The switch from Beachboard to Canvas is a downgrade

BY EL NICKLIN Opinions Assistant

At this point in the transition from Beachboard to Canvas, most CSULB professors have made the switch to Canvas. For the upcoming fall semester, the Beachboard platform will be completely phased out.

For many students, this change has been welcome. Canvas is commonly used by community colleges and high schools and familiarity is always a comfort. However, the drawbacks of Canvas outnumber its benefits.

One issue with Canvas is that there is no longer a drop-down menu for announcements. On Beachboard, regardless of which menu was open, students were able to open the “notifications” menu in a small window.

On Canvas, announcements and assignments are all in different menus that cannot be open at once in the same tab. Similarly, Canvas lacks the “discussions” drop-down tab.

Additionally, Canvas doesn’t allow for variations in formatting in announcements, meaning that professors cannot italicize or bold text when sending out an announcement. These features were available on Beachboard and helped with accessibility and clarity.

how deadly it is, he expedites the problem through his vices.

Because of this question, it tended the mind to be preoccupied while watching the rest of the film, keeping you from truly connecting with Fraser’s character.

But even with this question raised, the film did not fail to portray the emotions it wanted its audience members to feel at certain points.

From Charlie and his ex-wife feeling melancholy about how their relationship ended, to Liz showing her disdain for religion, this film seamlessly allows the audience to feel as if they are in the world with these characters, that these situations and emotions are real.

Not only this, but some of the parallels between Alan and Charlie’s death are interesting to look into. When shunned by his church and family, it is said that Alan commits suicide by no longer eating. Charlie eventually follows suit in the opposite way, by overeating.

Details like this keep audiences discussing the film after they’ve seen it, getting them to look into what they have seen and figure out if there are any other details that they’re still missing.

“The Whale” and its plot are not perfect.

Although Charlie is able to somewhat redeem himself as a person and father before his death, the further questions about his motivations to die rather than trying to live for others keeps this film from growing in general.

Even with this downside, the films actors, their interactions and its ability to make you feel you are part of the world you are watching entirely translates those emotions from screen to soul.

Beachboard, videos, PDFs, and links all have different icons, making the files easier to sort through.

Another issue of clarity is the way in which files are downloaded on Canvas. There is no download button, instead students must click on what appears to be a hyperlink in order to download a document.

The “modules” menus are just as awkward. On Beachboard, tapping “content” for a class would open up a table of contents on the left and the actual contents on the right. Because of the list on the left, it was easy to navigate between all of the content for a class.

However, on Canvas, students must scroll through all of the modules, which automatically expand when the modules menu is opened, making them more lengthy to navigate.

Although this may only be a temporary drawback during the transition, Canvas does not yet have pages for certain majors and organizations. This means that if students want to look at announcements from their department, or organizations like ASI, they will likely still have to check Beachboard.

online materials, discussions, and updates.

On the topic of clarity, Canvas also does not use different icons for types of files. On

While each of these flaws might sound insignificant on their own, the overall picture painted is that Canvas is an overall loss. It’s been difficult enough for students to balance their coursework between two separate platforms and it’s unfortunate that this sacrifice is being made for a worse website.