Key Insights
The new VLE rollout needed to be done on time so that staff could prepare for the academic year.
University of Galway invited over 30 staff and students to assess four VLEs. They also looked at what other higher education institutions, market movers, and market leaders were doing across the globe to decide which VLE best suited their academic strategies.
University of Galway’s VLE criteria included usability, functionality, ease of use, and consistency. Seamless, deeper integrations with their existing technologies like Microsoft Office 365 were a must.
Another big decision-making factor was tier-one support from a VLE, i.e., staff and students can log tickets directly to Canvas if they have any issues.
Throughout the pandemic, University of Galway realised a digital change across the organisation and used the power of a VLE to fulfil that expectation.
University of Galway will continue leveraging the momentum of a VLE, including quizzes, assessments, deeper integrations, and contextualised support to assist in-person teaching and learning.
University of Galway is a top-tier research university in Ireland, with five research institutes and over 20,000 students across many cohorts of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The university also has 902 academic teachers and 2,500 staff members. With high quality teaching and a strong global impact of their research, University of Galway has grown their international reputation over the years and is ranked 259th in the world, according to QS World University Rankings. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the university made a massive pivot to online technologies, including choosing Canvas as their new virtual learning environment (VLE) to provide their students and teachers with more efficient and flexible teaching and learning environments. Larry Page, Head of Information Management at Information Solutions and Services at University of Galway, said that this transition also gives the university all the capabilities and agility they will ever need.
Canvas offers deeper integration with existing technologies; it is easy for teachers and students to use, and provides Tier One support... making it more efficient for all.
Larry Page
Head of Information Management at Information Solutions and Services at University of Galway
After 15 years using a traditional VLE, the university realised they needed to update the capabilities of the platform and decided to look for a new edtech partner.
Download Case Study