Overview
The year was 2012. The Internet was here. Web 2.0 was upon us. WiFi was enabled. Smartphones were spreading.
And we had no plan. It was every man, woman, and child for him or herself.
I worked with a small team to lead guerilla-style research, training, and advocacy in order to develop a thorough EdTech plan for our district that improved the educational experience for all stakeholders. Within 18 months of starting this project, all 6 comprehensive schools in our district (16,000 students and 700+) were utilizing Canvas with a 90+% daily student usage rate. This was accomplished with limited resources and a $0 budget.
My responsibilities included:
• UX Research
• Professional Development & Training
• Working with Stakeholders
• Providing Technical Support
The Problem(s)
• Multiple platforms used by teachers to manage classes
• Most platforms had very limited capability
• Difficult to support students and teachers using so many different options
• Students were overwhelmed by options and still lacked access to critical information
The average student needed to use 3-4 different technology platforms to access course information, grades, and teacher contacts. The majority of students had at least one teacher that did not use any technology platform at all for the class.
We understood that what we were doing was not working and was not a sustainable approach. It was impossible to support this many different platforms and added unnecessary confusion for students, parents, teachers, and administrators.
The Process
Our district hired a new Director of Educational Technology and created an Educational Technology Coordinator TOSA position. These two individuals put a team together to address this issue and develop a district-wide technology plan. I worked directly with the Educational Technology Coordinator and a couple of my colleagues in our district to develop a more cohesive and effective approach to educational technology on our campuses.
Our EdTech Coordinator led our group on a review of the technology options available. He setup visits with representatives from different vendors and organized visits to other districts to see the different platforms in actions.
After a comprehensive competitive analysis and field observations, the consensus from our group was that Canvas was the most powerful tool available.
Goals
Our team gathered information from stakeholders through 1 on 1 interviews, observations, and surveys to identify the top priorities to focus on.
• A 'one stop shop' solution for teachers and students
• Easy to learn and use
• Plays well with other tools
• Increased communication between teachers, students, and parents
• More than just a gradebook
Pilot
During the Fall of 2012 I led a group of teachers at Huntington Beach High School testing out the Free for Teacher version of Canvas LMS. We held occasional meetings to share our experience.
• 13 teachers
• Approximately 700 students
• Subjects included Math, English, Social Studies, Engineering, Photography, and Spanish
Rollout
After a year of using Canvas with students, I asked our principal to expand the use of Canvas for our entire campus starting in the Fall of 2013.
• 110+ teachers
• 3,000+ students
• All subject areas and grade levels
Summer PD
Our team built a self-paced Canvas training course for teachers in our district to work on over the summer. All three of us provided support and feedback to participating teachers as well as hosting two in person meetups at our HBHS Digital Media Computer Lab.
2-Day Professional Development
I worked with our principal and assistant principal to dedicate significant time on our first two days back for the school year for Canvas training and support. The training was built in a Canvas course and used modules to differentiate the concepts based on the skills and experience of the user. Our teachers ranged from needing help logging in all the way to setting up advanced integrations.
During the first semester of our campus wide rollout our district leadership decided to purchase the paid version of Canvas for all schools beginning at the start of the 2nd semester.
The Results
By the end of the first semester (4 months) of using the paid version of Canvas, the vast majority of our staff were using it as their exclusive platform and we held regular training sessions for teachers to develop knowledge for their specific areas of need.
One of the most remarkable findings was that students began encouraging and asking their teachers to convert to Canvas if they were still using older or other platforms.
Lessons Learned
Clear Vision: Teachers are not afraid of change. They are afraid of wasting their time on projects that provide little to no impact. We clearly communicated the benefits of this plan and consistently grounded all decisions on areas that provided the largest impact on learning.
Stakeholder Voice: The bottom up approach to this project was the key to success. Distrust and lack of confidence in district initiatives usually doomed new ideas before they got off the ground. We intentionally made this project inclusive so people were choosing to participate rather than feeling like they were being forced.
Empower Pioneers: We found that strategically targeting certain individuals produced exponential momentum. The PTA president became an advocate for this project and communicated with parents to simplify the transition. Key teachers and students ended up endorsing the product in a manner that helped convince some reluctant users.
Flexible Support: Teachers started at many different comfort levels when this began so creating multiple training options with an understanding of individual needs created the environment for widespread growth. We did not focus on getting everyone to the same place but instead tried to help each person find ways to benefit from this new system.
