NET+ Canvas Newsletter

March 2023

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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Table of Contents

Instructure Updates

The latest from Instructure regarding Canvas product offerings. 

Discussion Hero: An Update on Gamified Discussions at Northwestern University

Northwestern University School of Professional Studies was already committed to remote learning and was pioneering a new gamified discussion board called Discussion Hero. The Instructure team wrote an article about this new and innovative tool at the time. Our team at Northwestern thought it was time to provide an update on this Canvas LTI as it has continued to evolve and is now available as open-source code. Read more here.

Equipping Instructors to Meet Students Where They Are

Prioritizing edtech and Learning Management System (LMS) training for both faculty and administrators can help bridge the gap between teaching and technology and aid in reaching students more effectively. One way to achieve this is to take a deeper inventory of the course experience by looking for indicators of student engagement, such as participation in discussion forums, completion of assessments, and even time spent on tasks. This data can be used to identify areas of improvement to support retention efforts, as well as pinpoint struggling students and address them in a timely manner. Learn more here 

4 Key Principles of Successful Competency-Based Education Programs

The convenience and value of competency-based education is helping institutions across the nation support students in actualizing their career goals. Through self-paced courses, students can matriculate through a program as quickly as they can demonstrate mastery of a skill, whether that’s through previously-earned academic credit, comparable work experience, or assessment. Informed by the Competency-Based Education Network and a look across the industry landscape, we’ve identified four key principles of successful CBE programs: Read more here

Bridging the Skills Gap with Competency-Based Education

Expectations for higher education are ever-changing, but one expectation remains. Students still look to institutions for work/career readiness. There’s an urgent demand for skills-focused education that also aligns with the needs of today’s job market. In the face of decreasing college enrollments and the skills gaps this deficit  has created, efficient and skills-oriented approaches to learning are more relevant than ever. Read more here



Click here for all things Higher Education by Instructure.

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Canvas Advisory Board Updates

Upcoming Meeting: April 12th, 2023


The next Canvas Advisory Board meeting will be on April 12th, 2023. 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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Meeting Recap


The agendas for our upcoming 2023 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.

This in-person meeting was a huge success with the following agenda:

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 2023


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.




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.

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