NewsFebruary 2, 2021
Cape schools to follow SEMO's lead and adopt Canvas LMS
Jamie Russell, technology instructional specialist for the Cape Girardeau School District, has had an extraordinarily busy 11 months since the pandemic started. The Tigers@Home virtual program has enabled many students to study and file classwork online from home, and now, with COVID-19 not abated, the district is beta testing Canvas, a new learning management system (LMS)...
Jamie Russell, technology instructional specialist for the Cape Girardeau School District, has had an extraordinarily busy 11 months since the pandemic started.
The Tigers@Home virtual program has enabled many students to study and file classwork online from home, and now, with COVID-19 not abated, the district is beta testing Canvas, a new learning management system (LMS).
Russell said Southeast Missouri State University’s decision to convert to Canvas from the Moodle LMS for its students during the current spring semester is helping to drive the timing of the district’s move to make the same transition.
“I knew once SEMO changed, we needed to be prepared to make the switch,” said Russell, who has been with school district since 2013 after previously working in the Kennett and Nell Holcomb districts.
Benefits
Russell said many schools now use Canvas and the rationale isn’t hard to grasp.
“School kids can adjust to whatever system we have, but for teachers and parents, Canvas is simpler than our present system, Moodle, when it comes to navigation (and) will save our educators literally hours of time,” said Russell, who noted Canvas will be used only for grades five-through-12.
Google Classroom will continue to be used for kindergarten through fourth grade, with Russell describing the Google program as more of a “posting board.”
Russell pointed out one clear advantage of the new LMS.
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
“Canvas has a grade ‘pass back’ system that can post a student’s marks directly into our (district) gradebook,” Russell said.
“You hit one button and it syncs with our internal system, (and) Moodle couldn’t do that,” he added.
Russell said Canvas will also make it easier for parents to read announcements and to follow how their children are doing with their studies in real time.
He also noted the Kahn Academy free platform, giving access to math, science, computer learning, social studies and foreign languages, is more easily integrated into Canvas.
Timing
“We’re still in the pilot phase of Canvas and we’ll be training teachers and staff on the system beginning with our development days in February,” Russell said, adding the continuing education opportunities will continue into the summer, enabling the district to “go live” this fall.
“There is some anxiety in moving to something new,” Russell acknowledged.
“(Canvas) may feel a bit like moving from a smaller car into a bigger one,” he said, “and you just have to drive it and get used to it.”
The Jackson School District, the largest in Cape Girardeau County, already uses Canvas for grades five through 12 and utilizes Seesaw Learning for kindergarten to fourth grade.
Story Tags
Advertisement
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.
Related
Advertisement
Receive Daily Headlines FREESign up today!
