Canvas: UM's Next-Gen Learning Management System

If these limitations impact your course, consider planning for Spring 2026 teaching in Canvas.

Once logged in to Canvas (canvas.miami.edu), use the dashboard to access your courses, or the Courses page. Courses will have a simple template that you can customize.

Spring 2026 was the final full semester in which Blackboard remained available for instruction, and Summer 2026 was the final term in which Blackboard could be used for teaching. As of Fall 2026, Canvas is the University’s official and only learning management system for instruction.

Blackboard is now in archive mode and is no longer used for teaching. After Spring 2027, previous Blackboard course content will remain available for viewing, but it can no longer be edited.

Canvas was selected following a comprehensive evaluation of Canvas and Blackboard Ultra. Faculty and students participated in pilots, surveys, support interactions, and other feedback opportunities to evaluate both platforms.

The findings were presented to University faculty-governance groups, which supported the adoption of Canvas. Canvas was selected for its modern, intuitive, and accessible experience and its ability to support the University’s evolving teaching and learning needs. The end of vendor support for the Blackboard Learn Original experience also contributed to the need for a new platform.

Actively used Blackboard course content from Spring 2024 through Summer 2026 was included in the bulk migration to Canvas. Migrated materials may include assignments, quizzes, presentations, files, and announcements.

Grades, enrollment data, and other student-specific information were not transferred. Faculty should review migrated content before using it in a live Canvas course because some materials may require updates or relinking.

No. Files, assignments, and other materials uploaded by students were not automatically transferred to Canvas. Students should download and retain any personal Blackboard files they wish to keep before Blackboard’s archive functionality becomes limited to viewing after Spring 2027.

Faculty and staff may request a manually created Canvas course for eligible student co-curricular learning needs. Please review the criteria and submit a request through the Canvas Course Request page. For other resource-sharing, collaboration, or training needs, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365, or ULearn may be a better option.

No. Organizations and manually created courses will not be transferred to Canvas through the bulk-migration process. Please export and retain any content you need from Blackboard. If you need an eligible manually created course in Canvas, review the criteria and submit a request through the Canvas Course Request page.

Instructors enrolled in courses for the target semester can access their course shell via the Canvas (canvas.miami.edu) dashboard. 

Faculty have access to 24/7 Canvas assistance through the Help menu in Canvas (canvas.miami.edu), including support by live chat, phone, and email. Live and on-demand training resources are also available.

The Learning Platforms helpdesk continues to provide Canvas training and assistance with courses, integrated tools, and other academic technologies.

Blackboard is now in archive mode and is no longer used for teaching. Faculty and staff can continue to access previous Blackboard course content during the archive period and are encouraged to retain any important materials for their records.

After Spring 2027, previous Blackboard course content will remain available in read-only mode, but users can no longer edit content, create courses, accept submissions, or grade work. Organizations and manually created courses were not included in the bulk migration and must be retained manually.

If a new Canvas space is needed, please review the criteria and submit a request through the Canvas Course Request page.

Canvas continuously replicates course content, files, assignments, grades, and other data across multiple systems. As a result, temporary outages may affect access to Canvas but do not typically result in data loss.

It is important to distinguish between course retention and backup recovery:

• Course retention: Under the University’s current Standard Operating Procedure, Canvas courses remain available for multiple years. For example, a Fall 2024 course may still be accessible in 2028.
• Backup recovery: Canvas backups support short-term disaster recovery, not permanent historical versioning. Instructure maintains recoverable backup snapshots for a limited period—generally up to approximately four months—with point-in-time restoration typically limited to approximately 35 days.

Recently deleted or altered content may be recoverable within the applicable backup window. However, Canvas cannot restore deleted content or previous versions from years earlier.

For additional information, review the University of Miami’s Standard Operating Procedure for Learning Management System Course Data Retention, Archiving, and Deletion.

For more information, read the University of Miami's Standard Operating Procedure for Learning Management System Course Data Retention, Archiving, and Deletion.

Large courses have been identified, and Academic Technologies assists with reducing and migrating course content to Canvas using both internal and external services. Historically, large course sizes in Blackboard are often caused by unused duplicate content and media content, leading to performance issues across the system.

Migrated courses are labeled “MIGRATED” in the course name and ID. These are content-only courses and are not connected to CaneLink.

Only content from actively used Blackboard courses was included in the bulk migration. Faculty should import the materials they need from the migrated course into their official, CaneLink-connected course shell.

SafeAssign data did not transfer directly into Canvas, and SafeAssign is not the University’s plagiarism-detection tool in Canvas. Turnitin Feedback Studio is available for plagiarism detection within Canvas.

Faculty who need assistance accessing or retaining previous SafeAssign information should contact the Learning Platforms helpdesk.

Yes. Kaltura items embedded in migrated Blackboard courses were included in the course-migration process. However, some videos and other integrated content may require relinking or review before they function correctly in Canvas.

Faculty should test embedded media in their live Canvas courses and contact the Learning Platforms team if assistance is needed.

Students are enrolled automatically via CaneLink and updated every three hours. Courses become visible to students only after instructors publish them.

In addition to help resources and an orientation course accessible on Canvas (canvas.miami.edu), faculty are encouraged to add Canvas info to syllabi and email students before a semester begins. An example announcement could be:

This course is available in Canvas. To access the course, visit https://canvas.miami.edu and sign in using your University of Miami credentials.

Canvas supports many frequently used University learning tools, including Kaltura, Zoom, Gradescope, Respondus LockDown Browser, Qwickly Attendance, Turnitin Feedback Studio, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, publisher tools, and other approved integrations.

Availability and support requirements vary by tool. Review the Third-Party Tool Availability section of this page for the list of installed tools and available workarounds.

Not yet, but this feature is on the Canvas roadmap. Currently, Respondus 4.0 can be used to convert Word questions for import.

Announcements from eligible Blackboard courses were included in the course-migration process. Faculty should review migrated announcements before reusing them because dates, links, and other course-specific information may need to be updated.

Canvas also allows instructors to create and schedule new announcements. Student replies can be permitted when that option is enabled.

Yes, SpeedGrader in Canvas supports individualized feedback, like Blackboard Annotate, but with enhanced features.

Course Analytics provides engagement data, login history, and activity tracking, refreshed every 8 hours. Additional analytics tools are available for quizzes and assignments.

Instructors can favorite current courses to display them on the dashboard. All courses remain listed in the courses area, but filtering and ordering by year is possible.

Contact the Learning Platforms team to merge (cross-list) courses. 

Inactive students remain listed for data protection and potential reactivation. Deletion is avoided to prevent loss of student content.

Yes, in-person training is being offered in 2026.

Contact the Learning Platforms Help Desk at 305-284-3949 or visit lpt.it.miami.edu. Canvas also offers 24/7 in-app support via live chat, phone, or email from the help menu.