Should Canvas be mandatory? Pro: Grading in the

SUSAN LOPEZ Features Editor @susanlo63291265

Five years ago, emailing assignments to a professor during class was not entirely out of the ordinary. Printing was a necessary action for an assignment not to be marked late.

With technological advancements, Open Educational Resources (OER) have become the new way of learning.

OER interfaces like Canvas can help students prevent any inconvenience when they are in the process of learning either by taking a class online, hybrid or in person.

Canvas brings various elements that benefit students such as video lectures, notes, quizzes, fast grading and submitting assignments online.

This system has noticeably increased in demand around schools making it one of the most significant educational learning systems on the Web. Canvas is transforming student learning outcomes, which now accounts for 21 percent of institutions and 27 percent of enrollment, according to Forbes.

According to PCMag.com review, Canvas is an excellent tool for student learning with its many features that assist not only students but professors in their grading process.

The Learning Management System (LMS) is beneficial because it saves time for students and prevents hassles of having to print homework and having to miss any critical due dates or lectures.

Students that are used to traditional

Modern Age

learning but struggle with deadlines, prints, or purchasing textbooks, have more chances of benefiting with having Canvas in every class.

As convenient as it sounds, students have the opportunity to access several learning resources that are in the reach of one click without having to spend money on books or other unnecessary printed materials.

OER gives the student free access to online materials and can be reused later on when needed. Canvas helps professors accordingly customize their course materials as well..

Students end up getting delayed in their academics because of the expensive cost of books and other class materials. This should not be a reason to detain their education success.

Also, Canvas saves students the anxiety of having to wait for their grades that are posted days after they have taken their tests and is similar for quizzes that are graded immediately and even give the student the chance to retake them twice.

Even though there are students that have no access to computers or the internet, their schools have multiple resources to assist the student’s learning success by providing computers and wifi around campus.

Nevertheless, whether students are attending campus or not for class, Canvas is reasonably useful and convenient for students that are looking to save time, money, and headaches when all they want is to learn and get a passing grade.

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Pierce home. These centers would provide them with resources, one-onone special counseling, and a space to feel safe and welcome with likeminded peers facing similar struggles in their academic endeavours.

LGBTQ+ students are often dealing with fighting the force of oppression within their community. The effects of homophobia and transphobia hinder diversity and promote hateful behavior toward a group of people who simply want to accomplish the same goals as other students.

If Pierce dedicated a room for a pride center, a wide group of students would be able to feel comfortable on campus and not be afraid to ask for the right help. Also, it would serve as a means for students to get connected with other peers on similar paths.

Two possible options for a pride center could be that it's managed by Associated Students Organization (ASO), or a decision to make it more private and could be located in the Health Center.

Using the new free speech zones are one way for students to initiate awareness toward the lack of a pride center. Highlighting the importance of this center and pushing for more resources can be a game-changer for the LGBTQ+ students who are afraid they feel invisible.

These students would be able to say they have a community college that acknowledges and supports their academic and personal needs.

The right path to a pride center can be a tricky one, but it is one wellworth trekking.

Con: Don't trust computers

understanding of the curriculum with longerlasting retention of the material.

College can be difficult when choosing a major and taking multiple classes at a time. Canvas is an online interface that is used by professors to have students turn in and grade their work for the semester.

Yet, Canvas can be difficult to maneuver and it can be more stressful on students during the semester.

Professors should not make it a requirement for their students to use Canvas for their courses. Canvas can be hard to navigate when it is relatively new to a student. Although there are videos and information one can read, it still can cause frustration.

The website carries many problems from crashing, not uploading certain types of files and recurring maintenance issues.

During the semester, it can make it hard for students to upload their work because sometimes files get messed up when the teacher goes to see the assignment uploaded.

This can also hinder student success because of frequent online maintenance.

Canvas is not the best tool to enhance a student’s ability to learn. The interface is only meant to turn in homework while students are learning in the classroom a majority of the time.

Students gain a better advantage of learning in a classroom than they do online. Physical classrooms are able to offer more methods of interaction than online classrooms can provide.

With more ways to interact with new subject matter, students may have a deeper

Plus, there is a social component to classroom learning that is compromised with online coursework.” said Jeffrey Mace on his blog “The advantages of classroom learning are above online."

The website does not help them in any part of their education because they have the resources they need on campus or when they are in class with their professors.

Open Educational Resources (OER) is “A hub that is a customizable, branded resource center on OER Commons where a network of users can create and share collections, administer groups, and share news and events associated with a project or organization.”

This is more resourceful because it allows the professors to make the “hub” their own and organize their page the way they want to. The system also gives professors the ability to track which students are more active on the website.

Canvas does not allow professors to do this and sometimes things that they uploaded end up in different files than what they imported them to.

Canvas can be frustrating to both professors and students. The files from the previous semesters that professors have had can sometimes be mixed in with the new semester that is starting making it hard for students to find their notes or homework.

Tactile learning and in-class discussions enhance student capability. Therefore, Canvas should not a mandatory reinforement for a professor's given cirriculum.

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