Enhancing our Learning Management System
Welcome to the LMS Transition page. This page is your go-to resource for everything related to the LMS transition, including timelines, training opportunities, support documentation, and answers to frequently asked questions.
Our Objective
Learning Technology Solutions will enhance the educational experience for students and faculty by adopting a modern, accessible, and user-friendly learning management system.
We are committed to facilitating a seamless transition to Canvas for students, instructors, and staff. To accomplish this, we will implement the following strategies:
- To ensure alignment and support, foster collaboration and transparency with colleges, faculty, and students.
- Prioritize the delivery of a consistent and high-quality teaching and learning experience.
- Provide instructors with the necessary time and resources to effectively leverage the capabilities of Canvas.
Summer Timeline
This summer, our primary focus will be setting up the UIC instance of Canvas and integrating all current Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) applications, including Panopto, Echo360, Zoom, Acadly, and more. We will also establish a staging environment to transfer all content from Blackboard and test all tools and our integration with Banner.
To support this transition, we will hire an instructional design team along with teaching assistants (TAs). They will serve as the leading resource for faculty support, conduct workshops, and maintain clear communication regarding the Learning Management System (LMS) transition with the colleges.
Timeline Image
Summer Timeline
Academic Timeline
Late in the summer, we will begin copying master courses from Blackboard’s Original and Ultra formats to Canvas. These courses will be categorized into four buckets: No Touch, Light Touch, Medium Touch, and Hard Touch. The instructional design team will select courses from each category to be restructured and made accessible. We will benchmark the time required for these processes.
Once this is complete, we will schedule updates for course design in Fall 2025, Spring 2026, Summer 2026, and Fall 2026, in collaboration with the colleges and faculty. Below is a potential timeline outlining what this process could look like.
Academic Timeline
2025-2026 Academic Year Timeline
Communication Plan
The communication plan below will share important dates, resources, and progress updates for this project. The chart will link to website pages providing access to meeting minutes, recordings, newsletters, and updates. For example, after our two Townhall webinars, the dates will become active links to the recordings, for those who couldn’t make it to view.
Communication Plan
| What | Audience | Purpose | When / Frequency | Type / Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note from Provost, CIO, and CIO | UIC | To share with the university the new LMS we will be transitioning to, and next steps. | One time email once the decision has been made | Email April 10th Link |
| Present to the Faculty Senate and Deans Council | Faculty and Deans | To inform them of the transition, to help identify stakeholder and players from each college that will support this project (communication, course remediation, etc.) and become part of a committee. Give a specific date when identified staff have been notified. | Quarterly | Presentation April 24th May 13th |
| Quarterly Townhalls | UIC | To share the transition plan and document concerns | Once for each side of campus | Zoom Webinar April 28th link May 1st |
| Kick-off Meeting (Internal Transition Team) | LTS, all IDs working on project, college identified staff | The main goal of the program kickoff meeting is to familiarize the team with the transition project, review the goals and milestones, receive buy-in from all project participants. Future meeting schedules and frequency will be defined and discussed. | Project Initiation | Meeting |
| Internal Transition Team Meetings | LTS, all IDs working on project, college identified staff | Project updates, changes, new implementations, check-ins, etc. | TBD | Meeting |
| IT Governance | UIC reps | Provide update on project. | Monthly | Meeting |
| Newsletters | UIC | Provide project updates and guidance, dates and deadlines | Bi-Monthly | Email, website |
| Workshops | UIC | Delivered by vendor and IDs. These will be ongoing throughout the transition. | TBD | Live and Over Zoom |
Instructional Design Transition
Our instructional design team will utilize a process similar to the one outlined below for collaborating with faculty on restructuring and remediating their courses.
- IDs, staff, and the LTS ID team are identified as the “Transition Team”
- All IDs assigned one to two TAs to support their work
- All IDs assigned a college or department
- ID’s focus is on course design, and TA’s focus is on accessibility remediation.
- ID works collaboratively with faculty, sharing course design ideas
- ID implements course restructuring
- TAs update inaccessible content
- TAs develop a list of accessible changes implemented and a list of changes that still need to be completed by the faculty member
- ID meets with faculty to go over new course design and remaining remediation
- Faculty complete course update and faculty and ID sign off
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently asked questions and answers related to the LMS transition.
What will happen to my courses in Blackboard?
Blackboard courses will be transferred to Canvas, while all other courses will be archived for four years. If you need access to an archived course, you can request it by submitting a ticket through TDX. Student data from Blackboard will be archived as well.
What can I work on over the summer?
- Review your courses taught in BlackBoard Original and Ultra and delete or download and archive any unused content.
- Download content specific to your course or section to personalize the master version of the course.
- Remediate any content in your courses if you have time to do this work over the summer
What if I am creating a new course for the fall?
Courses in the fall will be taught in Blackboard Original or Blackboard Ultra. However, we recommend contacting LTS if you want help organizing your course in Blackboard so that it can be copied over easily to Canvas.
What if I missed one of the quarterly Townhall meetings?
The Townhall meeting will be recorded and made available on the Communications page. Currently, there is a communication chart with a link to past Townhalls, or you can click on the link below.
May 1st
I watched the townhall, and am still confused about which version of my course is going to be copied over?
The town hall meeting provided us with an opportunity to gather insights and feedback from you. We will review the information shared and make necessary modifications. Our goal is to ensure that faculty have the correct course copied to Canvas in most cases, as this will allow for the most efficient restructuring and remediation. Therefore, we plan to copy over courses intended to be restructured during each specific semester, and only after faculty have been informed and have confirmed that they are ready to work with an instructional designer on that course or have expressed interest in becoming early adopters or want to restructure and remediate the courses themselves.
Who do I contact to become an early adopter, or have specific questions or concerns that I want answered?
You can submit a ticket at https://learning.uic.edu/about/contact/. Please provide as much information as possible, and someone will respond with the next steps.
Where can I learn about Canvas?
Do you know where I can learn about Canvas? Throughout the transition, LTS will be developing both Faculty and Student guides to getting started with Canvas. There will also be workshops offered throughout the 2025-2026 academic year. We will also post some curated links of “How to” guides from the Instructure website. Until then, you can learn more about the Canvas LMS by clicking on the following link.
Can I copy my own content over to Canvas, and restructure my own course?
You can copy your own content into Canvas and restructure your course. This fall, you will have access to the Canvas staging and production areas, allowing you to transfer your materials if you choose to do so.
Early adopters will teach in Canvas during the Spring 2026 semester. Everyone else will begin teaching in Canvas in the Summer 2026 semester.
I use tools like Echo360 and MatLab in my course, will these be available in Canvas?
Yes. These tools are known as Learning Tool Interoperability (LTIs). All the LTIs currently used at the university will be accessible on Canvas. However, several of these tools will require updates to their latest versions to ensure Title II compliance and proper functionality within Canvas. We will create a webpage to share information about these updates and inform faculty about changes as we begin integrating the LTIs.
What resources will be available to my college during this transition?
Each college that does not currently have one will be assigned an Instructional Designer (ID), along with graduate students and/or TAs. The ID and TAs will reach out to you for a consultation once your course or courses are ready to be restructured and remediated. They will handle most of the work, while faculty will be involved at various stages to edit and approve the course or courses.
What resources will be availalbe for Title II remediation?
LTS is currently negotiating to purchase an application and several add-ons that will help with in-LMS remediation. This will allow faculty, instructional designers, staff, and TAs to remediate inaccessible content within the LMS. Workshops will be offered during the fall semester to teach faculty how to use these applications.