Canvas Overview

The team at Canvas knows the dirty little secret about learning management systems: many of them are simply never used. In order to make sure that doesn't happen with their software, Canvas built around six primary tenants. Their strict adherence to them has helped make Canvas one of the most adopted LMS solutions in the industry.

The first of these principles is ease-of-use. A learning management system that is difficult to use or has too steep of a learning curve will ultimately end up being neglected in favor of more direct methods. By incorporating an intuitive interface and relying heavily on customer feedback to perfect their product, Canvas has made ease-of-use one of its core values.

Canvas’s second guiding principle is to never allow their system to hold back instructors, learners, or administrators. A learning management system should be designed to empower its users, not to force them to jump through hoops. With customizable analytics reports for the admin team, and robust multimedia options for instructors, Canvas makes the development and roll-out of learning tools flow naturally.

Another Canvas core tenant is mobile friendliness. All of Canvas’s tools are optimized for use on mobile devices, with a special emphasis placed on the learner portal. Many (if not most) learners access educational material through smart phones or tablets. If your LMS isn’t mobile friendly, then it’s not learner-friendly.

The fourth core principle is dependability. The system needs to be reliable, and to behave predictably. If it fails at either, then users will shy away, not wanting to invest time in a system that may or may not be recording their activity.

Enhancing the learning experience is the fifth key to Canvas’s success. if a LMS isn’t more rewarding to use than traditional static web pages or text book, then there’s no reason to go through the process of logging on. A successful LMS must take the learning process to another level, whether by providing more information, or making it easier to retain.

Finally, in order to be adapted, a LMS must save its users time. Learners, instructors, and administrators all feel that the system makes their life easier and more efficient, at least to some degree, or they’ll simply revert to a simpler, faster method as soon as they’re in a time crunch. And with the pace of modern life, a time crunch is never too far off.