New School Year, New “Canvas”

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Courtesy of Tyson Welch

Mrs. Morris uses her home page on Canvas to make learning fun.

Starting the new school year is different for all of us. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of the normal routine of getting ready for school students can hop out of bed and get their work done online. The learning platform, Canvas, is making way for a new change in distance learning all across the U.S.    

However, students and teachers are required to make room for a new type of curriculum to navigate Canvas. When asked what was difficult when starting Canvas, student; Tyson Welch, said, “My biggest struggle when starting Canvas was the navigation of the platform.” Some may say that compared to Google Classroom, Canvas is more difficult to find their way around.

Due to the large size of Canvas and the resources available, students can access help easier. Confirmed by teacher Mrs. Karen Mitchell when she explained, “Canvas has a ton of “how-to” videos that many instructors (like me) have put into the modules.” 

As well as resources, Canvas can also be appealing and fun; teacher, Mr. Carlos Chavira, recounted that in order to make Canvas more engaging, he “[creates] culinary videos by preparing various dishes for [his] students.” 

With the struggles of learning a new platform, some students are adjusting quite well to Canvas; student Carla Ramirez said, “I enjoy how I can see my assignments, scores, and feedback I receive on the right side of the web page immediately after a teacher finishes grading.”

Although some students may still be struggling with some adjustments with Canvas, student Cadence Borrecco suggests, “that it’s always easier to find your assignments in the module rather than finding it where it says ‘assignments’.”

With different points of view all around the school, student Aautomn Krontz was asked how she thinks Canvas compares to Google Classroom. Her simple statement was,”I think that Google Classroom is better than Canvas.”

For the students who might still be struggling with Canvas, Mr. Chavira advises: “There’s a lot of resources and people willing to help; make sure you’re taking advantage of the help.”