Ep 67 | What Did You Do at School Today? Get Answers with Canvas

SPEAKER_01 0:00

And so that's one of the things of going into Canvas, having that it just the the parent can just has a a view into the classroom beyond just emailing the teacher back and forth.

SPEAKER_02 0:17

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambi County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. If you're a parent, you know all too well the answer to the question, what did you learn at school today? The question, it turns out, casts an immediate spell of amnesia and apathy for whatever may have been taught or whatever deadline may be looming in the near future. Well, it turns out there's an app for that. My next guests are the coordinators for an emerging communication system called Canvas. And today they're going to share how it could mean streamlined communication and fewer panicked mornings for parents in Escambia County. Communication Superduo, Detail Dynamos, Jin Montoya and Rashina McWhite. Thanks for being here. Thank you. Thanks for being here. So, Jin, you taught elementary school for 10 years, and we're a math and science coach. So I'm sure you saw firsthand the communication breakdown between unorganized students and uninformed parents.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Yes. And oftentimes getting emails and questions, so what are what's happening in the classroom? What's going on? And so there was a disconnect, I think, in whether it was going home or not going home or not making it home. And so oftentimes parents were frustrated. And so we had to work it out and say, okay, well, this is when you're you should see the homework come home. This is the color folder that you should be looking at. And so it was a lot of steps. I mean, we we saw problems, but but definitely there was a need for something else in order to kind of secure that communication piece that it was something that the parent didn't have to reach out to me or I didn't have to reach out to them. It it just was. And so that's one of the things of going into Canvas, having that, it just the the parent can just has a a view into the classroom beyond just emailing the teacher back and forth.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

So there's less heavy lifting on everybody's part. On everyone's part, yes. Whether the children like that or not. Yes. Yes, exactly. Less wiggle room for little white lies, I think, right? Priscina, focus is the communication system now. So why would we need Canvas if we already have focus?

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Focus gives you a letter and a number. It gives you the grade. Oh. But Canvas allows you to see the actual assignment. They can see the rubric, what the requirements were for the assignment. They can see when it's due. They can see what the child submitted. They can see if the child didn't submit anything.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

So wait a minute. You're telling me the kid can't say anymore. Well, it's because the teacher hates me. No.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

So the parents get to see it all. Everything that the student gets, the parents get the opportunity to see that as well.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

That is a change maker. So, Jen, what does Canvas include? Like what does the what are the features of it?

SPEAKER_01 3:25

So Canvas is actually what we is called a learning management system. And so we're right at the beginning of this rollout period. So right now we're focusing on utilizing Canvas in the classroom. And when the teachers and students have access to basically a tile on their dashboard that is their course. And when they go in, the teachers are putting assignments, putting tasks, announcements, discussions, anything to have the class run. The students then see those things that are published, whether it's an engagement, for example, if they did math problems and then the teacher asks them to answer a question in an electronic discussion, then they can discuss back and forth with their counterparts in the class. And then on the parent side, then they see that as well, what that discussion was, like the topic of the discussion. And then with assignments, when the students turn them in, then it just goes and actually communicates back to focus, which is our student information system and puts the grades in. So it really helps the teachers skip steps of putting things in multiple places when they uh manage it through Canvas. Then that talks to Focus. Beyond just the classroom, we're starting to utilize it for the whole district in order to communicate different information with their stakeholders. We're also looking at down the line, making public courses to help support the community for different resources. So it's it's a huge entity. And we're just beginning the exploration of what all a learning management system can do for us. So we're kind of at that baby stage and just focusing on cricket is going to grow.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

When when you say you're at the baby stage, are other districts within the United States already using this specific program?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yes. So this Canvas is a national program. Many of the universities utilize Canvas. We're actually going to be reaching out to UWF to see how they're rolling it out and how they've utilized it so that we can glean some information. We are also working with other districts across Florida to kind of, again, they they are the front runners for us. And so what were the bumps that they had along the way? What different ways did they use Canvas in their system beyond just the classroom and also within the classroom to help enhance as we are at that beginning stage of our rollout in our district because they they've been in it. They've been in the work, they know the inner workings. But when you pull many of the students coming out of the universities and you ask them, and we did actually are, we have a beginning teachers meeting at the beginning of the year with them. And I asked, who's used Canvas? 99% of the room raise their hands that they utilized it as a student within their university. So this is something that's that is allows kids to interact not just here, but then they get acclimated. And then when they go on, if they choose to go on to college, it's something that they probably will encounter as well.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Well, I could really see how having that learning platform translate into the post-high school experience would be more of a smooth transition because you're learning so much as a young person. You're graduating, you're being launched out into the world. And then if you were an easy breezy student in high school, then you're also learning how to study. In college, like there's this whole learning curve. So one less learning curve is appealing. If I'm understanding you right, so it doesn't replace focus because focus is needed at like the state level for reporting. It's just more of a student parent teacher friendly application.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Correct. Okay. It's streamlining because right now, as a parent, you may some of the teachers use Remind. Some of the teachers may use Class Dojo. Some of the teachers may use this app or that app. So for one kid, I need to go here to find information. For the other kid, I need to go to this app to find information. So we're trying as a whole district. The parents only have to go to the one app to see all of their kids because they can toggle between the different students that they have in the district and it's all kind of in Canvas. Now the final grade is still going to be in focus. So the overall end of the semester, end of the quarter grade will be in focus.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

