Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Digital Learning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board to restore Canvas and approve digital-learning contracts after disruptions
Summary
District staff sought board approval for a multi-year learning management renewal (Canvas/Instructure) and other digital-learning platforms, noting last year's lapse affected teacher access and parent engagement metrics; staff said the platform will be available at start of next school year and will allow parent accounts.
District staff recommended renewing a districtwide contract for the Canvas learning management system and several other digital learning products and services, telling the board that the previous lapse in availability had measurable effects on teacher access, professional development and parent engagement.
Staff said the district experienced a large decline in Canvas account activity when the platform was unavailable in the most recent school year and described two primary impacts: reduced student account activity and reduced availability of online professional development for staff. "What we're seeking to do now with your approval is to make sure that we have enough runway to ensure that it's not only available at the beginning of the year, but also those instructors that need to be trained will have that ability," a staff presenter said.
Officials described Canvas features that support family engagement, saying parents may create linked accounts to view a child's assignments and activity if a teacher uses Canvas. Staff cited previous counts of tens of thousands of student account activities in the years when Canvas was widely deployed and said restoring the platform should help families and teachers access instructional resources and assessments.
Agenda items read to the board included an Instructure (Canvas) contract for $773,516.80, and other instructional-software purchases including Elevation platform, AMESweb progress monitoring, and online curriculum services.
Ending: Staff said Canvas would be restored before the start of the next school year, and that training and access resources for parents and staff would be provided to support use districtwide.
