To Our Amazing Educators Everywhere,
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
I can’t believe it’s already been three weeks since InstructureCon! Our team had such an amazing time in Denver–there really is nothing better than connecting with our community to celebrate learning and the amazing work educators are doing around the globe.
We also had the opportunity to share more about our innovations from the past year, as well as offer a sneak peek into what’s ahead. If you were unable to attend (we hope to see you next year in Vegas, btw) or you simply want to revisit sessions (which you can do here), read on to learn more about our focus areas, some highlights from the conference, and view on-demand InstructureCon content.
Our Four Focus Areas
In order to provide the most value to educators and students, we are focused on four key areas:
- Improve core teaching and learning experiences of institutions and educators, enhancing their ability to inspire and educate.
- Deliver advanced data and analytics solutions, empowering educators to harness data thoughtfully and steer student success with precision.
- Propel flexible lifelong learning opportunities with new-traditional pathways designed to achieve career outcomes.
- Ensure a seamless experience for all with user-friendly interfaces and robust connectivity, culminating in a seamless Instructure Learning Platform.
Below I’ll share more about how we are–and will continue–to deliver on these focus areas.
Core Teaching and Learning Needs
Our product teams have focused on improving your everyday experience by delivering a host of timesavers and tools to personalize the learning experience. These are just a few of the highlights we shared in Denver.
Canvas New Quizzes
Canvas leader, Jody Sailor (@jsailor), shared all the great progress we have made on New Quizzes, including, Rich Content Editor integration, Blueprint Course Locking, Grade by Question functionality, easier access to SpeedGrader, and API support for quiz building.
The New Quizzes keynote will give you a deeper dive into why more schools are making the transition.
Mastery Connect
To help promote student progress of standards, big improvements have been made to our K-12 Assessment Management System, especially helpful for Canvas districts.
You can learn more from our Mastery Group Manager, Dana Okerlund (@DanaOkerlund), in her breakout session.
LearnPlatform
As the newest addition to the Instructure family, LearnPlatform’s ecosystem management tools empower K-12 Canvas districts to efficiently oversee edtech ecosystems within and beyond the LMS–and registration is available free of charge.
Hear how one district used LearnPlatform to get a handle on their edtech tools.
AI
Of course, AI is the hottest topic in edtech today. As we look to integrate the power of AI into our solutions, we are committed to taking a thoughtful approach to ensure it is intentional, safe, and equitable.
Below are a few of the AI innovations we shared at InstructureCon. Please note that these items are currently in beta or discovery; more information will be shared as soon!
- AI-assisted course design and templates to give educators and instructional designers the power to quickly create elegant page layouts using natural language instead of HTML.
- Emerging AI Marketplace to showcase innovative AI tools that integrate seamlessly with Canvas and adhere to our security/privacy guidelines; many of these tools are offering free trials.
- Canvas-wide semantic search to simplify finding course materials on contextually relevant subjects using natural language.
- AI writing coach, Khanmigo from Khan Academy, to deliver human-driven, technology-enhanced essay feedback and grading, lesson planning and rubric creation.
- AI-powered support chatbot (known as “Panda Bot”) in the Instructure Community to deliver instant support to all Community members.
You can see more about our AI approach in the keynote or visit our AI in Education Community Group.
Data and Analytics
Providing you with the insights you need to drive better student outcomes and institutional progress is top of mind for our analytics teams.
We highlighted some key updates at the conference, including faster access to your data with Canvas Data 2 and our newly launched Canvas Admin Analytics, now accessible to all within Canvas LMS.
To learn more about our advanced data and analytics work, view the Data and Analytics Keynote and our deep dive session with analytics leaders Kevin Turco (@kevin) and Carly Curran (@carlycurran).
Lifelong Learning
As we meet with institutions around the globe, we continue to hear the need for providing more flexibility for learners, especially as we think about non-traditional (often called “new traditional”) programs.
At InstructureCon, we were able to connect with leaders to hear more about this emerging focus and to preview the work we are doing around credentialing and learner passports. Additionally, attendees were able to see how Canvas LMS, Canvas Credentials, and Canvas Catalog come together to create a turnkey solution for institutions diversifying programs and reaching new learners.
Watch our Lifelong Learning Keynote with Tara Goldman (@TaraGoldman) in this deep-dive session to see more about our lifelong learning initiatives.
More to Come!
InstructureCon was an amazing celebration of learning, and it kicked off a new year of exciting things at Instructure. As we continue to build the most comprehensive, innovative learning platform on the planet, we want to share our work with you.
Be sure to visit the Product Blog and Instructure Roadmap regularly to stay up to date on what’s next.
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