But it's not a surprise because the parents presumably would know, okay, here's how my student is doing. And you mentioned, Jen, like there's a communication feature within the app.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Yeah. So Canvas has a student app, a teacher app, and a parent app. So most of the inner workings during the classroom are happening on Chromebooks and computers. But as a parent, I can download the Canvas app and I can just see it right from my phone and I communicate. Same thing with teachers and students so that whether they have a computer in front of them or maybe I need to go home and I don't have a computer, but I need to turn in an assignment. If I'm a student, I can still have access to my course and I can submit that or do some work on my phone because a lot of kids do work on their phone. Um, can do a lot of things on their phone. Yeah. But also as a parent, like I could be out at the soccer field and I get a notification, hey, tomorrow your child has this test to study. So I already know before we get home, like we need to start studying for that test. So I don't have to also be locked into a computer to know what's going on with my student.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

Okay, that is major because I I hear parents complain about not knowing how to support their kids, not understanding the assignment. The instructions for the assignment are magically missing. But my question is, will it let parents know about Crazy Hair Day? That is what I need to know.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Yeah, so that's another wonderful feature. We call those global announcements. And so schools are able to document any of their upcoming activities within Canvas and it goes to the student, therefore the observer, which is the parent, they can see it, teachers can see it. And so we can send those announcements at every level. At the admin level, we do certain announcements for the entire district. And so that shows up on their platform. Schools might have a play coming up and they can put in the announcement and have the graphics for that play, and the kids see it and they know. So it just furthers that communication of what's going on. And again, all centrally located in one place for them. This almost sounds like it would replace the school website. So where we are right now in this rollout is to determine where things should stay. So we've talked about focus. Focus has many components that Canvas will never have because it has a different role and a purpose. And so as a district, as we move forward in this implementation, kind of deciding when things should be in Canvas, when things should be on a website, when things should be in other entities, because we know there there are times that it's not the right place to have it in Canvas, or it's not the right thing to have it in focus or on a website. And so that's kind of what's comes before us of where is the best place and getting feedback, not just from our team, but from parents and from where where would they like to see it? And sometimes it's more better to have it in multiple places. So, because that's just I need that. I need to, I go to focus, I go to Canvas, I go. So we that's something future-wise that as we delve in and get more of our stakeholders on Canvas to determine where would it be? What's where's the best place for certain things to be located?

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Yeah, where does it make sense? So it's a third-party app, meaning a company that isn't a government agency created the app, correct? Right. Okay. So how how do we put in security protections, right? Because we've got kids' names in there, where they're going to school, their class schedule, so and there's communication features. And I'm sure you know from just being in this space that any app, even if it's a coloring book app with a communication feature, can be used by you know bad actors to harm children. So where are the protections in place to keep kids safe on this app?

SPEAKER_00 11:21

Okay, so first off, you have to log in. So you have to have that secure single sign on that is through the district. So that that is the main thing. And unless they have a district ID, they can't access it. For the parents that are observers, they have to get s a specific code from that individual student account. They can't just it can't just be anybody off the internet joining in.

SPEAKER_02 11:48

Okay, so let me pause. So so the parent can't just observe any kid. Correct. Okay, this is good. Good. All right, that's why just want to make sure I'm understanding.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Yeah, so they have to get a code that's unique to their student from their student's account. So it has to be the student logged into their account in order for the parent to get the code that comes just for their specific account in order to be an observer of that account. And in the end, teachers have the access to remove anybody that should not be included into the program.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Okay. And anytime that we enter into an agreement with a company, we go through a very intensive vetting process, technology vetting process through our IT team. The company has to fill out a survey. They go through to make sure about that data sharing, make sure it's in compliance to everything that we're held accountable to, that they're not sharing data from outside entities. And so Instructure is the company that owns Canvas. And they did that and were found that there aren't loopholes, there aren't where we're sharing things out that are not we wouldn't want out there. For the again, when a parent is in, because Rashina talked about it, that they can see what's going on. They can only see, even say it's a discussion, they can only see their students' response. They can't see other students. They can see the prompt, what it came from the teacher, again to keep that protection, grades, assignments, it's specifically to their child only that they see. So we and on our end, we set some of those settings as far as what's viewable, what's not, to ensure that safety of a student.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

And for multiple caretakers, is there an option, like say grandparents are also very involved, often maybe like people who are co-parenting but aren't living the same home?

