Ithaca College

Last week we shared with you the exciting news that faculty are now able to access Canvas for a sneak peek at the new LMS. We are approximately 80 days away from launching the new IC Canvas learning management system, scheduled to go live after August 9, 2021, and the Implementation Team is working hard to get everything ready.  

This week we are writing to let you know that faculty can find their Fall 2021 courses on their Canvas Dashboard. These courses have a Template design with IC images and icons, along with a Course Blueprint with recommendations for layout, sample modules, resources for using the blueprint, and a preset course navigation with the most common LMS tools.  

The IC Design Template and Course Blueprint were developed by an LMS Task Group which included faculty representatives, and staff from the Library, Student Accessibility Services, and the Center for Faculty Excellence. They were reviewed by faculty members, students, and staff who are serving on the LMS Governance Committee along with students participating in the Canvas Pilot. The team worked together to create a user-friendly blueprint that meets the needs of students and their desire for a more consistent experience while allowing for faculty flexibility. 

What we have done  

• Uploaded all Fall 2021 courses into Canvas with an IC design Template and course blueprint applied.  
• Created documentation for modifying the course blueprint to meet your teaching needs, which can be found in each fall course shell under Modules in the course navigation.

What we are doing  

• Working with our vendor to complete a bulk migration creating a copy of Sakai course content to Canvas; including Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 academic course sites (in process and continuing through August).
• Preparing documentation to help faculty use migrated course(s)/content to design Fall 2021 courses, and help faculty use the pre-made course blueprint in their Fall courses.   
• Continuing to modify IC’s Canvas platform and prepare for official launch in August 2021. Please continue to teach all summer courses in Sakai.  

Next steps for faculty 

To get timely updates on the transition and a full project timeline, see https://ithaca.edu/lmsproject    

• Continue to explore Canvas including the self-paced and on-demand training resources recommended by the LMS Implementation Team.  
• For those who are registered, attend the Summer Institute IDEAL Course Design in Canvas.
• Look at your Fall 2021 courses and explore the examples for course design along with the resources to begin building your courses in Canvas. 

Coming soon  

• After May 25, faculty will be notified when the first wave of course migration is complete. Directions for using the copied content in future academic semesters will be provided in an informational email sent to all faculty members. 
• The LMS Team will provide faculty with a form to request the automatic migration of courses, from outside the window of semesters, to be moved to Canvas in a second wave of migrations which will take place in August.  

If you have any questions, please contact the LMS Implementation Governance Committee co-chairs (Matt Clauhs, Assistant Professor of Music Education mclauhs@ithaca.edu, or Jenna Linskens, Director, Learning & Innovative Technologies jlinskens@ithaca.edu). You can also submit feedback/questions through the LMS Campus Inquiry form: http://tinyurl.com/ICCanvasFeedback    
 

The LMS Implementation Committee