Learn@Illinois Moodle - Moodle to Canvas Comparison Chart

To compare and contrast the different features between Learn@Illinois Moodle and Canvas, please look over the charts below. Note: this is not a completely finalized list. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave your feedback in the comment box at the bottom. Thank you!

An earlier version of this article was called “Equivalency Chart.” We changed it to “Comparison Chart”. We recognize that a lot of features between Moodle and Canvas are not fully equivalent to each other, and this chart serves to illustrate the closest available options.

For a permanent link to this information, please use: https://go.illinois.edu/MoodleToCanvasComparison

Activities

Moodle	Canvas	Notes (how it functions in Canvas)	How To Guide
Assignment	Assignment	4 types: Text Entry, Website URL, Media Recordings, File uploads. If multiple are selected, students have to pick whichever one they need and submit their work there. Confetti ensues. You can set up plagiarism review there, peer review, and assign to different groups from within the edit settings menu.	What are Assignments? Instructor Guide: Assignments Video Tutorial: Assignments Overview
Attendance	Attendance	No set session times, but you can set everyone as present, unmark all, or specify who is present, absent, or late (no other options). Under "Roll Call settings", able to specify that attendance does or doesn't count toward the final grade, and what percent is set for lateness. Can also give badges. Students cannot self-mark as present. A seating chart is also available. *Found in External Tool	How do I use the Roll Call Attendance tool in a course? How do I take roll call using the Attendance tool?
Certificate	Outcomes	Does not get a lot of use.	What are Outcomes? How do I create an outcome for a course? How do I use the outcomes page in a course?
Chat	Chat	No repeats or separation by groups. Can't specify if everyone can view past sessions. Doesn't open up in a new window. *Found in External Tool	How do I use Chat as an instructor?
Choice	No direct equivalent	There is no activity that offers this functionality. Workaround: Quiz. Ungraded Survey. Caveat is that you can't display the results to students. Page. Change "users allowed to edit this page" to "teachers and students" and then maybe set up a table and count tallies? This is really hard to find an equivalent.	How do I create a survey in my course? How do I view survey results in a course?
Database	No direct equivalent	There is no activity that offers this functionality. In desperation... Workaround: Page. Change "users allowed to edit this page" to "teachers and students" and then maybe set up a table for students to edit and put their info in. No grade attached, but you can set up an Assignment activity and set it to "On Paper", and link it to it.	How do I create a new page in a course? How do I edit a page in a course?
External Tool	External Tool	Direct equivalent, but this is a consortium of activities, so the specific activities within the ET will differ.	How do I add an external tool as a module item?
Feedback	No direct equivalent	TBD Potentially quiz with an ungraded survey setting.	How do I create a survey in my course? How do I view survey results in a course?
Forum	Discussion	Direct equivalent	What are Discussions? Video Tutorial: Discussions Overview
Glossary	No direct equivalent	There is no activity that offers this functionality. In desperation... Workaround: Page. Change "users allowed to edit this page" to "teachers and students" and then maybe set up a table for students to edit and put their info in.	How do I create a new page in a course? How do I edit a page in a course?
Group choice	Group set	Pretty good equivalent, even if not direct. People > +Group Set > Check Self Sign-Up (put how many groups and limit groups to _ members.) You can edit the names in the group set. Need more testing with actual students, but you have to make People visible from the settings menu so that students can do it. (Note: This is not an activity in Canvas.)	How do I add a group set in a course? How do I create self sign-up groups in a group set?
