The CanvasCasters podcast officially joins the #CanvasFam!

Big news — the unofficial podcast of Canvas, CanvasCasters, is now official! Eddie Small and Marcus Painter’s popular show is joining Instructure this month as a voice for Canvas educators everywhere. The first official episode drops tomorrow (December 9th)!. 

Although that one word, “official,” has been added to their show description, Eddie emphasized that the goal of the show — sharing educator stories — remains the same.

“It boils down to the #CanvasFam,” Eddie said. “These people see us the same way we see them. We are all educators grinding it out in the classroom with the same urgency. Canvas brought us all together.”

Dynamic Duo 

If you’re part of the #CanvasFam, you likely know Marcus and Eddie, at least virtually. The teachers from Indiana loved Canvas so much they started CanvasCasters in 2019.  Over 40 episodes, the pair interviewed Canvas educators across the country, sharing stories and strategies (and a fair amount of jokes along the way). 

When CanvasCasters started, its tagline was “We don’t work for Canvas, Canvas works for us.” Since then, the former high school teachers have both joined Instructure, Marcus in leadership development, and Eddie in customer advocacy, but continued to produce the podcast out of their passion for connecting educators. 

Teachers took note and the podcast quickly gained a loyal following. Over the past two years, their audience grew larger, and their community stronger. Followers call the show a “must listen” for any educator or administrator using Canvas LMS. 

“I love listening to the podcast because I always walk away with a few new Canvas LMS and instructional strategy nuggets,” one reviewer said. “[Eddie and Marcus’] passion for teaching, collaboration and the #CanvasFam is infectious.”

Teachers First

Marcus and Eddie’s relaxed, on-air banter makes for a fun listen. Their backgrounds are similarly well matched.

A high school teacher for eight years, Eddie launched a radio station, WRLN 9.19, with students at Rush County Schools. Later, he worked as an innovation coach at Central Nine Career Center, where he seamlessly implemented Canvas LMS in a technical school environment. 

Marcus started as a high school English teacher then worked as a digital learning coach, training teachers on effective Canvas implementation. With Eddie’s radio expertise, and Marcus’ command of Canvas, CanvasCasters was born. 

What’s in Your Canvas Backpack?

When asked for their favorite episode, neither could pick just one, but the kickoff episode with  Dr. Megan Tolin and the equity episode with Dr. Bettina Love rank high on their list. 

Every episode ends with a question, “What’s in your Canvas backpack?” inviting guests to share their Canvas tips and tricks. Listeners love these valuable insights, but also the chance to connect with other educators. 

“Educators can often feel that they are on an island,” Marcus said. “There’s a little bit of therapy in the podcast. People can take a walk and hear similar concerns and challenges from other educators. There’s always a wow moment every episode when all the walls are down. Wow, Paul from Wolverhampton, England literally does the same things I do in my classroom.”

Same Format, New Guests

What should listeners look forward to, now that CanvasCasters is an official Instructure podcast? More of the same engaging, informative, relatable, fun conversation from educators across the globe. 

“This podcast was built on the idea that we aren’t experts, we are bringing a megaphone to the experts,” Eddie said. 

The new partnership opens opportunities for even more experts, including Instructure’s product and development teams for example, to discuss upcoming features and answer questions. 

The first “official” episode drops Thursday December 9th and the team hopes to release two episodes a month. 

Find out what’s in everyone’s Canvas backpack by subscribing to the CanvasCasters podcast, and following along on Twitter and Facebook.