Preparing for Migration

Ready to migrate your Blackboard subjects to Canvas? Start here to follow ABP's 6-step migration process.

six-step canvas migration process

We recommend following the ABP migration process when moving your subjects from Blackboard to Canvas. The diagram above outlines the 6-step process, who should be doing what, and where you can find support. More detailed information on each step can be found below.

  1. Book a Consultation

    Consultations are a unique opportunity to have someone walk you through Canvas for your migrated subjects, answer questions and discuss specific requests. To book an appointment, you will be required to complete a subject migration survey. This survey will allow the Project Evolve team to:

    • Confirm what subjects you are responsible for coordinating and/or teaching. This includes any new subjects for next year that are pending final approval
    • Identify which version of Blackboard your subjects are currently using, or
    • Create a Canvas subject from scratch, which may be useful if you have a new subject or do not wish to migrate your existing content
    • Be sure to book your consultation early. Migration Consultants will ensure content is migrated before each consultation. This will help ensure you have enough time to review your content after migration and make any changes that may be needed.

    After you complete a  subject migration survey, a Project Evolve Migration Consultant will contact you to arrange a suitable time for your consultation.

  2. Clean Subject Content

    Canvas offers staff and students a dashboard to easily view subjects, communications, calendars and activities. Preparing your subject content in Blackboard and removing any unnecessary material before migration will speed up the migration process and ensure your content is well-organised after the move.

    Here are some key suggestions to ensure your subject is ready for the migration process:

    • Organise content into specific modules. In Canvas, content is arranged by modules. This differs from the folder-in-folder structure of Blackboard. Arranging content in a weekly basis or by activities will ensure an easy-to-follow structure in Canvas
    • Identify which content you wish to archive. If you are not ready to archive everything, you can keep a backup of all your content in Blackboard. You can create a single folder where you keep all archived files.
  3. Migration

    All actively linked learning materials, including attachments and media, will be migrated into Canvas from your nominated source subject in Blackboard. Content migration will be followed by a side-by-side comparison of your Blackboard and Canvas subjects by a Migration Assistant. They will check:

    • Blackboard folder structures
    • Content pages and files
    • Quizzes
    • Question pools
    • Audio and video files linked to a subject
    • All content in the associated content folder
    • What doesn't get migrated?
      • LMS assignment submissions links (Turnitin and Blackboard)
      • Blackboard announcements, discussion boards and rubrics.

    If you have any additional requirements for your subject, you can further discuss during your consultation.

  4. Attend your Consultation

    Before this step, we encourage Subject Coordinators to attend the workshop "Canvas: Getting started”. You can do this either in person or via webinar. More information about workshops here.

    During a one hour consultation, you will meet with a Project Evolve Migration Consultant, who will guide you through the following items:

    • An overview of your migrated content. You will be able to see how your subject content will appear in Canvas
    • A migration report. This will include any changes that have been undertaken by Project Evolve
    • Identification of any additional actions and preparations that may be required before teaching
    • Answering any questions you have and planning your next steps.

    Your assigned Migration Consultant will arrange a meeting in Glyn Davis building. You will be granted access to your migrated Canvas subject 2-3 days prior to your scheduled consultation date.

  5. Check & Sign Off

    Once the migration process has been completed, you will be given access to your subject/subjects to review and confirm all your content has been transferred to Canvas correctly. Subject Coordinators are welcome to contact the migration team as many times as needed to ensure all your content is ready. After your Blackboard subject has been migrated to Canvas, you should check the following:

    • Has all text migrated with the right format?
    • Are all files and hyperlinks working?
    • Can you see all media files (audio and video) in Kaltura media gallery?
    • Have all quizzes and questions banks been migrated?
    • If you are using any external tools, are they all working correctly?

    Please note that this step is not the end of the process. Learning Environments will continue to support you as you begin to use Canvas and move to the next step.

  6. Review, Improve & Publish

    As part of the migration process, a baseline template that is in line with the TEL framework will be included in each subject. This template will include:

    • A homepage
    • Placeholder modules that will assist to set up modules in Canvas.

    Furthermore, the BEL+T team is developing specific ABP templates, which will allow faculty members to include standardised key information to students. This is coming soon.

    Learning Environments has developed a checklist to ensure all key areas of your Canvas subject are complete and ready to publish to students