H5P	No direct equivalent	Probably different external tools or quiz. It depends on a specific H5P activity, so this is a difficult/unfair comparison.
Illinois Media Space Assignment	Assignment	Pretty good equivalent, even if not direct. Media Recordings. Or! You can be fancy and have students submit a Website URL if it's on Youtube or somewhere else. May be able to select Kaltura from External tools when creating the assignment (needs testing) TBD: Media Recordings may be disabled	What are Assignments? How do I create an online assignment?
Journal	No direct equivalent	There is no activity that offers this functionality. Workaround: Assignment. Not a direct 1-o-1, but you can set it up as a text entry with no deadline, if you want. Probably duplicate numerous times if you want a weekly one, but you can't exactly keep a running diary.	Video Tutorial: Assignments Overview
Lesson	No direct equivalent	There is no activity that offers this functionality. Workaround: Page. However, has a lot less functionality. Can't do the branching and you also can't ask questions in the meantime, so this is not a good substitute if that's what you want. However, if you're using the lesson as a lecture with no questions or interaction, page with an embedded video or PowerPoint works perfectly.	How do I create a new page in a course? How do I edit a page in a course? How do I embed a video in a page in a course?
OU blog		TBD
OU wiki	Not exactly...	There is no activity that offers this functionality. Workaround: Page. Change "users allowed to edit this page" to "teachers and students". No grade attached, but you can set up an Assignment activity and set it to "On Paper", and link it to it.	How do I create a new page in a course? How do I edit a page in a course?
Questionnaire	Quiz	TBD
Quiz	Quiz	No Description type, so you can't exactly do lessons in quizzes, but you can either 1) have a page as a lesson, which can lead to a quiz, 2) have a bigger wall of text in a Canvas question, or 3) use the stimulus question type with media attached, followed up by a question. The Classic Quiz does have a Text option.	What are Quizzes? Video Tutorial: Quizzes Overview What quiz types can I create in a course?
SCORM package	SCORM	TBD	How do I import SCORM files as an assignment? How do I import SCORM files as a page?
Scheduler	Calendar	Pretty good equivalent, even if not direct. + > Appointment Group. You can set up pretty much all of the same things as in Scheduler, but just from the calendar. Important note: have to add it to the correct calendar from the get-go - otherwise you won't be able to edit the series to put it in the proper place. (Note: This is not an activity in Canvas.)	How do I add a Scheduler appointment group in a course calendar? How do I use the Calendar as an instructor?
Survey	No direct equivalent	There is no activity that offers this functionality. Moodle's Survey has pre-selected survey instruments to assess student learning and gather data. If instructors want to conduct a course assessment, they can use the Ungraded Survey option in Quiz.
Turnitin Assignment	Assignment	Really good equivalent, even if not direct. Turn on Plagiarism Review in Assignment.
Wiki	Not exactly...	There is no activity that offers this functionality. Workaround: Page. Change "users allowed to edit this page" to "teachers and students". No grade attached, but you can set up an Assignment activity and set it to "On Paper", and link it to it.	How do I create a new page in a course? How do I edit a page in a course?
Workshop	Assignment	Pretty good equivalent, even if not direct. Set up Peer Review. Very different because there aren't phases, but there are times of when you can assign reviews (if you automatically assign them). You can also make it manual. Option to set a number of reviews. You can also set up a rubric, but it will appear on the side as opposed to in-assignment. *Bonus: peer reviews appear anonymous.	How do I create a peer review assignment? How do I use peer review assignments in a course? How do I automatically assign peer reviews for an assignment?
Zoom	Zoom	Direct equivalent. *Found in External Tool	How do I add an external tool as a module item?

