Implementing a New Learning Management System

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​Bringing in a whole new technology product that students and teachers are expected to use extensively was a little terrifying.  Ultimately, my job is to support faculty in their use of technology and the fear of any technology facilitator is to garner the resentment of the people you are there to support, because you chose a tool that is cumbersome, ineffective, or simply doesn’t do the job it was supposed to do.  I am happy to report that this was not the case with Canvas.  It was a good year with Canvas.  I think the fact that all teachers were required to use it and now are fairly comfortable with using it on a basic level is huge for the first year of implementation.  They also see now that the work they do is saved and can be built upon for future years.  Also, we had a great group of early adopters who did some inspiring things with Canvas and shared them with the community.  I can honestly say I have learned Canvas inside and out and as far as learning management systems go, I really like it.   What I appreciate most about Canvas is its flexible structure, great support, and constant improvement.   New features are always popping up both small fixes and major improvements.  It was approximately a two year process to go from a needs analysis to selecting the best LMS to getting early adopters and then on to training the entire staff to be ready to implement Canvas for the following year.  Giving faculty the summer to add content to their courses and creating a schoolwide course template to use, so that subsequent training could be cohesive was especially helpful.  I am proud of the work around Canvas at Saint Mary’s School.  It was a huge undertaking, but now a part of the school culture.