Sakai to Canvas Migration Information

Pomona is transitioning to Canvas as its official learning management system.

Since fall 2022, Pomona College has been successfully piloting Canvas, and by fall 2023, all courses at Pomona were made available on both the Canvas and Sakai Learning Management Systems (LMS). In spring 2024, the consortium of the 5C undergraduate schools set a major objective: to transition as many courses as possible from Sakai to Canvas by fall 2025. This initiative has the full backing of the Claremont Academic Deans Council.

Use the left and right arrows (< >) to scroll through the Canvas Transition timeline below.

Decision to pilot Canvas at Pomona

Pilot phase initiated with select faculty

One-year pilot evaluation completed

Canvas made available campus-wide

Official transition to Canvas announced

Majority of courses transitioned to Canvas

Final migration of all remaining Sakai courses to Canvas

Transition completed with all courses taught in Canvas

Whether you’re just starting out with Canvas or looking to deepen your understanding, this resource hub is your go-to destination for all the tools, training, and support you need to make a seamless switch. Dive into our comprehensive resources and join us in embracing this exciting change to enhance our teaching and learning experience.

Training

Self Help Resources

Request Forms

Frequently Asked Questions:

The transition to Canvas is driven by several key factors that align with the collective goals and needs of the Claremont College community. Firstly, with all Claremont College schools adopting Canvas, students benefit from a consistent and unified learning experience across institutions, facilitating seamless cross-matriculation. Financial sustainability is another critical driver; maintaining two separate Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Sakai indefinitely is not feasible. As colleges shift away from Sakai, the shared costs increase for those remaining, making Canvas a more cost-effective and scalable solution for all involved. Additionally, Canvas offers modern features that enhance teaching and learning, including a dedicated mobile app for iPad and iPhone users, providing greater flexibility and accessibility. The transition to Canvas is a collaborative effort supported by the Claremont Academic Deans Council, aiming to transition courses from Sakai to Canvas by fall 2025. We acknowledge the challenges and anxieties associated with this change and are committed to supporting faculty in this transition to minimize disruptions and maximize the benefits of this new platform.

In the early 2000s, the Consortium adopted Sakai as its standard Learning Management System (LMS), which has been consistently utilized by most members ever since. However, within the last ten years, Claremont Graduate University, Keck Graduate Institute, Scripps College—the first undergraduate institution—have fully transitioned to Canvas. The remaining schools are currently in the process of making the move as well.

Each college operates its own independent Canvas instance. Faculty, staff and students must log in to their specific Canvas instance corresponding to their respective college from the list below:

Even though there are distinct logins for each institution, once logged in, users can view all courses they are enrolled in --across any school-- directly on their Dashboard.

While our aim is to transition all courses to Canvas by fall 2025, rest assured that your Sakai content will remain intact. Additionally, we will establish a Sakai archive following fall 2025 to ensure continued access to older content as necessary, allowing everyone to retrieve past course materials if needed. There's a possibility that the content may become read-only at some stage, but definitive decisions on this matter have not yet been made. Our goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible and will keep the community informed as we receive new updates.

Our current migration efforts are primarily focused on transitioning credit-bearing courses from Sakai to Canvas. As for non-course related content on Sakai Project sites, these will be addressed in the next phase of our migration strategy. Site owners can continue using their current Sakai Project sites until further instructions are provided. However, we encourage you to begin considering alternative solutions for your project site needs. We will keep you updated with more detailed information and guidance in the near future.

Yes, Canvas and Sakai offer many similar features as Learning Management Systems (LMS). Both platforms provide tools for course management, content delivery, communication, assessment, and collaboration. However, the specific features and user interface may vary between the two platforms. Canvas is known for its intuitive interface, robust mobile app, and extensive integrations with third-party tools, while Sakai is recognized for its open-source nature and flexibility for customization.

See the chart below to compare some popular features:

For a complete chart, please refer to our Canvas and Sakai Comparison KB article.

