Palo Alto College User Story with AWS
[MUSIC PLAYING] EDLYN DE OLIVEIRA: The mission of Palo Alto College is to serve students, and students always first. And I think that is something that I pride myself working here, because I've seen it from my colleagues. It's truly not just our mission, it's the way we operate at this college. It's about giving students opportunities so that they can excel. A lot of our students, this is their lifeline, this is their plan for financial independence. Coming to school was something they've had to work very hard to accomplish.
So it was very difficult once we went online. The pandemic has changed education from the standpoint that at the end of the day, it really reinforces that faculty have to find ways to exhibit care and concern for students. And in this remote virtual online world that we have, we need to try harder than ever to identify how does one exhibit care in our online environment. If we can create that positive learning environment and that collaboration, then everything else flows. Students want to come to class.
Students want to learn. Faculty want to be better. Our staff wants to be the support system that keeps this glue all together. The name of the game now is flexibility, and adaptability, and being able to adapt the learning environment to meet the needs of students. And I think Canvas certainly is doing that, and it's helping us to provide that to our students.
I think the professors are doing such an amazing job utilizing technology to reach the students, providing opportunities to Canvas, really being able to communicate with them and connect with them regardless of distance, and staying safe. I actually started my college career online because of COVID I've really felt like I was missing the sense of community. Like, I was missing out on like this integral part of the college experience, of getting to know my professors and my peers. So now that everyone's kind of getting accustomed to how this is going to work, it's been a lot easier to get to know people. Technologically, using Canvas in your portfolio, you get to add people we've worked with on projects on your portfolio.
On Canvas, you don't just message professors, you can message your peers as well. That's actually how I've developed some of the friendships that I have managed to make here. I think that the power of AWS and being able to provide this instant connectivity has transformed teaching. This pandemic has really pushed us as educators, challenging ourselves, what are we really doing to make sure that we're giving students the tools to succeed. And I think with tools like e-portfolios, with tools like Canvas, they've just brought the classroom to this whole other dimension that I couldn't even imagine being in two years ago.
SUZEL MOLINA: Education changes lives. And there's no other way that we're going to be able to do that without a platform that's going to be able to showcase the students' work and make them feel better about themselves. And Canvas on AWS is that platform.
So it was very difficult once we went online. The pandemic has changed education from the standpoint that at the end of the day, it really reinforces that faculty have to find ways to exhibit care and concern for students. And in this remote virtual online world that we have, we need to try harder than ever to identify how does one exhibit care in our online environment. If we can create that positive learning environment and that collaboration, then everything else flows. Students want to come to class.
Students want to learn. Faculty want to be better. Our staff wants to be the support system that keeps this glue all together. The name of the game now is flexibility, and adaptability, and being able to adapt the learning environment to meet the needs of students. And I think Canvas certainly is doing that, and it's helping us to provide that to our students.
I think the professors are doing such an amazing job utilizing technology to reach the students, providing opportunities to Canvas, really being able to communicate with them and connect with them regardless of distance, and staying safe. I actually started my college career online because of COVID I've really felt like I was missing the sense of community. Like, I was missing out on like this integral part of the college experience, of getting to know my professors and my peers. So now that everyone's kind of getting accustomed to how this is going to work, it's been a lot easier to get to know people. Technologically, using Canvas in your portfolio, you get to add people we've worked with on projects on your portfolio.
On Canvas, you don't just message professors, you can message your peers as well. That's actually how I've developed some of the friendships that I have managed to make here. I think that the power of AWS and being able to provide this instant connectivity has transformed teaching. This pandemic has really pushed us as educators, challenging ourselves, what are we really doing to make sure that we're giving students the tools to succeed. And I think with tools like e-portfolios, with tools like Canvas, they've just brought the classroom to this whole other dimension that I couldn't even imagine being in two years ago.
SUZEL MOLINA: Education changes lives. And there's no other way that we're going to be able to do that without a platform that's going to be able to showcase the students' work and make them feel better about themselves. And Canvas on AWS is that platform.