NET+ Canvas Newsletter

November 2021

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

Updates from Instructure regarding Canvas product offerings. 


On-Demand Webinars


EdWeek: 6 Key Trends in Teaching and Learning

Learn the six key trends in teaching and learning that emerged when we asked parents and educators their views on several key areas. We surveyed educators and parents on technology use and its impact on student learning, factors that influence student engagement, and metrics for student success. Click here to watch

Measuring Impact: Elevate Your EdTech Investments

Impact by Instructure (formerly Eesysoft) helps institutions improve technology adoption and evaluate the impact of educational technology, while helping faculty and students seamlessly navigate new platforms. Click here to watch


Back to School: 6 Key Strategies for using Technology in the Physical Classroom

With the new school year approaching and students and teachers across the country returning to the physical classroom, the ongoing use of technology will play an important role in a seamless back-to-school-transition. To help inspire and encourage your efforts, we’re sharing key strategies for using technology to drive in-person learning. Click here to watch



In Case you Missed: InstructureCon 2021: Now Available for OnDemand | Canvas LMS

InstructureCon 2021 took place on October 7, 2021. Get the chance to expand your Canvas LMS skills, catch the latest news, and connect with educators and education experts.

More Info here.





Click here for all things Higher Education by Instructure.


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Canvas Advisory Board Updates

Upcoming Meeting: December 8th, 2021


The next Canvas Advisory Board meeting will be on December 8, 2021. Our most recent meeting (November) included the following items:

  • New Quizzes Discussion from Instructure


A complete listing of all Canvas Advisory Board meeting agendas can be found here.


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November Meeting Recap


The agendas for all our 2021 meetings have been published, including our October meeting. Please note, these are working documents and subject to change so please check back for any updates on a regular basis.

New Quizzes Discussion

Susan Sorenson, the Product Manager over New Quizzes, joined us to talk about the state of New Quizzes.  The discussion was aimed at higher levels of strategic and operational concerns for the universities rather than down-and-dirty details of New Quizzes. Roundtable discussion occurred and feedback was given regarding the release date of this new feature with universities wanting to ensure the New Quizzes are functioning optimally at the time of release. There was discussion regarding having the proper resources are in place to ensure universities are able to successfully execute this transition. 

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 2021

These are the goals that the advisory board is looking to perfect at the January 2021 meeting: 

Goal #1

Develop with Instructure a customer success culture that:

  • identifies service and support best practices and next steps
  • benchmarks Instructure's service and support appropriately for universities
  • aligns Instructure's  service and support to best help universities achieve their  strategic goals for teaching and learning 

Decision: Quarterly check-in, beginning in February, with a focus on how we measure success for Instructure's customer success culture. 

Goal #2

Develop a foundational construct with Instructure that outs in place a predictable process for the board to advise and offer insights on future product development or acquisition including cadence, structure, and practice for exchanging ideas.

  • Deliverable: 3 “exchange” activities using/iterating this process on things that Jared, Shaun, or product owners are thinking about during 2021 
  • Deliverable: one of these “exchange” activities is to initiate a Contributing Team for Canvas Data/Live Events


Goal #3

Continue to develop and refine, with Shaun, 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 #4

Decision: Instructure cannot reasonably do the actual data sharing piece at this point, and universities are likely not ready to use/share de-identified data.  And, we're all waiting to see what Unizin is doing in this space.  So, we've decided to refocus on (a) what questions we want to answer with Canvas data, and (2) the best way we might answer those questions with the data.  We'll tackle this topic in March with Oxana's replacement. 1/27 update: We may also want to explore a de-identified data sharing program thorough I2.


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.  For more information or to join this group, please reach out to Matthew Buss (mbuss@internet2.edu).  Thank you.


Most Recent LRS SIG Meeting Agenda - July, 7/28

Vince Kellen from UCSD on Student Activity Hub.

Upcoming LRS SIG Meeting - September, 9/22

Mark Brewsala from Panopto