News Bulletin

Inside Higher Ed: Lessons from the Canvas Outage (Opinion)

In her analysis, Lee Skallerup Bessette argues that the recent Canvas outage and cyberattack serve as a stark warning about higher education’s dangerous overreliance on singular, corporate learning management systems. She advocates for a shift toward more resilient, locally managed tools that prioritize academic continuity over vendor convenience.

The outage fundamentally disrupted the rhythm of teaching and learning, underscoring the inherent risks of centralizing vital functions—from grading to communication—within a single, vulnerable platform. Bessette urges institutions to embrace a “minimal computing” philosophy, encouraging schools to evaluate what infrastructure is truly essential and what can be managed more simply. By diversifying digital tools and reinvesting in departmental and library capacity, colleges can foster a more sustainable environment that is better equipped to navigate future disruptions while reducing dependence on commercial vendors.