ACU ran a competitive tender process in 2021 to select a new LMS to replace Moodle, the LMS that underpins LEO. That tender was run so that ACU could provide a contemporary LMS that supported developing pedagogies at ACU and the possibility of new product lines, such as microcredentials. Canvas was found to be the most suitable LMS through that tender process. Our current LMS is over 10 years old and is not meeting the demands of its users, especially around mobile technology.

Canvas comes with a range of new benefits:

• An interface designed to be intuitive and straightforward, making it easy to find information and complete tasks quickly.
• A mobile app for iOS and Android devices, allowing access to course materials and collaboration on-the-go.
• Integration with a wide range of tools and applications, such as Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Echo360, and much more.
• 24/7 customer support for users to get the help they need when they need it.
• Advanced analytics and reporting features, enabling staff to make data-driven decisions to review and support student learning.

Other universities who use Canvas have found that students find it intuitive and easy to use. Through this project we will create a consistent online interface for students. Every unit they undertake at ACU will have a familiar layout, so students can focus on their learning objectives.

Input will be sought during all phases of the project. Part of the project governance structure is to have reference groups to provide a forum to review plans and designs, and to influence how Canvas will operate at ACU. Faculty staff will be involved in these groups. The project aims to be fully transparent and will encourage feedback and input at all stages.

• Service Central contains a range of knowledge base articles and forms on Canvas. Here you can find quick information on how to use Canvas, as well as forms to request non-Banner units, Course configuration support, cross-listing, and more.
  

• Canvas Instructor Guide is a comprehensive guide to help staff effectively use Canvas. Articles address Canvas questions and provide both in-depth and visual instructions on how to use Canvas features, settings, and much more.
  

• Canvas 24/7 technical support provides a free live chat and phone number which is accessible to all ACU Staff. Canvas support can provide you live assistance with any questions related to using Canvas.
  Accessing this support can be found within Canvas, in the bottom left ‘Help’ tab.
  

• Canvas Faculty Liaisons can be contacted at LMSQA@acu.edu.au for any faculty-specific requests regarding Canvas.
  Faculty of Education and Arts: Stephanie Looi
  Faculty of Health Sciences: Maddison Rose
  Faculty of Law and Business: Dominic Lee-Lindsay
  Faculty of Theology and Philosophy: Dominic Lee-Lindsay
  Any Faculty: Poh Huat Oh

Students will receive access to similar training resources as staff, with support mechanisms put in place to resolve student queries.

• The wrong version of Canvas is being accessed.
  Canvas is used for standard ACU enrolments and will be the default Canvas for staff and students.
  ACU Online Canvas is a different version of Canvas, specifically designed for students who are enrolled in ACU Online.

• For new sessional staff members, please wait 24 hours since your ACU onboarding for your Canvas account to be created.

• The web browser being used is not compatible with Canvas. Please click here to check compatibility.

• An email address (personal or ACU) is being used to log in. Staff must log into Canvas with their ACU User ID. Students must use their ACU Student Number.
  
  For assistance configuring your Canvas course, enrolling a new staff member, or for any other Canvas technical-related requests, please lodge a service request via Service Central. 
  

Use this Service Central form if you need to add yourself or another staff/vendor to a Canvas unit they are not current enrolled in.

Professional and academic staff are encouraged to discuss any training needs with their line manager. Workload is available for academic staff requiring paid time to access Canvas training.

The Canvas support model has been finalised and is accessible in Part 3 of the Canvas Experience Guide.

Click here to view the support model

As of 18 February 2024, all ACU staff and students will no longer be able to access LEO.

All marking of assessments/exams submitted in LEO must be completed by 12 January. Some exceptions to access LEO beyond this date may be considered by CEI.

The last term codes to be taught in LEO are Professional Term 8 2023 (202397), concluding on 3 December, and International (offshore) Trimester 3 2023 (202372), concluding on 24 December. 

LEO is estimated to be finished archiving as of March 2024. All teaching units will be archived.

Most archived content will be kept for 3 years. Some exceptions apply to selected content related to course accreditation, which will be kept for 6 years.

To request the migration of your non-Banner unit to Canvas, please use this Service Central form. 

Estimated for March 2024. Once live, staff will be to request access to archived LEO content through a Service Central form.

All ACU Staff can access the Canvas Teacher mobile app.  

To download the app: 

1. Open the App store on your device and search for ‘Canvas Teacher’. 

2. Download the ‘Canvas Teacher’ app. 

3. Open the app and select ‘Find my school’. 

4. Search 'Australian Catholic University' and select the ‘Australian Catholic University’ option.

5. Sign in with your ACU email and password. 

At this stage, content in a Canvas module can’t be restricted like a ‘Campus Tile’ in LEO. There can be campus specific content, but it will be visible to all students enrolled in the unit.
Canvas is working on a solution that will allow module content to be to be targeted to a specific section/cohort of students.
Canvas Sections (equiv. Our campuses) do work with native Canvas tools (e.g., assessments & discussions) so they can be used to apply different due dates or to communicate to your campus (section).

The Banner integration will create the Canvas unit, enrol students and place them into campus sections. Further sections will be created, and the teaching team will be enrolled from the Allocate+ integration.

Canvas will export grades ready to upload into Banner.

No, Turnitin QuickMarks will not be available to use in Canvas. Staff who would like to keep their QuickMarks are encouraged to download a copy before 31 December 2023. This will ensure the QuickMarks data is available and can be uploaded into Annotate Pro when required in Canvas. 

Click here for a guide on downloading your QuickMarks.

