The switch from Haiku to Canvas has been a drastic change for both staff and students. It’s clear that the new website takes some adjusting to, as Canvas has sparked some mixed reactions.

Canvas is an education platform and is the world’s #1 teaching software. Some schools that have incorporated Canvas into their programs are Penn State University, Arizona State University, Southern University, among many others.

They are affiliated with, and provide features for Google, Microsoft, and Zoom. Canvas’ focus is a more simplistic and interactive interface for students and teachers, which has been met with positive feedback.

Aya Hennig, a junior at Demarest, says she prefers Canvas over Haiku. “Canvas is definitely easier to navigate. The work is clearly laid out and easy to access,” Hennig said.

With the new layout, comes new features called ‘calendar’ and ‘to-do’ list, that list out assignments with their due dates.

“I really enjoy how Canvas has a calendar that is easy to access and view when and where the work is due,” Hennig continued.
The convenience of this feature seems to be popular amongst students and teachers.

Mr. Pellegrino, the AP Government teacher at Demarest and Old Tappan, attests to the convenience of Canvas’ interface.
“Posting assignments has been easy, at least since I learned how to use the calendar,” Pellegrino said.

While the Haiku to Canvas change is met with some positive feedback, there are some inconveniences that come with the new website.

Junior class president, Charlie Abrisor, points out that different pages are not as clearly separated as they were on Haiku.
“Canvas’ interface is really minimalistic, which makes it hard to know what is in different sections,” Abrisor said.

A common confusion among both students and teachers is the difference between ‘pages’ and ‘modules.’

Hugo Gardner, a junior at Demarest, says that Canvas’ layout isn’t as familiar as Haiku. “Canvas pages are really confusing and it’s hard to find assignments.” He questions, “What’s the difference between modules and pages?”

Mr. Quazza, Algebra II teacher at Demarest, identifies how the pages can create confusion.

“In Haiku I was able to create a different page for each unit. In Canvas all those different units are now listed in the ‘modules’ tab,” Quazza explains.

However, teachers seem to have a clearer understanding about the difference, as they’ve had the opportunity to participate in several Canvas workshops to familiarize themselves with the platform.

“Going to Canvas camp over the summer helped with the change. It was nice to have two days to work on the transition from Haiku to Canvas,” Quazza said.

Although these seem like inconveniences now, with time, Canvas will become easier to navigate. Matthew Sands, junior at Demarest says that there are advantages to both sites.

“I think Canvas has more functions that are beneficial to students but Haiku was more user friendly. Hopefully with more use of Canvas it will get easier,” Sands said.