D2L and Canvas: Tool Comparison

The primary tools in D2L and Canvas are similar — but Canvas is more user-friendly, with additional or streamlined features. This comparison will help orient you to the Canvas user interface.

Green boxes highlight interface elements, with arrows indicating how they change. On a few Canvas screenshots, red callouts indicate that course navigation changes slightly (or goes away).

You can explore these tools in more detail with your Canvas Sandbox. If you want to start experimenting, check out the Canvas Essentials page for tutorials.

The Canvas homepage is more flexible than in D2L – it can be formatted like a regular HTML page. The only “widget” used in the Canvas example below is for Recent Announcements at the top, the rest was added using the rich text editor. But you don’t have to create this from scratch – Canvas home pages are easily shared and added using Canvas Commons.

Canvas Course Navigation is also more flexible: items can be hidden when unused. In the example below, Quizzes are not in the navigation because they’re not used in the course.

Each content tool in Canvas has an Index Page. These are automatically-generated lists of each item you create with that tool (like the Manage [Activity] areas in D2L). There is an index page for Modules, Discussions, Quizzes, Announcements, Assignments, and Pages. Links to these can appear in the course navigation.

Canvas modules are located in a Module Index Page. This is the equivalent of D2L’s Table of Contents. You can hide/show modules, add materials, reorder, nest, and set date or prerequisite conditions for them.

This process is very similar to D2L, but the menus and options in Canvas are simpler. Media is added via URL or in a Page.

The Canvas Assignment index page automatically shows any graded activity, including quizzes and discussions. These can be grouped and given a percentage for weighted grading. This gives students one index page that shows every graded task for the course.

The Canvas Assignment index page automatically shows any graded activity, including quizzes and discussions. These can be grouped and given a percentage for weighted grading. This gives students one index page that shows every graded task for the course.

In Canvas you don’t create a separate Forum and Topic, as in D2L. Discussions are ordered by most recent activity unless “pinned” in position. Graded Discussions automatically appear in the Assignments index page and Gradebook.

Quiz question types in Canvas match those in D2L with some additional options. Question Library is called a Question Bank. Graded quizzes automatically appear in the Assignments index page and Gradebook.

In Canvas the default display is spreadsheet-style. Individual view is by student. Grade items are automatically added to the Gradebook when you create a graded activity. Assignment Groups/weights also appear automatically.

The Canvas SpeedGrader tool is like the D2L assignment submission view. It shows any rubric used and has annotation tools for feedback. Navigation is from one student submission to the next.