NET+ Canvas Newsletter
November 2022
In this version of the NET+ Canvas Newsletter, learn about the latest updates from Instructure about Canvas, comments and feedback from the Canvas Advisory Board, as well as best practices in Canvas use around the Internet2 Community.
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Instructure Updates
The latest from Instructure regarding Canvas product offerings.
Boise State University and Canvas
Boise State University shares their journey to Canvas LMS and how the ease-of-use and intuitive nature of Canvas has made all the difference with faculty and students alike. Discover why Boise State chose Canvas as its learning management system, the smooth transition and implementation they went through - and how its helping faculty focus on doing what they love most: teaching. Read more here.
A Visualization Solution to Advance Completion & Transfer Equity in California Community Colleges
Bakersfield College, a member of the California Community College system, collaborated with Instructure’s Custom Development Services team to build a course catalog visualization system that would offer “Guided Pathways” to students, achieving four key goals. First, easy access for prospective students and adult learners across various locations and devices; second, just-in-time class enrollment guidance; third, a helpful outreach & orientation tool; and fourth, an ability to guide students while social distancing through the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more here
Canvas CBE Prospectus
As our society struggles to mitigate the growing skills gap for college graduates, there is an urgent demand for skills-focused, market aligned education that appeals to a workforce with changing expectations for college.. Read more here
EDUCAUSE 2022 Recap: What We Learned and Key Takeaways
Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke eloquently to the challenges facing higher education today and what institutions can do about them. Less than half the nation has a college degree and the divide between the “haves” and “have-nots” is exacerbated by present or lack of educational opportunity. According to Duncan, “You never hear, “a college degree is not worthwhile from someone without a degree.” In the discussion about the ROI of higher ed, we should also focus on removing the financial and psychological barriers to education and providing a sense of belonging for all students and would-be students. Learn more here
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Canvas Advisory Board Updates
Upcoming Meeting: December 14th, 2022
The next Canvas Advisory Board meeting will be on December 14th, 2022. Agenda items will be finalized and posted during the 2 weeks leading up to the meeting.
A complete listing of all Canvas Advisory Board meeting agendas can be found here.
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November Meeting Recap
The agendas for our upcoming 2022 meetings have been published for your viewing. Please note, these are working documents and subject to change so please check back for any updates on a regular basis.
Thank you to all who participated in this month’s meeting for your insightful feedback, ideas, and discussion! Should you have any questions or want further information around the work being done by the NET+ Canvas Service Advisory Board or a copy of the Partner Program Report, please don’t hesitate to visit us at https://spaces.at.internet2.edu/x/7BOJCQ or contact us at netplus@internet2.edu and we will be happy to respond.
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NET+ Canvas Program Update
Service Advisory Board Goals for 2022
Goal #1
Continue to have timely discussions about Customer Experience as it relates to Instructure products and services, the NET+ Canvas program, our community, as well as future Instructure M&A conversations.
Deliverable: Continue to update/refine Canvas Institutional Profiles for effective collaboration within the program.
Deliverable: Bring to light community needs that are not being addressed otherwise in these areas.
Goal #2
Instructure to conduct semi-annual product roadmap discussion and a review of the R1 Peers/I2 product feature request list.
Deliverable: Continue to develop and refine, with Shaun Moon and Kevin Turco, a strategy and process for I2 and R1 Peer universities to provide Instructure with actionable information on pain points and unmet needs. The strategy and process should be synced with Instructure's product development cycle and allow Instructure to clearly communicate status and progress back to the universities.
Goal #3
Initiate advisory board input on Instructure’s platform strategy as it relates to third party vendors and data integration/mash-ups.
Deliverable: Focused discussion with Kevin Turco and Karl Lloyd.
Deliverable: Focused discussion on what universities are doing with Canvas data and live events. What action do the data feed?
Deliverable: Implement this goal's outcomes effectively within the Canvas Institutional Profiles for further collaboration.
Goal #4
Continue Instructure product strategy discussions with Jared Stein.
NET+ Canvas - HELPFUL LINKS
Around the Community
Commentary from I2 Canvas users: advice, best practices, feedback.
R1 Peers
The Canvas Peers Research Universities Group (or R1 Peers Group) brings together representatives from large public and private research universities to share best practices around using Canvas and the surrounding ed tech ecosystem to support teaching and learning. They also collaborate closely with Instructure (Canvas vendor) and sit on the Internet2 NET+ Canvas Service Advisory Board to improve the Canvas platform and user experience for research universities. This group represents more than 250 members from 45 institutions of higher education and research across the United States, and around the world.
For context, recently the R1 Peers Group has collaborated in the following areas:
- Tier 1 support
- Archiving
- 3rd party integrations
- Pain points
- Data privacy
LRS Standards SIG
The Learning Records Store (LRS) Special Interest Group (SIG) assembles use cases for an LRS, creates an LRS reference architecture, and develops implementation/engineering best practices. The SIG promotes open standards that enable data from a variety of teaching and learning tools to be included in the LRS.
This group is chaired by the University of Washington and meets monthly on the fourth Wednesday of the month, however the LRS SIG is currently on hold until May 2022. For more information or to join this group, please reach out to Matthew Buss (mbuss@internet2.edu). Thank you.