Approaches to limited implementation of Canvas

[rbauerkenya]

We had announced one year out that Canvas was coming, but are getting push-back. I'm wondering if any schools could share how they may have rolled out a limited implementation of Canvas. We could limit to specific grade levels, but I think that would actually be worse for those teachers as they all teach other classes that would use the legacy system. Just wondering if there may be other strategies that worked for your school.

[SusanNiemeyer]

As you know, in March 2020, teachers across the United States and the world were suddenly forced to switch to remote teaching. Many teachers, including myself, had to teach ourselves how to set up our Canvas courses with very little or almost no training. It was a very steep learning curve.

During the summer of 2020, I joined a Facebook group called "Teachers Using Canvas." Many of the active participants were K-12 teachers, and here are some of the concerns they grappled with (and how you can avoid them).

First, there was a lot of discussion on how to present content to students. Like many college teachers, I have set up weekly Modules. However, many K-8 teachers did not create Modules. Instead, they favored  "landing" Pages that had links to all of the activities. For example, their Home Pages would have "buttons" that led to weekly Pages. Each weekly Page would have links to all of their Assignments. These differing approaches to organizing content (Modules vs. Pages) created a lot of confusion for students and teachers alike. 

A much better approach would be for your school to decide on how all of your instructors will deliver content to their students. It would be very helpful if you could create "Template" courses so that your instructors don't have to start from scratch and figure everything out for themselves.

[rbauerkenya]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply @SusanNiemeyer. We also went through online learning in past three years and effectively managed things using Teams as our LMS. Same things came up that you mentioned. Modules versus weeks for example.

But for Canvas, the push-back is not Canvas per se, but just having to move to a different system. Have had a good conversation with our CSM about what to limit. For example, not turning on chat so that our current system for chat, Teams, remains the system everyone uses. We had about 3 million chats last year in Teams and everyone is very fluent in that. Also, opening up to parents at all can wait a tiny bit. Or we'll look for ways to do it that don't impact teachers and their work flow. Because Teams doesn't allow parents in (though changing shortly) we'll continue using email as we always did. Everyone is used to it, so that takes away from any anxiety. We've become very skilled at using Teams and OneNote over the past five or six years. We were able to rely on colleagues offering support and using Microsofts excellent education center. But now with nobody having any real experience with Canvas, we realize it's going to take time and we will have to rely on both asynchronous and lots of support and help sessions.  

So in your experience, other than the chat, were there other aspects you would recommend turning off and introducing say in 2nd semester or year two of implementaion?

[SusanNiemeyer]

What grade levels will be taught with Canvas at your school? If you're looking at younger students, then there is a Canvas for Elementary platform. 

What role do you anticipate Canvas will play in terms of both instruction and administration at your school? What do you want it to accomplish for your instructors, students, and administrators?

[SusanNiemeyer]

Secondly, I observed a lot of K-12 teachers, especially elementary and middle school teachers, spending a great deal of time setting up "bitmoji" Home Pages with lots of colorful "buttons." I understand that they were doing this because they were trying to recreate their decorated classrooms while teaching remotely.

While I understand and appreciate the desire for personalization, these teachers were spending a lot of time on the aesthetics of their Home Pages when that time could have been better spent creating content and lessons. Students also had to grapple with the many different interfaces their teachers were using.

I would suggest creating a streamlined template that all of your teachers could use for their Home Pages. Allow for some personalization, but aim for a cohesive look and approach.

[SusanNiemeyer]

So here are my recommendations:

1. Have all instructors use Canvas for all grade levels. Don't "mix and match" systems. Imagine the parent who has two children in different grades. If one child is working on Canvas and the other on Google Classroom, the parent is going to be confused. Your teachers will also complain if some use the more familiar LMS, and others are compelled to learn a new one.
2. Provide "template" courses. You have time to set up the courses for your teachers. Don't just give them empty Canvas shells and expect them to start developing their courses from scratch. Template courses will provide a greater sense of cohesiveness.
3. Assuming that your teachers are teaching face-to-face classes, decide on how your school will be using Canvas. For example, will all Announcements be sent out on Canvas? If some teachers are using Canvas to send out Announcements, and others are emailing parents, then there's a mismatch.
4. Provide substantial training on how to use Canvas, and compensate your instructors for getting training. As I wrote earlier, there is a steep learning curve to learning Canvas.