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Thursday, September 11, 2014

Shifting the Paradigm: Canvas Beyond the Classroom - for Teams, Clubs, Activities, Committees, Professional Development, Community Education 



Building on the Global Online Academy experience, we can create an ongoing professional development course by faculty for faculty. 

All schools are busy places. It's difficult to find time to meet and share in a meaningful and productive way.

In GOA courses, we talked about asynchronous teaching and learning. When I think of the scheduling task force and other initiatives - especially the GOA cohort - we can collaborate and share via Canvas with ongoing asynchronous discussions.

When it comes to technology, it's not about getting on the bus.
But rather sharing what works - as well as what hasn't - as we try new lessons and technologies.

We are all on our respective places on the path.
Let's share where we are on the path when it comes to technology.
Through Canvas, we create conversations both online and in person. 


What is Canvas? What is an LMS? 



With Canvas, we could host meetings like the innovation committee groups, offering more input, dialog, and greater transparency.

With so many initiatives on the drawing board, the faculty can see the big picture where we are and how we can help.

For instance...

JTerm 
    - course descriptions 
    - lessons in project-based learning
    - integration of technology - best practices
    - final projects 

1:1 program
    - LMS integration
    - 21st century pedagogy
    - best practice possibilities 

LMS selection committee

Schedule Review committee
Other Committees - discussions, video conference
Points task force and other task forces 

GOA for Faculty
GOA for Students
CGI

I can also envision Canvas courses for...
Advisory - like a MOOC - course info by grade - curated by dean - integrated with...
  1. Advisors
  2. College counseling - course begins freshman year
  3. Academic Support - Learning specialists
  4. Student Health and Wellness
  5. Library - leading student digital literacy course
Other possibilities: 
Clubs and student groups - courses that have content and calendars

Athletic teams - communication, schedule, playbooks, videos

Jterm prep and courses.  

And ONE clear calendar for everyone - think of Canvas as an institution's calendar - for everyone and everything.

Yet each individual would have a To-Do list - and upcoming agenda. 

Canvas is like a clearinghouse - and a switchboard for a school.

Please read the Canvas press releases - and the news - not just US colleges - but worldwide schools are choosing Canvas - and major corporations are using Canvas for professional development. 

Canvas open source paradigm and integration with major publishers and startups will allow it to evolve exponentially. The more I read about Canvas...and use Canvas for my classes...

This is the LMS we have been waiting for  - Canvas is revolutionary.

A game-changer that will transform education.

Let's all collaborate.

1 comment:

  1. Nice words kevin, thanks a lot for sharing. Canvas is an open source learning management system (LMS) based on Ruby on Rails. It is extremely popular amongst Colleges Lecturers and Professors. As it is essentially a comprehensive cloud-native software package anyone can download and it free of charge. Canvas LMS development. from Cryptex is a comprehensive solution for educational institutes and schools, which promises a number of features hard to find with other solutions. For more info email us at: info@cryptextechnologies.com

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