There are several course management tools used for teaching and learning at Brown University.  This guide is designed to inform you of the different features associated with each tool so that you can select the appropriate course management system to meet your teaching and learning needs.

Canvas

This is where you can request a Canvas site for your course. Canvas is a DLD supported Learning Management system with built-in tools for communication, assignments, assessments, etc.

• For support documentation, check out our Canvas Help Articles and Semester Start Checklist.
• Check out our Canvas Community at Brown for updated information and announcements about Canvas features.
• Need more help? Contact [email protected] or schedule a consultation

Google Groups

Instructors can request a Google Group for use with their course for classroom communication and file sharing. The suite of tools included with your Google Group include a shared email, calendar, documents, and website. Please note: If you request a Google Group, it will be limited to the official enrollments of the course in which you click the request button.

Resources:

• Read our knowledgebase article on Google Groups.
• Need more help? Contact the OIT Service Center

Non-Banner Learning Experiences

Brown University's primary LMS, Canvas, is only available for use with provisioned academic courses which students register for through CAB/Banner.  There are several tools provided through Brown University that can be used for non-traditional use cases.  Below are a list of options available to Brown University community members.

Brown Sites

 Brown Sites is a WordPress based site available to faculty and staff who would like to create a professional website for academic purposes.

To learn more, visit Sites.Brown.Edu Website.

Google For Education

Brown faculty and staff have access to a variety of Google products ideal for educational purposes. The following tools can be leveraged for your program and provides you the flexibility to invite users outside of Brown.  

• Google Classroom - a streamlined, easy-to-use tool that allows users to create classes, distribute assignments, grade and send feedback.
• Google Sites - an application where faculty, staff or students can design interactive websites to share information about their course.    
• Google Drive - a personal cloud storage service which allows users to store and share folders, files, and collaborative documents (Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc...)

To learn more, visit the Google Workspace Learning Center.

Adobe Express

Adobe Express is a suite of products by Adobe that are free to Brown users which aims to lower the barrier for anyone wanting to achieve inspirational digital designs. Express products are web-browser based, but can also be used via mobile apps, and projects are saved and published in the cloud.

To learn more, visit this resource provided by the Brown Creative Arts and Technology Spaces.

Workday Learning

Workday Learning is Brown University's new learning management system used for compliance training and professional development.  

To learn more about adding your program to Workday, submit a Workday ticket here or email [email protected].

Digital Scholarship at Brown

Brown University Library supports the pilot program, Digital Scholarship at Brown, which provides faculty and staff access to flexible web and server space separate from Brown's standard IT infrastructure.  To learn more and to see if your use case is eligible, please visit the Digital Scholarship at Brown's Guidelines for Use website.