To enhance efficiency for faculty, Pomona ITS has adopted Duke University's automated migration tool to move Sakai course content to Canvas. It's essential to note that while migrating content from Sakai to Canvas is possible, some content or settings from Sakai may not have an exact one-to-one match in Canvas, and the need for content post-processing by the course site owner may vary. To take advantage of this, faculty need to submit a request to ITS-RITG by filling out a form. Before submitting the form, it is important to note the following:

  • Course migration can only be requested by Pomona faculty for credit bearing courses.
  • Migration can only be for courses taught in the current semester.
  • Migration requests may take 3-5 business days (no exceptions can be made due to data processing time).

There is also an option to manually migrate your Sakai course. This option works best if you only have a small amount of content to migrate from Sakai to Canvas. For details on a manual migration, please see our Sakai to Canvas Migration KB Article.

We've taken into account the feedback we've received regarding Sakai's Dropbox and the absence of a similar tool in Canvas. After exploring various options, we've identified two alternatives that could replicate some of Dropbox's functions. Depending on your specific use of Sakai's Dropbox, one of the following options may suit your needs:

1. Canvas Assignments and Speedgrader

Canvas offers integrated features called Assignments and SpeedGrader. With SpeedGrader, instructors can provide ongoing feedback on student submissions, such as term papers or written assignments. These features are seamlessly integrated into Canvas's interface, eliminating the need for external tools. Canvas Assignments can be configured to accept multiple submissions, allowing instructors to provide feedback on each attempt using SpeedGrader. Canvas also maintains a historical record of all submissions and feedback, ensuring accessibility at any time.

2. Box File Requests

For instructors who utilize Dropbox solely as a repository for assignment submissions without the intention of providing feedback or returning files to students, Box File Requests presents a favorable alternative. Instructors can enable a Box File Request link to receive file uploads into a designated folder in their Box account, requiring them only to share a link with students for submissions. This option operates in a one-directional manner, making it ideal for instructors who do not plan to provide feedback by returning submissions to students.

Canvas offers faculty a number of advantages. Here are just a few of note:

  • Intuitive navigation and design - Build courses and make changes in fewer clicks and from within Modules (similar to Sakai's Lessons) as well as the Calendar feature.
  • More seamless tool integrations - As one example, faculty using Hypothesis will find an improved experience for both themselves and students.
  • SpeedGrader - This inline grading feature allows faculty to mark up and add comments to student submissions without having to download them. Faculty can also grade with rubrics and add typed, audio, or video feedback. After grading one assignment, SpeedGrader will seamlessly move to the next for grading.
  • Course copies - A more streamlined process to copy courses from one semester to the next, Canvas includes the ability to change all due dates and availability dates to align with the upcoming term.
  • Rich content editor - When adding content, assignments, quizzes, and more, faculty will have access to this feature, allowing them to add text, hyperlinks, images, videos, documents, equations, and more.
  • Mobile application - Use the application to access courses from a phone or tablet.

Canvas offers many advantages to students as well:

  • Intuitive navigation - Canvas' global navigation menu features a dashboard that displays upcoming tasks and due dates to help students prioritize their work across all courses. Tasks are displayed as links, so students can access them in one click.
  • Rich content editor - When submitting text-based work, students will see the same rich-content editor as faculty, so they can add hyperlinks, images, videos, documents, equations, and more.
  • Grades - When viewing grades in a course, students can enter hypothetical scores to see how their total grade will be affected.
  • Mobile application - Use the application to access courses from a phone or tablet.

In Spring 2022, Pomona College ITS initiated a pilot program utilizing Instructure’s Canvas LMS. The aim was to gather essential insights into the experiences of both Pomona instructors and students and to evaluate the Canvas environment. Throughout our transition to Canvas our team has actively collected feedback to gauge faculty and student perspectives on Canvas usage, satisfaction levels, its impact, and the support provided. You can access detailed reports on feedback from our various surveys by clicking on the following links:

Fall 2022 Canvas Pilot Faculty and Student Survey Results

Spring 2023 Canvas Pilot Faculty and Student Survey Results

Sakai to Canvas Transition: Concerns, Training and Timing Survey Results

 

ITS-RITG is available to answer your questions. Please submit a ticket using the Online Service Desk.