In order to better serve our faculty, students, and administrators, Hope International University has replaced our former online learning platform with a leading online learning platform called Canvas. Integrating the same Web technologies that power sites like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, Canvas is currently used by more than 2,000 universities, including all Community Colleges in California.

An industry leader since its launch in 2011, Canvas is highly regarded for its reliability, functionality, easy to use, native tools, and customer support.

“I’m thrilled with the tremendous benefits our students will experience using Canvas,” remarked Dr. Paul Alexander, HIU’s Vice President for Academic Affairs. “The communication and collaboration tools are state of the art and really fun to use. The faculty are excited to leverage these new tools to make learning robust, engaging and transforming.”

Below are the several features that Canvas will provide to the HIU community:

• Easy to use interface that is clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate
• Integrated Media Recorder – Students and faculty can record video and audio messages for discussions, assignments, and grading feedback
• Robust Course Notifications System – Students can be notified via email, cell, and Twitter about course announcements, calendar updates, discussion replies, assignment due dates, grades etc.
• Web Conferencing - Real time audio, video, and whiteboard functionality for group collaboration
• Collaborative Workspaces - Allows students to collaborate on a group project via Google Docs where they can upload files, create Wiki pages, and participate in real time chat
• Smart Device Compatibility - Canvas mobile app available for iOS and Android
• Robust Reporting Analytics – Allows users to evaluate individual components of a course and evaluate student performance; can be used to identify at-risk students and see how students are doing in any course at any time

HIU’s Learning Technology team has been hard at work to make this a smooth transition. For more information, contact our Director of Learning Technology, Micah Alston.