SPEAKER_01 13:41

So the student can create a parent, they call it a pairing code as many times as they need to. So if I have mom, dad, grandma, or whoever else, we we are definitely wanting to make sure that they are tied to the student in focus. But the student can create a pairing code for the next parent because the once the code's used, then that code's not used, can't be used anymore and it goes away. So if I have mom and dad, then the student would create the code, share it with mom, then would create the code again and share it with dad. And on the teacher's view, once there's an observer in, when the teacher sees their class list, they see the student and then they see the people that are tied to them that are observing. So again, another safety check to make sure it's not boyfriend, it's not somebody else. And we can refer back to focus of who is supposed to be legally attached to that student and and can verify and and determine, like, oh, there's a concern there, and they would bring that to their admin and then we could proceed forward.

SPEAKER_02 14:37

I like that a lot. What about scholarship opportunities? Because, you know, we talk about joke about crazy hair day. But as kids get older, excuse me, and they're planning on entering, you know, the real world, there are all these very important deadlines that can't be recaptured next year, right? Like scholarships and college applications, even though that's outside of the high school or you know, high school, middle school, um, elementary school timeframe, will there be an aspect of the app that includes these important reminders?

SPEAKER_00 15:09

So one of the courses that is created is the guidance course. So a lot of the counselors are creating their own course, especially in the high school. There's a course for the freshmen, there's a course for the sophomores where they can give that important information to those grade levels that are grade specific.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

I like that a lot. That's really cool. We were looking at one of the counselors' courses yesterday, actually in our principal meeting, as we're sharing out innovative ways. And she has a tile in her course for scholarship specifically for graduation deadlines and things that they have to be knowledgeable. And I think it's to the the high 2027 graduate group, because that's who she was over. And so already starting them from the beginning of okay, here's here's how you get out. And here's the some things that you can do when you go out if you want college, if you want other resources. And so it does allow us as a district to be able to again help the support the students in all aspects of where they're going. And different, we had a teacher communicate with us that they do their uh coding course. And so we added code.org to her course so the kids can just click on it and go. And they don't have to go find other websites. We can navigate, they can navigate and put those things into the courses that they utilize on a regular basis that they have so the kids can just go directly there right from the course.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

So do we have, we like I'm a part of the team. I just volunteered myself. Do we have the opportunity to make these adjustments on the local level, or do you have to, you know, send it up the chain for the applications company to make?

SPEAKER_01 16:45

So certain it depends on what the ask is. Focus is or focus, sorry. We we deal in all worlds, but Canvas allows us on a local level to communicate with different outside apps and entities that we've already vetted and make sure that it can be added. But then sometimes there's things that we want it to do that it doesn't do yet. And so in structure, the company is very open to getting new ideas. We meet with the company probably once every other week to talk about things that issues that we're seeing, problem solve. They send it up into their company to say, is that something that we can uh do? Maybe that's already in the works. And because they're such a big company and they have other entities, they're they're pretty responsive to needs. And our need we found so far isn't really something that's unique yet. I mean, we might get there, we might find something that's unique to us. But again, because this is they're managing with with all across the United States and beyond the United States, it's not necessarily an issue that they have have like, oh, I've never heard of that before.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

That's good. That's good. You don't want to be on that edge of an app development, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So have you received any pushback from parents or teachers that this may be somehow distracting from the classroom?

SPEAKER_00 18:02

No, that is not a response. If anything, we've had, well, I have this one kid. I can't see my other kids' uh classes. So where's why is this one not showing up? So that's one of the things because we're still in the phase, you know, rolling out phase. Not all of the teachers have developed their courses fully. So parents seeing one, they're like, oh, this is cool. Where's the other ones? So they're they're looking for it, they're waiting on those other teachers to jump on board.

SPEAKER_02 18:32

So parents are excited. How are teachers receiving that?

