Authors: Brittany Firestone, Kelley Lozicki, Dr. KC Testerman, Mark Sluzky, Chasina Worman
and @JamieJackson
As a principal or site-based leader, effectively utilizing Canvas can significantly improve your school's efficiency, communication, and transparency. In this blog post, we will explore these three key areas and provide six practical tips for Canvas instructional leaders to leverage this platform for success. We encourage you to share your own tips and tricks in the comments section, including what you have found successful when using Canvas to lead the learning.
Efficiency:
-
Add your team to your course:
It is not all on you: As an instructional leader, you don't have to shoulder the entire burden of management alone. Leverage Canvas's collaborative features by adding your leadership team members to your principal’s corner course with the role of Teacher, inviting them to be co-creators. Distributing tasks and sharing the workload ensures efficiency and promotes a sense of ownership among team members.
-
Flip your Faculty Meetings:
Traditional faculty meetings can often be time-consuming and monotonous. Consider utilizing Canvas to flip your faculty meetings to make them more engaging and productive. Create pre-meeting modules or videos that provide important updates, share resources, or pose thought-provoking questions for discussion. This allows participants to come prepared. The face-to-face meeting time is focused on meaningful collaboration and problem-solving. This is also a wonderful way to model your expectations.
Communication:
-
Set Clear Expectations:
Effective communication begins with establishing defined expectations. It’s helpful to develop a clear outline of your communication protocols, preferred channels, and response time frames. This ensures your audience understands how to engage with you and your team and helps avoid misunderstandings or delays. Share this information in your principal’s corner course announcements or course content to keep everyone informed.
-
Utilize Canvas for Communication:
Canvas offers various communication tools to facilitate seamless interaction among instructors, students, and parents/guardians. Encourage the use of discussion boards, messaging features, calendars, and announcements to maintain open lines of communication.
Transparency:
-
Public-Facing Courses:
Promote transparency and community engagement with a set of public-facing courses. For example, consider creating a course to share curriculum maps; enabling parents and the community to view learning objectives and textbook adoptions. Similarly, developing a student body or code of conduct course can be helpful to share important information, handbooks, other events, and calendars available to the wider community. This not only fosters collaboration but also showcases your institution's commitment to transparency and knowledge sharing. Canvas creates a comprehensive digital ecosystem where all educational activities can be seamlessly integrated and managed. -
Model High-Tech Leadership
In order for successful implementation of technology in educational settings, it is crucial for leadership to effectively demonstrate and model technology use. Leading by example reinforces the importance of embracing digital platforms and encourages others to explore and experiment with Canvas's features. Actively participate in Canvas courses, engage in discussions, provide feedback, and demonstrate effective use of technology tools. Administrators can foster greater acceptance of new ideas and change among teachers by explaining the why behind the proposed changes while also effectively modeling the new initiatives themselves.
Efficiency, communication, and transparency are key pillars for instructional leaders utilizing Canvas to its fullest potential. By using the tips outlined above, you can streamline course management, foster effective communication, and promote transparency within your educational community. Embrace the power of Canvas and become a catalyst for positive change in your educational institution.
What are some tips and tricks that you have used to help with efficiency, communication, and transparency? Please share your own experiences in the comments below.
