COVID-19 saw us move our curriculum to an online world and learner management system. To do this we use a program called Canvas.
Canvas is a platform that allows staff to put lessons, videos, assignments and assessments online so that students can learn anytime anywhere. With staff recording their lessons, it allows students to go review the instruction over and over again at any time as opposed to hearing it once in a classroom. This then frees up classroom time to promote higher order thinking skills and questions.
When we look at all the top schools such as St Kings Baptist, Geelong Grammar, Seymour College or St Peter’s we find that all of these schools have a learner management system and have their students learning this way. As well, all of the universities have also moved to an online platform.
For us at Central Yorke School it’s about preparing our students for life beyond our school, whether that be a new school, tertiary study or the workforce.
Canvas has some real strengths, the best one being that our curriculum is there for parents to see so that they can be a part of the learning journey. All courses are online and parents can view what is being set, how students can complete it and the assessment tasks. All tasks have the opportunity for detailed feedback to be given so students can improve their grade.
There is also a real time grade book where students and their families can log in at any time to see what their grade is. For me, the biggest strength of Canvas is the way it acts as a visual organiser. Each student has a “to-do” list on their canvas, which includes their tasks that need to be completed and their due dates. Canvas increases the accountability of our staff and students.
Students can log onto Canvas at any time through any device via our school website. I encourage all parents to get onto Canvas and have a take a ride in their student’s learning journey. Scott Moore has gone into more depth about Canvas further on in the newsletter.