What people complain about in Canvas LMS
9 reported problems name Canvas LMS as what the person is currently using. Below is what they said was missing, and what they resorted to instead.
- Complaints
- 9
- Avg severity
- 3.3/5
- Would pay to fix
- 1
- Industries
- 1
What they wish it did
Capabilities people described needing that Canvas LMS does not give them, taken from the highest-scoring problems first. These are individual accounts written in each person’s own terms, so two entries may describe the same underlying gap in different words.
- Offline-capable grade submission app with sync
- Google Classroom lacks section/period grouping within a single course, forcing creation of duplicate classrooms.
- Reliable account management and data persistence for educational apps
- In-app contextual training that replaces coworker Q&A for common LMS tasks
- Automatic classroom photo capture and distribution system that does not require teacher's manual intervention
- Centralized repository of vetted, adaptable lesson plans from educators
- Tools for quickly customizing existing lesson plans for different classrooms
- Integration between lesson planning tools and learning management systems
- Automated assignment weight display and contextual grade explanation to reduce grade disputes
What they do instead
The manual processes people built around the gap. A long workaround list is the strongest evidence a problem is real: someone is already paying for it in time. Where several people described the same workaround, it is marked.
- total analog mode, can't tell who has submitted what
- asks coworkers repeatedly how to create assignments
- relies on colleagues to explain how to set an external URL
- teacher uses personal phone to take photos of students during class
- teacher manually posts pictures on Canvas or Talking Points for parents
- Using ChatGPT for lesson planning despite it taking too long
- Finding and adapting lesson plans from past teachers or coworkers manually
- Searching for materials from teachers at similar schools
- Teachers consider making a rubric to explain grading, but find it tiresome to sandbag against grade gremlins
Industries
The problems themselves
Highest opportunity score first.
School is completely locked out of its grade submission system during a critical deadline window due to a cloud outage, unable to see who has submitted what.
5CriticalEducationSoftware Reliability & PerformanceGradeContinuityTeacher forced to switch from Canvas to Google Classroom must manage 8 separate classrooms across 3 subjects, finding it overwhelming and inefficient.
4HighEducationClassroom ManagementClassMerge ProTeacher cannot access previously created Kahoot assignments and student results because their account disappeared after logging in via Google.
4HighEducationSoftware Reliability & PerformanceClassFlow ProTeachers, especially in special education, need a way to track and document NCCD adjustments but are unsure if Canvas tagging can effectively meet this compliance requirement in an online learning environment.
3MediumEducationDocumentationNCCD AdjustTrackerTeachers who lack basic computer skills burden colleagues by repeatedly asking how to use learning management system features.
3MediumEducationTraining & OnboardingEduLift CoachHigh school math teacher needs a way to manage paper homework without being overwhelmed by the volume from 5 classes daily.
3MediumEducationAssignment Management & GradingPaperFlowTeachers are frustrated with the expectation to use smartphones for taking class photos and responding to parent messages, adding unpaid, non-teaching work.
3MediumEducationClient Communication & ExperienceClassSnapTeachers spend excessive time creating lesson plans from scratch instead of efficiently adapting existing quality materials.
3MediumEducationClassroom ManagementLessonFlow ExchangeTeachers need a way to communicate that a low score on a small assignment does not reflect overall student performance, to prevent grade disputes from students and parents.
2MildEducationGrading & AssessmentGradeContext
Read this fairly
These are complaints, and only complaints — nobody posts to say their software worked. A high count mostly reflects how many people use Canvas LMS at all, so this page is not a quality judgement and should not be read as one. What it is good for is the shape of the gaps: the specific jobs people could not get done, which are the same whether the tool is popular or not.
Folded from: Canvas, Canvas (LMS), canvas