Resources

Moodle	Canvas	Notes (how it functions in Canvas)	How To Guide
Book	Page	Probably a collection of pages or a link out to an eternal tool of sorts. This will be unique to every instructor.	How do I create a new page in a course? How do I edit a page in a course?
File	Files	Direct equivalent. A little bit less functionality, but you can pull from other files already uploaded to the course.	How do I use Files as an instructor? What types of media files can I upload in Canvas as an instructor?
Folder	Not exactly...	It depends on how it should be set up. Folders aren't widely used, but you can have a module with the collection of pages, or just a page that leads to other pages.
IMS content package		TBD No video assignment resource
IMS	Kaltura My Media or Kaltura Media Gallery	TBD
Label	Text Header	Has a lot less utility. You can't put anything in the Header other than a word or a phrase.	How do I add a text header as a module item?
Page	Page	Has a lot more utility. Can have students collaborate, embed PowerPoints, videos, and other media.	How do I create a new page in a course? How do I edit a page in a course?
URL	External URL	Direct equivalent	How do I add an external URL as a module item?

Question Types

Moodle	Canvas (New Quiz)	Canvas (Classic Quiz)	Notes (how it functions in Canvas)	How To Guide
Question bank	Item bank	Question bank	Two different question banks in Canvas if you use both of the quiz engines.	How do I create an item bank in New Quizzes? How do I create a question bank in a course?
Can tag	Can tag	Can't tag	Some instructors really utilize the tagging feature to organize their questions in addition to the actual categories - something to note for the classic quiz.	How do I manage item banks in New Quizzes?
Direct Equivalents
Description	Stimulus	Text (no question)	Not quite a perfect direct equivalent, but it is really close. Stimulus is a media question that requires an additional attachment of follow-up questions. In Moodle and Canvas Classic, you can use a Description/Text question type to do the same, but without the attached follow-up questions.	How do I insert stimulus content in New Quizzes? How do I create a Text (no question) quiz question?
Drag and drop into text	Hot Spot	--	Canvas note: you can only do one marker at a time. Workaround is to duplicate the hotspot question and select the other things that you want selected. You can select different shapes of selectors.	How do I create a Hot Spot question in New Quizzes?
Drag and drop markers	Hot Spot	--	Canvas note: you can only do one marker at a time. Workaround is to duplicate the hotspot question and select the other things that you want selected. You can select different shapes of selectors.	How do I create a Hot Spot question in New Quizzes?
Drag and drop onto image	Hot Spot	--	Canvas note: you can only do one marker at a time. Workaround is to duplicate the hotspot question and select the other things that you want selected. You can select different shapes of selectors.	How do I create a Hot Spot question in New Quizzes?
Essay	Essay	Essay		How do I create an Essay question in New Quizzes? How do I create an Essay quiz question?
Essay	File Upload	File Upload	In Moodle, you select "File Upload" under the Essay question type.	How do I create a File Upload assessment question using New Quizzes? How do I create a File Upload quiz question?
Matching	Matching	Matching	Matching	How do I create a Matching question in New Quizzes? How do I create a Matching quiz question?
Multiple Choice	Multiple Answer	Multiple Answers	One question type in Moodle, separate ones on Canvas.	How do I create a Multiple Answer question in New Quizzes? How do I create a Multiple Answers quiz question?
Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	Multiple Choice	One question type in Moodle, separate ones on Canvas.	How do I create a Multiple Choice question in New Quizzes? How do I create a Multiple Choice quiz question?
Numerical	Numeric	Numerical Answer	Students provide a numerical answer.	How do I create a Numeric question in New Quizzes? How do I create a Numerical Answer quiz question?
True/False	True or False	True/False	This is true.	How do I create a True or False question in New Quizzes? How do I create a True/False quiz question?
Available in Canvas but not Moodle
--	Categorization	--	For this question type, you would create a category or several (like mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, etc.) and then have the answers that you would like to go in the category. Can also add distractors that are rogue answers to throw off the students.	How do I create a Categorization question in New Quizzes?
--	Fill in the Blank	Fill in Multiple Blanks	Specific to Canvas, in New Quiz, you can select "Fill In the Blank", and then have multiple blanks but selecting the text and pressing Enter.	How do I create a Fill in the Blank question in New Quizzes? How do I create a Fill in Multiple Blanks quiz question?
--	Formula	Formula		How do I create a Formula question in New Quizzes? How do I create a Simple Formula quiz question?
--	--	Multiple Dropdowns		How do I create a Multiple Dropdowns quiz question?
--	Ordering	--	What's the order that you would like to do things in? You can also give a start/end if you fill in the top & bottom fields.	How do I create an Ordering question in New Quizzes?
Available in Moodle but not Canvas
Calculated
Calculated multichoice
Calculated Simple
Embedded answers (Cloze)
Essay (auto-grade)			No workaround.
Regular expression short answer
Select missing words
Short answer	Fill In the Blank	Fill In the Blank	Workaround: Essay, or Fill in the blank, or a Multiple choice. No direct equivalent.	How do I create a Fill in the Blank question in New Quizzes? How do I create a Fill in the Blank quiz question?