The Canvas Plagiarism Framework (CPF) will be the recommended way to connect to Turnitin. This will allow for marking to be filtered by sections and/or groups. Further investigation is underway to integrate your quickmarks library with the CPF.  

The Turnitin LTI does not recognise sections, and this will be problematic for large units.   

Quizzes and your question banks migrate to Canvas. We will have a team of QA testers who will check quizzes that form part of any assessments. The QA tester will spot check 10% of practice quizzes. Academics will need to confirm the quiz settings and answers are correct once the unit is handed over to them. 

Turnitin will be accessed via the Canvas Plagiarism Framework (CPF) which will allow you to use the inbuilt rubric tool of Canvas, which offers a greater range of functionality compared to those in Moodle and Turnitin. You will need to rebuild your rubrics in Canvas.

Canvas will integrate with CMAS and display the GUO as a Unit Outline menu item. Any updates required on the GUO will need to be managed via CMAS. LICs will no longer be required to create EUOs as all other information such as assessment schedules will now be displayed in Canvas. LIC’s will also have ability to export core canvas content via PDF if needed for accreditation submissions. 

Marking in Canvas will be done through the SpeedGrader tool. To ensure ease of grading please refer to the following videos regarding assignment rubrics and set up:

Yes, it is expected that all assignments will be set up in Canvas. This is a prerequisite for users to be able to use the recommended Canvas Gradebook export. Otherwise, the export will not be an accurate reflection of the students’ progress in the course.

This will be dependent on the access you are granted in the course. Please note that the default setting in Canvas enables manual posting of marks and grades. 

Searching and filtering is enabled in Canvas Gradebook, however the extent to which these functionalities can be utilised is determined by the level of User access in the course.

Yes, Canvas has a native export functionality located on the Gradebook, allowing you to export a CSV format file of the Current Gradebook View or the Entire Gradebook.

Yes, the Canvas Gradebook export will contain information required for final marks moderation already populated, such as information on Student ID, Term Code, CRN, Assessment type and associated assessment mark, Final Mark and Final Grade. Please note that statistical data or any other data that is built over the information provided by the export will not form part of the Canvas Gradebook Export.

Uploading Final Marks and Grades to Student Connect is still required to be done manually by using the Gradebook export as there is no integration between Canvas and Student Connect.

Hurdle task assignments settings need to have “Do not count this assignment towards the final grade” enabled in Canvas and be given a points value of at least 1. Please note that failing the hurdle task will not automatically fail the students in terms of their Final Grade, so manual adjustments will be required prior to uploading the Canvas Gradebook export to Student Connect. For more information on hurdle tasks, please refer to the training video that is currently being prepared and is coming soon.

Yes, as Canvas does not facilitate rounding of final marks, we recommend where possible whole number are used for marking in Canvas. Otherwise, rounding will have to be performed manually before the final results are uploaded to Student Connect.

Yes, you need to be mindful of exceptions where students might not have a final grade due to specific reasons (for e.g., special consideration or assignment extension) so their results should not be uploaded to Student Connect. Please also see FAQs bellow regarding interim grades and hurdle tasks.

First, unit data was captured and verified via the Unit Master List (UML). Our project team then worked closely with Schools who have advised which units will migrate. An external vendor (K16) will extract units from LEO and transfer them into Canvas. Once units are received, they are quality-checked by our project team, who rebuild and troubleshoot the content. In instances where content from sites not included in the UML is required, such as non-banner units, we are working with the Schools to manually migrate them as needed.

The migration into Canvas has now been completed entirely for select postgraduate units, and will be broken down into 3 final iterations for undergraduate and remaining postgraduate units.

The units will be migrated and quality assured by the project team. Only after they pass the QA test they will be handed over to the LIC. The LIC/NLIC will be required to review and accept the migration of their unit within 3 weeks of unit handover from the Quality Assurance Team.

Some examples of the work required by LICs are:

• Review the unit using the checklist provided and make updates where required.
• Update assessment due dates.
• Create discussion boards and announcements.

If you have a unit that needs to be prioritised for migration, please reach out to the Canvas Implementation Project and arrange a time to speak with someone in the team. Undergraduate migration is now underway for 2024 units.

The University has approved a national delivery approach for Canvas, resulting in one Canvas site per unit code. Learning materials can include campus-specific content when necessary. Canvas is developing functionality to release module content to specific students or cohorts, expected in early 2024. Additionally, Canvas utilizes "sections" for targeted communication, discussion boards, and gradebook management on a campus-by-campus basis. Units will be automatically created via Banner integration, with a request and approval process for exceptions to teach outside of the national unit approach. The previous years content can be updated once it has been copied/rolled into the new unit created by the Banner to Canvas integration.

Staff enrolment into and out of Canvas sites is currently something we are working on. The aim will be to try and make it as quick and easy as possible, and to automate roles for staff identified as having responsibilities in each Unit. So, if a lecturer is named as the LIC for a Unit in banner, they will have LIC access in Canvas. We intend to use Allocate + data in a similar way to allocate lectures to a unit. LIC’s can assign other staff to their units in Canvas.

Canvas sites will go into a read only mode.

Using the Banner to Canvas integration, Canvas will create Unit Sites for all offered units in a teaching period. Lecturers in Charge (LICs) will be able to choose to import the content from a previous Canvas site. Canvas has an import function which is quick and easy to use. With some units being taught in both Semester 1 and 2, this allows LIC's to choose the version of the unit that suits them. 

ACU teaching staff will be able to make changes to learning and teaching material in Canvas as they currently can in LEO.
One exception is that lecturers will not be creating Canvas sites as the student cohorts and sites will be created by the Banner to Canvas integration. We will have a set of core practices, which are largely administrative, that will apply to all units in Canvas.