University College Cork Partners with Canvas to Deliver its New Strategic Vision

Canvas has been selected by University College Cork to provide an institution-wide virtual learning environment (VLE), helping drive its connected university strategy.

University College Cork (UCC) launched its new strategy in December, the first cohesive academic plan put in place by the institution. UCC is looking to Canvas to help facilitate the shift and support the delivery of a student-centred teaching and learning experience with a renewed, responsive and research-led curriculum at its core.

Canvas will become the main online platform to support teaching and learning at UCC, giving academic staff the tools to teach the university’s 17,580 full-time students in innovative ways, and offering the flexibility to deliver a Connected Curriculum.

The process leading up to partnering with Canvas was rigorous, with UCC running extensive pilots, testing and trialling functions over the last two years and garnering the views of students and staff.

In choosing to adopt Canvas, the university’s panel was completely unanimous on the purchase – the first time in UCC’s history that this had been the case. The university had previously used Blackboard as their VLE.

Professor John O'Halloran, Deputy President and Registrar at University College Cork, said: “Working with Canvas will help us fulfil our vision to prioritise teaching and learning by delivering an outstanding student-centred experience. As well as the intrinsic value to pedagogy, this move will allow us to realise our ambitions to attract more national and international students, deliver a research-led curriculum, attract and retain the most talented staff and to help our students become lifelong learners who continue to engage with our institution – from their first day at university to the last day of their careers.”

Kenny Nicholl, General Manager, EMEA at Instructure, added, “We are delighted that University College Cork has chosen Canvas not just as its institution-wide VLE, but also as a partner working closely with them in delivering their new strategic vision. By being involved at the heart of the change that’s going on at UCC, we will support the institution’s drive to further differentiate itself, driven by student-centred pedagogy.”

Tom O’Mara, Head of Digital Education at University College Cork, said: “The university was looking for far more than just a VLE that had the right functions and features. The people and services from Instructure, in conjunction with the Canvas platform, will aid our vision, and fit in with our culture. User experience is paramount so we tested this by asking suppliers to present certain scenarios to our panel as part of the tender, this ensured that we didn't just get a world-class platform with a proven track record, but also one that would be accessible by all our users and help drive improvements in adoption and delivery.”

“Another big thing we look at and consider a lot at UCC is the notion of collaboration, community, sharing and learning from each other. This is why the Canvas community was a big draw as well. Too much siloing happens in education. But we can use tech to facilitate the sharing of content and good practice – for collaboration not just between staff, or students, but with other institutions.”