So what do I think are the benefits of using a structured space for learning and teaching like Canvas? well, it really still comes back to the design of the lesson. For example, students will find it very beneficial to find all of their content in one space, but that convenience will not matter if the content is not well-designed. I found that I had some difficulty really designing my module in Canvas just because I was not familiar with the system. I am not really even totally sure that I created a well-designed lesson. Of course, this can be overcome with practice and patience. And maybe that is just my bias as an instructional designer. This just shows how my lack of knowledge was not able to take advantage of one of the benefits of the structured system. But, back to the benefits, I do feel that the design of the interface in Canvas is better than many of its competitors. The structure also provides a very straight forward map for students to follow as they progress through course material. The structured environment also provides for a centralized course communication and assessment space. Some courses require students to email assignments in one place, contribute links to a database in another space, and then take certain quizzes at testing centers (yet another separate space). This can cause confusion as students have to figure out which service to use when completing different assignments. The centralized location solves many of these issues.

How well does the structure of an LMS fit with my theory of online learning? Again, it probably comes down to design. You can add as much or as little content as you want, so there is nothing that would exclude a social constructivist lesson design. Additionally, the available tools – if taken advantage of – would really enhance social interactions. Virtual meeting spaces, discussion forums, wikis, and other tools would be some of the possibilities available to instructors to help foster social construction of knowledge. The big problem with social constructivism is not really the tools available but the resistance of students. When students are accustomed to having content handed to them to be memorized and regurgitated, the social constructivist paradigm can be a shock to the status quo. Of course, the structure of Canvas could possibly lend to helping lead students from more guided lessons at the beginning to more constructed lessons at the end. So, in a way, I guess I could look at Canvas or other LMSs as bridges that could be used to scaffold students from behaviorism into a constructivist paradigm. Moodle was intended to be a social constructivist design from the beginning, and it looks like Canvas has taken a lot of their design ideas from Moodle. So overall, I would say that the structure fits well as long as the instructional design is solid.