As students at UBC, Connect has become an old friend. Whether it’s been your cramming partner every night at 2 am or a distant relative you only see once a term, you’ve likely gotten familiar with UBC’s main online learning system. Now that UBC is starting to transition away from Connect, it got us wondering—what came before? So here’s a snapshot of UBC’s history with online learning systems: past, present, and future.
WebCT
Welcome to the Pre-Connect era: WebCT. This software was originally created by one of our own, Murray Goldberg, a UBC Computer Science faculty member. The first version was created in 1996, and it was one of the first web-based systems to support higher learning technology. This system was adopted by universities all over the world, and in 2004, Goldberg won a $100,000 innovation award for the software.
Bonus: Watch the man himself talk about WebCT (in stunning 144p resolution).
Connect
When UBC first announced that they were switching from WebCT to a new system, they had a campus-wide contest to find a UBC-specific name. After receiving more than 600 entries, the winning entry was “Connect.” The lucky winner received a $50 gift card to the UBC bookstore.
So here we are, the present. Compared to WebCT, Connect offers more functions and improved usability for students and faculty. As of 2017, it’s been the main learning system at UBC for almost four years.
Canvas
Over the past year, UBC has consulted with students and faculty to find a replacement for Connect. In June 2017, UBC chose the learning management system Canvas.
Canvas is the new kid in town, sporting a cleaner, more consistent interface than Connect. It aims for improved usability and more consistency between courses. UBC is starting to transition courses to Canvas in September 2017 and plans to have all courses transferred over from Connect by September 2018.
Learn more about how UBC chose Canvas.
– Caitlin Young, UBC Creative Writing student
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