Using Canvas

Introducing Canvas

Canvas was selected as the sole learning management system (LMS) for all UMass Amherst courses, replacing Moodle and Blackboard by Summer 2025.  

How to Transition to Canvas

  1. If you are teaching a course for the very first time or if you'd prefer to start from scratch you can just use a blank Canvas course shell.
  2. You can ask that your existing course be exported out of Moodle or Blackboard and into Canvas. This is known as a content-copy migration and usually takes about 3 days to complete. 

Not sure which migration process is best for your needs? Watch this short video on how to request a Canvas shell in SPIRE and select a content migration option.

Canvas Catalog

If you or your department has used Open Moodle previously you will be transitioning to Canvas Catalog.  Catalog is designed for use by community based projects and other courses requiring enrollment of external participants (individuals without UMass credentials). Although Catalog uses the same Learning Management System as academic courses (Canvas), they are entirely separate services.

Learn more about  Canvas Catalog and request a course using the Catalog Request Form.

Internal Non-Academic Courses

Faculty and staff teaching non-credit courses, or coordinating projects such as working groups or community service projects, can request Internal Non-Academic Courses for UMass users.

To access the course, each participant must have a UMass Amherst NetID. If you have participants from outside UMass Amherst, they will not be able to access this site unless they are given an IT account via a NENS courtesy account.

Faculty Resources

All faculty members have a Canvas Sandbox (development space) where they can experiment and try out the system. Faculty can also enroll in the Canvas UMass Instructor Training site that contains how tos, links to sample courses, and other helpful resources.   

Student Support

Students can learn more through by visiting the Canvas Overview for Students.