Faculty Invited to Join Canvas Pilot
Fullerton College faculty are invited to participate in the pilot of Canvas, which is a learning management system. The pilot is open to all faculty for any type of course, including face-to-face, online, and hybrid courses. It is also recommended for the grade book feature.
Canvas is a cloud-based platform that allows faculty to build courses so that students can have easy access to course materials on computers and mobile devices. Canvas may be used for all types of instructional delivery, including face-to-face, online and hybrid courses. It is a robust system that allows faculty, among many other things, to build course modules, to share course requirements and course materials, to use discussion boards, and to track and post grades. Canvas is also compatible with many third-party tools, such as Turnitin, McGraw-Hill Connect and MyMathLab.
Fullerton College is testing Canvas because it was chosen by the California Community College’s Online Education Initiative (OEI) as its learning management system. Ninety-four of the community colleges in California’s 113-college system have now joined OEI. Gov. Jerry Brown, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, and a statewide grant are paying for Canvas through 2019 on the first contract, and they have already earmarked funds to continue to pay for another five-year term after 2019. Canvas was established in 2011 by the company Instructure. Learn more about OEI.
The pilot will take place during the spring semester and will inform whether the college adopts Canvas campus-wide and begins to phase out Blackboard by the end of 2018. In April 2017, data will be collected from faculty and students about their experience using Canvas, which will be analyzed and presented in late April or May to the Faculty Senate. At that stage the Faculty Senate may be asked to vote whether to join OEI by the end of the spring semester. If approved by the senate, it will be presented to the President’s Advisory Council and then to President Greg Schulz for final approval.
On-campus Canvas training is available through the Staff Development Office. The new Online Teaching Certificate (OTC) workshops are also being taught in Canvas, and the four-day OTC training boot camp in January will be taught in Canvas. Check the District-wide Staff Development Calendar on MyGateway for all campus trainings. Additionally, Canvas provides many online tutorials and a 24/7 help line to faculty and students.
The campus community is invited to attend an open forum about Canvas on Feb. 10, 2017 from 10 a.m. to noon in Building 200, Room 224. The forum will feature Steve Klein, the director of OEI, as a guest speaker and a panel of faculty who are part of the pilot. Representatives from Canvas will also be available.
Learn more and sign up for the pilot by visiting the Distance Education website at http://online.fullcoll.edu/canvas-pilot-spring-2017/.
