Teachers to switch to Canvas grading

September 3, 2015 — by Jason Zhao

Over the past year, the learning management system Canvas has quickly become a popular way for students to check their homework or see notifications their teachers have posted. In the next couple of years, Canvas is expected to replace Aeries as the school’s grade portal, and Aeries will only be used to send out report cards.

Over the past year, the learning management system Canvas has quickly become a popular way for students to check their homework or see notifications their teachers have posted. In the next couple of years, Canvas is expected to replace Aeries as the school’s grade portal, and Aeries will only be used to send out report cards.

Some teachers have already started the transition for their own and their students’ convenience.

“Using Canvas as a gradebook synchronizes really well with the Canvas classes,” English teacher Jason Friend said. “If you’re using Canvas as a website, it makes a lot of sense to also use it as a gradebook.”

Canvas’ visually appealing interface also makes it easier for teachers to use, Friend said.

“Since I’m used to using Aeries for the last several years, there were definitely different bugs that I had to work out and things that work differently,” Friend said. “It was a little confusing at first, but now that I’ve been using it for a week, it seems pretty good.”

Still, some students would rather have Aeries as the main gradebook, despite the convenience that Canvas brings.

“It’s annoying since I have to change pages a lot to see my assignment grades for every class in Canvas,” junior Harrison Cui said. “You can see all the assignments for one class in Aeries in one click.”

But with every new system, it will take some time getting used to the differences.

“It is normal for there to be a transitional period to see how things go,” Friend said. “Only when everyone uses one grading system will things become a lot smoother.”

2 views this week