General Features

Moodle	Canvas	Notes	How To Guide
Logs	New Analytics	Lacks event stream. Turn it on in the Course settings under the Feature Options.	How do I view Course Analytics? How do I view an individual student in New Analytics?
Grouping	Group set	Can assign group leaders to groups, different group set up options (# of groups, # of members per group). Duplicate group set option.	How do I add a group set in a course? How do I automatically create groups in a group set? How do I assign a student leader to a group?
Gradebook	Grades	Different viewing/arranging options available.	How do I use the Gradebook? How do I sort and display student data in the Gradebook?
Quickmail/Moodle Messaging	Inbox	Inbox seems very similar to both of these Moodle features. It is found independently of a specific course, but you can still filter by courses and the groups within the courses.	How do I use the Inbox as an instructor? How do I filter conversations as an instructor?
Participants	People	Contains group set set up, has filtering and search options, add people via email.	How do I use the People page in a course as an instructor? How do I add users to a course?
Edit Settings	Settings	Similar options, can adjust navigation - show/hide different working spaces like assignments, quizzes, discussions, people, announcements. etc. Add description and course image. See course-specific Feature Options for New Quizzes, Analytics, Rich Content Editor, and more.	How do I use course settings? How do I add an image to a course card in the Dashboard? How do I change the start and end dates for a course?

Gradebook Features

Moodle	Canvas	Notes	How To Guide
Grader report	(Traditional) Gradebook	Just as in Moodle, this is the main page by default.
User report	Individual Gradebook	In contrast to Moodle, Canvas shows only the summary of the grade for the Assignment Group, but you can view grades for individual assignments. In Canvas, scroll down on the Individual Gradebook page to the Content Selection section and Select a student.	How do I view assignments or students individually in the Gradebook?
Single view	Individual Gradebook / (Traditional) Gradebook	In Canvas, scroll down on the Individual Gradebook page to the Content Selection section and Select an assignment. In contrast to Moodle, this will only display that assignment for an individual student. If you need to see all of the student grades for one assignment, you can go to the (Traditional) Gradebook page and use the Assignment Names search bar to search for the assignment that you want to view.	How do I view assignments or students individually in the Gradebook?
Gradebook setup	Assignment Groups Weight	This is accessed and enabled by going to the Assignments page and clicking the Options icon.	How do I view assignments or students individually in the Gradebook?
Gradebook categories	Assignment Groups	In Moodle, instructors go to the Gradebook setup page click Add category. In Canvas, instructors go to the Assignments page and create (Assignment) Groups from there.	How do I view assignments or students individually in the Gradebook?
Bulk inserting grades	Automatically apply grade for missing submission	In Moodle, bulk inserting grades is often used to replace missing grades with zeroes. This can be done in Canvas under the Late Policies tab, which can be accessed from the Gradebook Settings gear icon on the main (Traditional) Gradebook page.	Using the Canvas Missing Submission Policy
Importing/exporting grades	Actions -> Import/export	In Canvas, you can import or export a .csv file	How do I import grades in the Gradebook?
Hiding grades	Manually post grades, hide grades	In Canvas, if you do not want grades to be automatically published to students when you grade, navigate to the Gradebook Settings gear icon on the (Traditional) Gradebook page. From there, you can select the Grade Posting Policy tab and select Manually Post Grades.	How do I select a grade posting policy for a course in the Gradebook? How do I hide grades that were previously posted in the Gradebook?
Grading within the Assignment	SpeedGrader	As in Moodle, this can be used to grade assignments, group assignments, and discussions in Canvas.	How do I use SpeedGrader? How do I get to SpeedGrader from an assignment, quiz, or graded discussion?

If you have any questions about moving your course from Moodle to Canvas, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at atlas-tlt@illinois.edu for a consultation.

Learn@Illinois Moodle - Moodle to Canvas Comparison Chart

Learn@Illinois Moodle - Moodle to Canvas Comparison Chart

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