PD Series: Using Canvas to Create Community

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Over years of teaching I have used many different tools for blended learning.  From Moodle and Mahara, to Wordpress, Blogger, Netvibes, and wholly distributed systems of personal learning networks based on Networked Learning, MOOC and Connectivist movements in education and more. The purpose of all of these tools (and mine as a social studies teacher, tech integrator, and teacher of information studies), for online learning was to build a learning community that extends, enhances and amplifies learning while also allowing learners to build on interests, dreams and aspirations for their future.  In transition to blended learning it is important that all involved, both teachers and students, are appropriately challenged. A good way to accomplish this in the early stages, is through the creation of a learning management system.

Canvas

Canvas offers a learning management system that is intuitive to students and teachers while also being connected directly with Google Apps.  The result is a dynamic environment for course design, management, and communication. As an opening vignette to the professional development series tied to Web 2.0 Foundations we will look at opening a course with Canvas.

* As a reminder: I will set up faculty sites this year for all core courses in Canvas upon request.

Setting up an LMS (Canvas)

This process takes setting the stage for learning in a blended course environment. 

The email:
Students woke up on Monday to an email from me with a small course welcome and the indication that they needed to check a link with a detailed explanation about getting course material: 

The explanation:
http://whsii.blogspot.com/2012/01/welcome-web-20-foundation-participants.html

The outcome:
One hundred percent of the students in my course who where on my original course lists came ready to learn and understanding enough to ask good questions about how they could "catch up" with what I had set forth as expectations.  This is not in my teaching experience unusual.  I have spent up to 24/7 with high schoolers for five weeks as well as in classroom settings and one thing I have found is that they respond to appropriate expectations asking them to take charge of their learning.  Nothing special here. Hello, go to this link, this is what you should expect from me and this is what I expect from you.  Students who have come in later I have worked with to catch up.  Within 24 hours of the course start all students (across the spectrum) where in Canvas communicating with the Web 2.0 Foundations community.


What they found upon entry into OpenClass:
 Organization, simplicity in design, pathways of communication.

What they found in Week 1

 

This is What I found:

Almost 100 Percent participation in the online forums....At all hours

 

Within 48 hours the internal Twitter/Facebook "like" course wall becomes populated with community interaction and peer to peer learning.

 Setting up a blended learning environment takes work.  But more importantly it takes a realization that young people can, will and prefer to learn in part by the digital spaces that their lives revolve around.  In Web 2.0 Foundations first week students exhibited the core of 21st century learning.  They found, validated, leveraged, analyzed and synthesized information and problem solved and collaborated in dynamic spaces.  I hope you see how using an LMS might be a first step to blending your coursework and empowering your students to learn in new ways. For those of you using LMS now,  you already know the benefits and I hope you will find specifics that might help or inspire....(and yes, you can upload your Moodle courses directly into Canvas).