the students and will change the way USF students complete their educational goals."

For more information about Canvas, visit http://www.instructure.com/canvas.

About The University of South Florida:

The University of South Florida is a high-impact, global research university dedicated to student success. USF is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in the top tier of research universities, a distinction attained by only 2.2 percent of all universities. It ranks 50th in the nation for federal expenditures in research and total expenditures in research among all U.S. universities, public or private, according to the National Science Foundation. The USF System has an annual budget of $1.5 billion, an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion, and serves 47,000 students in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland.

About Instructure:

Instructure is a technology company committed to improving education. We provide instructors and students modern tools and resources to empower the learning experience. Founded by graduate students in collaboration with educational institutions, Instructure provides Canvas - the open, easy-to-use, cloud-native learning platform.

Copyright © 2012, Instructure, Inc. All rights reserved. Instructure, Canvas and their respective logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Instructure, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others.

Contact:
Devin Knighton, Director of Public Relations
(801) 722-8187 | [email protected]
Twitter: @devinknighton | www.instructure.com

SOURCE Instructure