On Canvas
Canvas has two main purposes. Its first purpose is to centralize things. Assignments are handed in there, course information is found there, and readings are posted there. In doing so, Canvas serves a useful purpose, although it is a purpose that is equally well-served by simple web pages from the 1990s. But its secondary purpose, the one that requires the use of a specialized system, is to take many of the normal elements of a classroom, such as class discussions and portfolios, and bring them online. That, I have a problem with. I have complicated feelings about social technology generally. It is obviously greatly empowering, allowing art and information of all kinds to spread farther and more broadly than ever before. It facilitates projects and events which would previously have been infeasible; I have accomplished and created things that were only possible because of the internet, and collaborated with people whom I have never and would never have met. But it is also dangerous. ...