Canvas controversy

Instructure’s new feature causes discourse

Last week, the educational technology company Instructure, which owns Union College’s online academic application Canvas, announced a controversial new feature that has put students and professors at odds and caused upheaval among Union’s academic administration.

Instructure’s chief executive officer Steve Daly announced Canvas’ new subscription-based feature for students. “Starting next month, Canvas will be rolling out a new feature for students only. For just $49.99 a month, students can have the ability to alter their grades for the course of their choosing. Students will also have the option to purchase a subscription of $499.99 a year which gives them the ability to alter their grades for all of their courses.”

This announcement has obviously caused academic administrators to go into a state of panic. While students are welcoming the new feature with open arms, professors have become very concerned about how this will affect students actually completing their assignments as opposed to just paying Canvas to change their poor grades.

“We are not sure how we can properly assess students’ skills and progress in their classes if Canvas actually goes through with this idea. What’s the point in having exams if students can just pay some money for a better grade? This is insanity! We don’t even know what Instructure’s goal is here,” said academic dean Bruce Forbes. “We may have to consider changing our academic application — again. We can’t have graduates in their respective fields who’ve essentially paid Canvas for their degree.”

Even though the academic administration is livid about the new service, students, especially graduating seniors with advanced-stage senioritis, are very excited by it. “This is my last semester. I don’t care anymore. Canvas can have my money if it means I can pass grammatical systems with minimal effort,” said senior English and communication major Lacey Stecker. “I’m on my way out, so I might as well make the most of it. I only wish that this feature was a thing back during lockdown and Zoom classes!”

Canvas’ bizarre new feature clearly has its fans and haters. Many think that Instructure is only causing itself problems in the long run. Institutions could easily switch to an application that does not offer the feature. However, other companies may be adopting a similar feature to better compete with Canvas. Pearson plc CEO Andy Bird said, “We like Instructure’s new marketing strategy here. We may consider something like this for PowerSchool.”

Canvas seems to be set on launching its new service. Now, all students and faculty can do is anxiously await Union’s response.

By: Evan Majors