There are several options to move Blackboard course content into Canvas. Please note that student content (gradebook, submissions) cannot be moved to Canvas.
Automated Migration (Recommended)
An outside vendor will migrate your courses using a custom format built for Mason faculty. You will still need to review your migrated course and complete some cleanup using our guide, but all content will be moved for you. These migrated courses can be copied into your actual semester course when it is available. Note that courses are only migrated in large matches during several migration waves (the first in May 2024).
Manual Migration
This gives you greater control over what content gets migrated. If you know there is a reasonable amount of content that you don’t want to move, take the opportunity to first clean up Blackboard and migrate what you want on your own. This option will involve more cleanup than the automated option and not all content will move to Canvas.
Build a New Course
Every learning management system is different. By building your course on your own, you will have the opportunity to tailor your content to the Canvas environment.
For All Options
- Use the Blackboard-Canvas Comparison to help understand some differences in terminology and functionality
- Third-party integrated tools will behave differently in the new LMS. Some will copy flawlessly using either automatic or manual migration, while others will need to be relinked.
- Take time in your Blackboard course to consider what you want to move to Canvas. Review the current files and remove anything unnecessary and not bound by retention policies.
- Once Blackboard is no longer available, an archive of Blackboard courses will be retained for several years. Upon request, courses in the archive can be migrated to Canvas and student data can be accessed.