Canvas Parent short presentation

[DeletedUser]

Hi all!  My colleague and I have been asked to give a short presentation on what we are doing this year to the district PTO Parent Advisory Council next week. We are Technology Integration Specialists, and there are 2 of us at each level. At the high school level, our job has 90% been focused on Canvas, as our district has implemented a 3 year roll-out (this is year 1).  We have 5 minutes to talk about the work we do (and how we support teachers and students) and a 5 minute demo to show them the parent (and student)  Canvas Experience. Any thoughts/suggestions on the best things to focus on with parents? Thanks in advance.

[KristinL]

It's awesome that you have the opportunity to present to an audience like that.

Do your teachers have a unified approach to course organization? Maybe highlight where to find the syllabus, assignments list, and grades summary. (These are good when helping their student/s.)

With families, I think it's a priority to emphasize the importance of the observer to have their own account. It always amazes me how many families use their student's account. When classroom analytics are based on participation, etc of a user, keeping that user as "themselves" is a big thing to consider. In my experience, once you explain it to families, they're usually very supportive.

I would also highlight the differences in the desktop vs. Canvas Parent view and the benefits to each approach. (Observer Role vs Canvas Parent‌)

Also, include how they can initiate questions or a conversation with a local Canvas Support team. After presentations, you know people will be curious! 

I'm sure there's more I'm missing, but as you said, you have a very short amount of time! I'm excited to see what others suggest.

[DeletedUser]

Very helpful insights, thank you! Our teachers do not as of yet have a unified approach to course organization. We did set everyone up with a nice home page template for the district, but that was more for ease of use than uniformity. (something to think about though!). Teachers are still encouraged to maintain their individuality as far as that goes, and a few even prefer to use the modules as their home page.  Your comment did direct me to highlight showing parents where they can look to get course information in Canvas: modules, calendar, assignments, and grades.  

I had not thought about parents logging in as students with their child's info. yikes! Finally, i love the graphic you included showing the desktop view vs. Canvas parent app - we will definitely mention that.