| The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how faculty experience the transition from Blackboard to Canvas LMS and which LMS is preferred. The general problem addressed in this study was that California Community College students' success and retention in online courses was 7--10% lower than in face-to-face courses. To try to increase success and retention the CCC Chancellor's office chose the Canvas learning management system as the common course management system for the state. The specific problem addressed in this study was that it was not known how faculty experience the Canvas LMS and whether they prefer it to Blackboard. It was also unknown how faculty experience the transition from Blackboard to Canvas. The setting of this study was a CCC in southern California who conducted a Blackboard-to-Canvas transition program. This study used three data collection methods: face-to-face interviews, a focus group, and a review of existing documentation. The central question of this study was whether faculty from a California community college prefer Blackboard or Canvas and if so, why? Five themes emerged from the findings, four of the themes directly relate to the study questions. (a) Faculty prefer Canvas LMS, (b) Technology acceptance is important to LMS preference, (c) The LMS is important for designing successful online learning experiences, (d) Changing LMSs is hard, and (e) faculty need professional development focused on understanding course organization using modules and how to communicate with students. |