SPEAKER_01 18:35

I think so. From the teacher's perspective, one of the things, and you know, I'm education, a lot of things change every year. And so there is pushback from some of saying, is this one more thing? Is this gonna go away? If I invest in this and put all this work in this, is this gonna remain in five years when I want to still use it? And because we have moved through different iterations of products like a learning management system, but that never really were. Teachers are like, Can I trust you if I put our effort in? And so in that sense, a lot of teachers are using Google Classrooms, but Google themselves have said this is not a learning management system. It has one aspect to usage. And so our when one of the things that Rashina and I are responsible to do is really think about how does this truly roll out? Like we have to think about all of the users, student, teacher, admin, parents, and what's the best experience for them. What is not okay from us and and working with higher level executives in our district is that we want to make sure that people feel supported. We want to make sure that people are not rushed before they're ready, before they equipped to be able to utilize Canvas because it is technology based. And so many people, that's just not their thing. They're not they're not into it because they can't see themselves in it or it it's it they've they've struggled before. And so our goal in the rollout is to make sure one, we make we make specific goals for the quarters. We've met with every band 912, 6'8, and then elementary and with the administration and with teachers buy-in of saying, okay, what would be a good goal for this quarter? Now, what's the professional development that needs to happen? Is that gonna be face-to-face? Is it gonna be virtual? Is it gonna be asynchronous where we could send out a little short video? Is it gonna be one-on-one? And we have every iteration of that. And so just really making sure people feel that support. Obviously, there's always gonna be people that are like, I'm not doing this. And until you start shut things off, they're not gonna go on that journey. And we'll get there, but we're not there yet. We're trying to make their life and show them that this is not back to virtual learning. This is enhances their instruction, adds another tool, but something in their toolbox to utilize to engage students, to to secure communication with parents and students, and and the whole entity as a district. So those are our pieces that we're putting in place to make sure that this truly rules out correctly because it is from Mr. Leonard and the school board their intention that we're in this journey for a long time to come for many reasons.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

Well, I could totally see why it would help the parent-teacher relationship. Yes. Because you've got a a lot more streamlined communication, a lot more, you know, understanding and and less less wiggle room for the misunderstanding and the miscommunication because the information that the student is receiving, the parent can literally look at and they can look at it from their phone. I think that's such a major piece of it. So what is what grades is this currently available and what what's the goal for it to be available among what grades?

SPEAKER_00 21:53

For the entire district. It's open like kindergarten to high school? It's open now from kindergarten to high school. School. The elementary realm is, I guess, really, really at the starting stage. Like some of them may not have even opened the Canvas app, but they do have the availability to it right now. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

So in those goals that we've created, the secondary realm has been utilizing it a little bit more. And so their goals are a little bit more interactive with the teacher in Canvas. In the elementary realm, where we are for this year is really getting the administrators up and running and their course so that they can model to the teachers some of the different ways Canvas can be used in the classroom. We also created groups called Canvas Champions, and those are teachers that are in the classrooms that are beginning to use it. They went through three-day training with Instructure and with Rashina this summer to explore lots of different ways Canvas can be used. And so they're showcasing that at their school. And we meet with them virtually once a month and talking about what are some innovative ways and then sharing that out. The other thing in thinking about elementary, the usage of it will look very different than secondary. And a lot of the training right now that exists is has been very purposeful to the secondary. So part of our job this year is to really make sure that we provide training so that the elementary teacher can see what is the fourth grade student experience going to be like if they utilize Canvas? I like that. What's the second grade teacher's experience gonna be? And what are some neat ways that we can use Canvas? Again, not to replace the teacher, because that's the number one entity of in that classroom for learning is the teacher. And we want to make sure we support them. But Canvas can be utilized to enhance that instruction.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

So I like that a lot. I as we wrap up, is there anything that you want parents to know additionally about this app, its rollout, the timeline, how they can support the school and and support themselves really to get more clear communication for their students? One, be patient.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Okay it's a work in progress. And join the app, download the app, see what is there, which teachers do have their courses in there, and check on their kids' assignment. I've been using it with my kid. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 24:17

I like that. And so we could put the link to the app in the show description.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

We have we've done step-by-step directions on whether the parent's gonna add it just from a computer or their app. And then once they have the app, how do they manage multiple kids and the view? So we have that. And then we also have a video tutorial because sometimes people don't want to look through step-by-step a paper document. It's nice just to watch the video and be able to do that. And we're so yes, we can provide that. And then we'll also be putting it onto our Scambia website as well and making Canvas a little bit more visible. Because when we came on, which Rashina and I just came on in July to this team, and so it wasn't visible. Canvas is not there. And so we're working with the district to build that presence. I love that. An important last question will this podcast be linked on the app? So we can link it for the administrators to view and then possibly to the parents for then our observers will explore some different ways. But yes, we can link this. Great. You know, top priority.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

Well, thanks, ladies. This has been fantastic. Best of luck to you, the app, and all the parents out there who are gonna use it. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Scambia County Public Schools.