Information Technology Services is offering a spring semester pilot of the Canvas by Instructure learning management system to UNL faculty.
The deadline to apply for the pilot is noon, Oct. 14.
Like Blackboard, the Canvas LMS gives instructors ways to provide content online and facilitate interaction between instructors, student and learning groups. ITS is seeking a variety of courses in terms of course size, course type and features employed, and will also help instructors set up their course in Canvas. Not all courses submitted for the pilot will be selected due to a limited number of student seats available in the pilot system.
UNL recently joined Unizin, an 11-member consortium of universities developing solutions for collaborative digital education. UNL’s participation in Unizin was highlighted in Chancellor Harvey Perlman’s Sept. 30 state of the university address.
The group’s members represent more than 700,000 students, including the University of Michigan, Indiana University and the University of Florida. Unizin’s goals are to empower educational institutions and faculty by collaboratively steering the direction for learning management systems, digital repositories and analytics for easier cross-institutional cooperation.
“The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is pleased to be a founding member in Unizin,” said Ronnie Green, interim senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. “As a founding member, UNL will provide leadership in and help shape the future of learning analytics and the development, distribution and sharing of digital content in a way that is consistent with our mission and values.”
Unizin will assist UNL with the pilot of Canvas.
“There was great interest in Canvas during learning management showcases held at UNL,” said Heath Tuttle, director of academic technologies, information technology services. “This pilot will give our faculty a more in-depth usability experience with Canvas.”
UNL has been using the Blackboard learning management system since 1999.
For more information about Unizin or to apply for the pilot program, go to http://go.unl.edu/canvaspilot.
