From Vision to Victory: The Instructure Adoption Success Toolkit

In the rapidly evolving landscape of educational technology, institutions face the challenge of adopting new tools seamlessly to enhance learning experiences. Enter the Adoption Success Toolkit, a comprehensive framework developed by Instructure's Strategic Services team.

Introducing the Adoption Success Toolkit

At its core, the Adoption Success Toolkit is a set of processes and tools based on the Instructure Success Model, which draws upon decades of improvement in research and real-world success stories from clients. Initially conceived as the Canvas Success Model, this approach has grown into a holistic implementation model applicable to the entire Instructure Learning Platform.

The model revolves around a continuous improvement cycle, including Visioning, Planning, Executing, and Assessing, designed to support clients using the Instructure Learning Platform. The toolkit comprises editable, hands-on materials reflecting proven practices for successful adoption and implementation. Its ultimate aim is to guide institutions in seamlessly transitioning their users to the platform, enabling them to excel in teaching and learning.

The Five Steps to Success

With our 5 Steps to Success, we've got you covered. The Adoption Success Toolkit is packed with super tools, including comprehensive checklists, step-by-step processes, and strategic roadmaps to take you through each phase of the Instructure Success Model. It's got everything you need and reflects the entire Instructure family, including Canvas, Mastery Connect, Elevate, Impact, and LearnPlatform. 

1. Bring the Leaders Together: Form an Adoption Team with leaders and stakeholders to assess your current processes and begin planning for the future.
2. Create and Share the Vision: Start your visionary leadership journey and define the "why" to engage your organization in a shared vision of success.
3. Plan for the Short and Long Term: Construct plans for communication, training, and engagement to prepare for challenges that will arise and empower leaders to support adoption.
4. Execute and Deepen Experiences: Implement plans with fidelity and flexibility to allow for responsive shifts that meet the needs of your stakeholders while honoring your vision.
5. Assess Progress and Amplify Wins: Evaluate your adoption progress to share successes, set goals, and continue your evolution with the Instructure Learning Platform. 

When and Who: The Toolkit's Flexibility and Target Audience

The Adoption Success Toolkit is flexible and adaptable, catering to institutions at various stages of their journey. Whether an organization is new to Instructure, a long-time user, or expanding to other platform products, the toolkit can be leveraged to enhance adoption success.

Who does the toolkit serve? Primarily, the end-users are the focus, encompassing classroom teachers, students, and parents or families participating from home. However, it also helps leadership teams responsible for platform adoption and implementation. By guiding these teams through the Instructure Success Model, the toolkit ensures everyone benefits from a strategic vision and clear execution plan, aligning with the institution's educational goals.

Using the Adoption Success Toolkit

The Instructure Adoption Success Toolkit's steps are based on years of research and customer feedback on effectively launching and using the Instructure Learning Platform. It's not a one-size-fits-all approach but rather a customizable model that can be adapted to fit any institution's needs in using any of Instructure's products. 

How can you customize the toolkit for your community? Each approach looks different depending on your institution's unique context! Some example use cases are:

• A school principal might use the Instructure Adoption Success Toolkit to roll out a new academic initiative (like blended learning or social-emotional strategies) enhanced by using Canvas and Mastery Connect.
• A higher education client might use the Instructure Adoption Success Toolkit to target the needs of their educators and students as they transition to Canvas.

Regardless of where you fall in your launch of an Instructure product, whether it's your first year or tenth, the Instructure Adoption Success Toolkit will simplify and scale to meet your unique needs. We're excited to share this improved tool with everyone!

Impact on Organizations: Navigating Challenges and Achieving Success

Transitioning to a new product can be daunting and laden with challenges. The Adoption Success Toolkit aims to alleviate these apprehensions. The toolkit has been refined through collaborations with diverse educational entities worldwide, and it offers a reliable framework for turning the institution's vision into a reality.

Kristie and Steven, from different institutions, shared their experiences. Kristie, Interim Director of Technology Support Services, Office of Information Technology at Indiana State University, highlighted how the toolkit's engagement and communication planning played a pivotal role in overcoming challenges. 

“The engagement and communications planning was very helpful. We actually ended up getting a lot of positive feedback from our campus on how well the communications went. It was probably the deciding factor of making the project a success.”

- Kristie Bigler, Interim Director of Technology Support Services, Office of Information Technology at Indiana State University

On the other hand, Steven, Professional Learning Coordinator, Virtual Virginia (a Virginia Department of Education program), emphasized that all toolkit components were beneficial, with vision and goal planning taking the lead.

“Sun Tzu is credited with saying “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first THEN seek to win.” The adoption success toolkit served as a great “plan of attack” to help ensure that our implementation was already “won” in terms of the planning and effective steps for implementation before we really even began the day-to-day work with a lot of the schools and school divisions we serve. For this reason I would absolutely recommend your adoption approach!”

- Steven Sproles, Professional Learning Coordinator, Virtual Virginia

Bringing the Adoption Success Toolkit to Your Institution

For institutions interested in adopting this approach, take the Adoption Discovery Self-Assessment to begin your Instructure Learning Platform transformation journey. In as little as 5 minutes, you will have an analysis of your product adoption needs alongside concrete actions on where to begin. 

If you want to learn even more, listen to the most recent InstructureCast episode, "From Vision to Victory: The Adoption Success Toolkit."