 July was a rather calm month from the travel perspective. Other than traveling to Long Beach, California, to be involved with InstructureCon, I visited just two Wyoming sites: Weston County School District #7 and the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy (WLEA).
My trip to Upton was a very productive time. I was able to spend a day training and workshopping with some of the new teachers to the district. We discussed the value of building and organizing Canvas content via Modules. After demonstrating some of the LTI tools (like YouTube and Quizlet), the teachers spent a few hours building their content to get ready for fall.
After leaving Upton, I had the pleasure of working with the WLEA. The WLEA has begun to move its content over to Canvas from Moodle. During our meeting we discussed how this process can work by demonstrating the power and simplicity of the Canvas Learning Management Platform. We also discussed how Canvas could eventually replace their third-party assessment tools by utilizing both Classic Quizzes and the newer Quizzes. Next platform to both bank and deliver assessments. They are excited to bring Canvas to their students, cadets, and officers.
As always, feel free to email me (contact information is at the bottom of this newsletter) if you have any questions about how I can help you and your districts with anything Canvas related. If you do not have Quizzes. Next active in your Canvas instance, let me know, and we can make that happen for you. Also, if you ever want to meet with me virtually, block some time on my Calendly calendar (link below). Here’s to a great start to the 2019-20 school year.
Cheers...
Statewide Canvas User Groups
Relaunching in August 2019
The user groups will relaunch in August as the new school year approaches. Stay tuned for email updates on these meetings, and your personal invitations to join.
Here are the groups launching in the fall:
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Canvas for Elementary - Let's collaborate and see how Canvas can aid in the elementary classroom. Each month, we will devote time to learning about new successes that the group's members have seen, as well as provide a space to brainstorm future ideas to implement in their elementary classes.
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Canvas for Professional Development - District leaders, principals, curriculum designers, or other users interested in creating professional development in Canvas will find this group useful. Each month, we will discuss how Canvas is being used for professional development around the state, celebrating successes and discussing how to bring effective and creative professional development to all staff members.
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Canvas for Online/Secondary Classes - Many districts around the state are working to create online versions of their traditional courses. Canvas has rich tools that can help to create exciting and engaging online courses for any age student! During our monthly meetings we will discuss best practices and share wisdom learned from our experiences teaching online using Canvas.
Statewide Adoption Consulting Meetings
Relaunching August 27, 2019
Since Adoption Consultant David Stokowski started in October, he has held monthly meetings with district leaders, technology directors, principals, and anyone else interested. The purpose of the meetings is to discuss the state of adoption consulting in Wyoming, and also to demonstrate new Canvas features. Starting in August, there will be an adoption consulting meeting starting at 10 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Expect to see an invite coming soon after the newsletter. As always, if you want to be a part of these meetings, email David to get added to the list.
The fourth Tuesday of each month was selected as it will always come after the most recent Canvas Production release, which will be scheduled for the third Saturday of each month. If you have questions about the new Canvas release cycle, here's the official document that outlines the changes.
Canvas Best Practices
As we approach the start of the 2019-20 school year, we wanted to make sure everyone is prepared to use Canvas to the best of its abilities. One resource curated by the Canvas Instructional Design team is this blog post found in the Canvas Community. The post offers a copy of a document that is designed to help teachers get their Canvas courses ready for their new students.
Second, are some documents that have been created for the Wyoming schools, in conjunction with your Canvas Adoption Consultant. These documents outline the process of making sure your Canvas courses are ready to pass grades back into either PowerSchool or Infinite Campus.
If you have questions about your districts set up with grade passback, contact your local Canvas Administrators. For Canvas Administrators, if you are unsure of your ability to pass grades back into your SIS, contact David Stokowski, or Tony Boman (Canvas Customer Service Manager) for more information.
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