Alternative Course Hosting
This page covers options for hosting courses outside of the primary Learning Management System (LMS).
What is new:
Backup LMS: Moodle
An alternative local LMS
We have installed a locally running version of Moodle as a stop gap measure and can import your Canvas content and enroll your students.
UBC Blogs for Classes
A private website for your class
We have boosted UBC Blogs to upload your Canvas content and to auto-populate with your class list so students can join.
Find My Course
A brand-new course wayfinding service for students
Because the canvas directory is unavailable, we made a new one. Enter your new course location onto the student-facing Find My Course tool: https://findmycourse.ubc.ca
Instructor discussion forum
Community for instructors on Piazza — please join:
https://piazza.com/ubc.ca/summer2026/ubc_s1_all/home (access code in the most recent email to instructors from the Provost’s Office; email us for details)
Canvas materials are On SharePoint
Your Canvas materials are available on SharePoint.
You will see: pages, assignments + rubrics, quizzes, discussions, modules, files.
See the Instructor Discussion Post on Piazza to learn more (Piazza login required; access code in the most recent email to instructors from the Provost’s Office)
Workshops are running to help you get set up
CTLT and LTIC are running workshops to get you set up on your chosen alternative platform(s).
Moodle workshops: Sign up for a 1.5 hour help and info session on getting going with Moodle.
Sessions planned:
- Monday, May 11th: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
- Tuesday, May 12th: 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM
- Wednesday, May 13th: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
- Thursday, May 14th: 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Moodle Workshop Recordings: Watch here (“Moodle workshop recording”)
Blogs workshop recording: Watch here (“Blogs workshop recording”)
Contact your Students
Email your students
You can email your students using the Workday Student Communication Tool.
List your course
Direct your students to your course location using the Find My Course tool. It will post the location of your course so that students can find it.
Tools for Teaching
Blogs
A private website for your course. You can upload your Canvas materials (except Quizzes or the Gradebook).
Automatic Student enrolment is working: Automatically refreshes every 6 hours.
- Watch the Blogs workshop recording to learn how to get set up!
- Read the Teaching With UBC Blogs FAQ on the instructor forum
Moodle
Moodle is a full scale Learning Management System. It has quizzes, a forum, a grade book, and more.
Request your Moodle course now: Submit a ticket to lt.hub@ubc.ca to request a Moodle course. You can ask for it to be populated with your Canvas materials.
Piazza
Piazza is a discussion forum where you can also host resources and post announcements.
You provide a sign-up link and your students self-enrol. Set an access code to give students access without a UBC email address, and send it to them through the communication tool
Zoom
Use Zoom as you always have for delivering online lectures. There are other features in Zoom that can be used for student communication and sharing, such as Whiteboards.
Microsoft Teams
Teams lets you have a discussion, post content to your group.
Teams now has more tools available for teaching.
Assessment-Related Tools
Gradescope
Free for summer term 1!
You can grade scanned exams or uploaded PDFs. Students can still submit assignments directly to the platform.
Sign in with your existing account (the same one you used with Canvas), or sign up for a new account using UBC as the school.
Turnitin
Note: Your Turnitin account only works if you have previously set up a standalone instructor account. If you normally only use Turnitin through the Canvas “External Tool” assignment, please email LT.hub@ubc.ca.
Log in with the same account you used with Canvas.
Media Tools
Camtasia
Camtasia is a screen recording and video editing software. It lets you record from your computer screen and webcam, as well as add audio or other media to create videos such as lectures, presentations, and video assignments.
Kaltura
Kaltura lets you record and edit media, create shorter clips from existing media, and add interactive video quizzes.
H5P
Content hosted on the UBC Open H5P Hub or created via the Lunii desktop app are available. You will need to move Canvas-embedded content for it to be visible (such as UBC Blogs).
Contact lt.hub@ubc.ca for support with this.
Specialized Learning Environments
GitHub
UBC GitHub is a Git repository-hosting service available for academic use at UBC. GitHub is commonly used with Git to manage code or other projects while maintaining a clear record of additions, removals, and edits.
Students use CWL to join.
JupyterHub
JupyterHub is a web-based, high-performance computational workspace offering “notebooks” where students, instructors, and researchers can collaborate on shared data and develop related resources, visualizations, and computer-generated figures.
Qualtrics
A survey tool that can be used for multiple choice quizzes with scoring, or for assignment submissions.
You can add authentication at the start of the survey to collect identity, and restrict access to those with a CWL.
Library Materials and Publisher Tools
UBC Library Materials
All UBC Library Online Course Reserves (LOCR) should be accessed directly through the UBC Library webpage at this time.
Macmillan Achieve
Pearson MyLab and Mastering
Unavailable without the primary LMS
- LockDown Browser (LDB): Requires a Canvas Quiz to “lock onto”
- Canvas Quizzes: All native assessments and Question Banks are inaccessible.
- Integrated Publisher Tools: WileyPlus, Cengage MindTap, Norton Inquizitive, McGraw-Hill Connect, VHLCentral.
- Kaltura & Panopto (Embedded): While the videos themselves are safe on the servers, the “My Media” and “Course Content” galleries inside Canvas will not load.
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