Claflin moving from Moodle to Canvas

Claflin University on Jan. 12 entered a “phased migration” from Moodle to the Canvas  Learning Management System.

New Institutional Technology interim leader Muhammad Hossain addressed his new role and the major campuswide project of moving from Moodle to Canvas.

“I am a graduate from Claflin University. I did my undergraduate as an international student,” Hossain said. “Once I finished with undergrad, Claflin offered me a full-time job.”

“I saw technology as a student. I saw technology at Claflin transform as a student worker and as a full-time employee who’s worked in various departments,” Hossain said.

He explained why the university decided to make the switch.

“We’ve had Moodle for a while, and there’s always been mixed feelings about it in higher ed,” Hossain said. “Technology changes. The environment around us is always changing and we realized we needed to respond.”

As the spring semester began, the new learning system was implemented while students continued using Moodle.

“We have both learning measurement systems up because we’re doing a phased migration,” Hossain said. “Generally, in technology implementation, when you deploy a massive system, you can’t do it overnight because your users aren’t prepared.”

“So, like many other higher institutions, we decided to go with the phased migration,” he said. “We’re going to phase in Canvas and we’re going to phase out Moodle.”

Part of the process included asking faculty to participate in a pilot of Canvas.

“We sent out a request to faculty saying, if anyone wants to pilot or participate in the pilot, send your names. About 30% to 40% of faculty were interested,” Hossain said.

While faculty tests Canvas, students are also navigating the new platform, with some describing it as “different.”

“When it comes to the layout of it and how to access the material and other resources, it is a bit easier than Moodle,” Tiana Whetstone said.

However, managing both platforms has been challenging for some students.

“Yes, I do have a problem keeping up with work on both Moodle and Canvas because it’s two different platforms,” Whetstone said.

“Two of my classes are on Canvas and three of them are on Moodle, so it can get confusing,” she said. “I’ve always been using Moodle, so I forget that I have another platform to use.”

Other students using both platforms describe their experience as “taxing” but are ultimately enjoying the new learning management system.

Students and faculty can expect the campus to fully transition to Canvas in fall 2026.

With Moodle and Canvas, instructors can post grades and learning materials, facilitate discussions, create assignments and more.