D203 Rolls Out New Learning Technology for 2012-13 School Year

students, teachers and parents will be able to collaborate easier and more efficiently this coming school year as the district implements a new learning platform technology called Canvas, according to a press release.

Canvas, developed by technology company Instructure, provides a way for teachers to deliver media-rich lessons and assessments to students. The open learning platform is designed to "improve student performance, track state standards and engage students in learning anytime," according to Instructure's web site.

"We chose Canvas to meet the broad educational needs from across the school district," said district director of instructional technology John David Son in a press release."We looked at Canvas from every direction and followed a collaborative process that involved many groups of people before making our selection."

Officials will rollout the technology to approximately 25 percent of the district and gradually make it available to all elementry, middle and high schools by August 2013.

The district selected Canvas after an 8-month evaluation process, which involved input from parents, students, teachers and staff members. Traditionally, district IT would evaluate systems like Canvas and make the choice on their own. 

Naperville began training teachers to use Canvas this week and already has more than 100 teachers across the K-12 spectrum ready for the new school year, according to the press release.

"We built Canvas with students, parents and teachers in mind as a place where they could all come together with the unified goal of helping the student," said Instructure co-founder Brian Whitmer in the press release. "We believe an essential part of improving secondary education is providing effective tools that engage students in, and keep parents informed of the learning experience."

For more information on Canvas for secondary education, visit www.instructure.com/k12