We are pleased to announce that AU has selected Canvas by Instructure as our new learning management system (LMS). The migration kickoff will begin in the fall 2020 term. The platform will be available to faculty teaching an undergraduate course in the fall who wish to opt in to developing their course in Canvas. For graduate programs, we will provide additional guidance through your dean’s office. Each school and college may wish to manage the transition differently to provide a positive student experience. Please confirm with your department chair, program director, or college embedded instructional designer before requesting to transition your course to Canvas.

Blackboard will continue to be available and supported during the transition. We will be working with each school and college on their overall migration plan and will share that information once available. If you haven’t used Blackboard for your courses in the past, we encourage you to try Canvas for your upcoming classes.

The decision to move to Canvas is based on the results of a pilot, technical assessment, and subsequent faculty consensus. Canvas provides an intuitive design, modern interface, and enhanced mobile and communication tools that will strengthen our ability to deliver engaging and meaningful learning experiences for our students. Also, faculty will have an improved user experience when developing and delivering digital learning experiences.

Faculty have access to a sandbox course as well as a self-paced training course to help you familiarize yourself with the interface and get your first course up and running. To log into Canvas, please visit https://canvas.american.edu.

To provide support during this transition, we are also pleased to announce the launch of the new Learning Support Services portal! The portal is a centralized support center for faculty instructional support, bringing information from the Center for Teaching, Research and Learning and e-Learning sites into one location.

Visit the support portal to:

• Request a Canvas course shell
• Register for online course design workshops
• Contact your school’s instructional design team
• Submit technical support tickets for Blackboard, Canvas, and multimedia inquiries
• Find information on the Canvas Migration Plan
• Explore support articles related to pedagogy, best practices, and getting your first course up and running

The portal can be accessed by visiting help.american.edu and clicking the Learning Support Services button. Over the coming weeks, we will continue to add resources to the portal. We welcome your feedback as you explore this new tool, and please submit any questions or comments you have through the Request Help option in the portal.

We hope you find the information helpful and encourage you to engage with the services being offered.