The Bellevue College staff spent summer quarter working on a login process that requires only one simple variable in the search bar, your username. That’s it, just type [yourusername]@bellevuecollege.edu and you will be granted access to student emails, class assignments, calendars and all MyBC website features.
Next time you are sitting at home trying to remember that chemistry assignment due next week, there is a more reliable cure to your vexation than texting that less-than-reliable lab partner.
The simplification of accessing student emails was implemented for fall quarter in preparation for the transition to CANVAS, a program that is intended to adhere more effectively to the needs of staff and students. CANVAS will be fully integrated by winter quarter.
Statistics instructor Saraswathi Kodungudi has embarked on her own experience with CANVAS. Graduating college in India in 1983, she says, “I was expected to do every calculation and equation by hand. We had no calculators, only our brains,” she said. “I am comfortable using MyBC which I am quite familiar with, but of course in time I will be making my switch to CANVAS with the rest of the school.”
Kodungudi accepts the fact that if technology is to advance, students and teachers must adapt to it.
Expository Writing instructor Jim Dicus also shared his views on the new program. Mr. Dicus noted that although CANVAS has caused issues and delays in the BC system overall, having a single email login will keep the BC online system together. “Having an online presence is beneficial to both student and instructor because is increases our ability to communicate,” he said.
As far as training is concerned, Mr. Dicus is looking forward to “experiencing CANVAS as I feel that the Blackboard platform we are currently based on is outdated and clunky, thus causing a disconnect between student’s and their instructors.
Whatever personal anxieties you may have about the transition to the CANVAS program, its integration will be carried through to its end to see improvement at BC. The word “canvas” itself can in one way be defined as a large piece of fabric by which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel. You may not know where CANVAS is headed, but the best way to start preparing is to verify your new email login.