An incubator school for blended and online learning initiatives led Pasco County Schools to implement a unified, district-wide LMS to support virtual and classroom programs. Stakeholders agreed that Canvas was the best choice because of its robust feature set, ease of use, customer-responsiveness, and open API, so they could customize the LMS to meet current and future needs.
The Challenge
Comprising Florida’s eleventh largest school district, Pasco County’s 84 schools serve more than 68,000 students in grades pre-K through 12. Beginning in 2008, Pasco County (along with every school district in Florida) was required by state law to offer a full-time virtual program for K-12 students. In response, the Pasco eSchool was launched in 2009.
During the same timeframe, the district began using Moodle in a handful of pilot schools. The eSchool, however, didn’t adopt Moodle until 2012. Its first four years were spent juggling numerous learning management systems to comply with rigid vendor requirements that course content be delivered using proprietary systems. And just as the eSchool began using Moodle, district schools were moving independently toward other learning management systems (LMSs).
Key Insights
97% of Pasco’s teachers, administrators, and staff had completed the professional development program delivered through Canvas
After just 9 months, Pasco County was well on its way to achieving all three of its Canvas implementation goals
Initially, our e-school served as a mechanism for compliance. But over time, we became an incubator for blended and online learning initiatives, which led us to consider a unified, district-wide LMS to support both virtual and classroom programs in a more consistent way.
-Joanne Glenn,
Principal, Pasco eSchool
The Canvas team has been a great partner in responding to our ‘SOS calls’ and they’ve gone above and beyond to engage our team in a series of problem-solving activities and Q&A-type sessions to help us think about the different tools and upcoming features,
-Joanne Glenn,
Principal, Pasco eSchool
The Solution
In 2012, Pasco County assembled a team of teachers, IT specialists, administrators, and staff to begin investigating a new LMS that could simplify the district’s technology landscape. After narrowing the choice to four finalists, Pasco County chose Canvas.
Stakeholders agreed that Canvas was the best choice because of its robust feature set, ease of use, customer-responsiveness, and open API, which would allow the district to customize the LMS to meet current and future needs for both its virtual and in-school programs.
The district identified three goals for implementing and using Canvas. Move proprietary eschool courses from Moodle to Canvas and begin offering those courses to full-time virtual students by Fall 2013. Offer professional development courses through Canvas as a way to introduce 100% of district teachers and staff to the LMS. Spotlight “Canvas Trailblazer Teachers” throughout the year and provide additional training to help them lead and influence the rollout in 2014.
To ensure the success of its implementation goals, the district purchased Canvas Training and Support Packages. Canvas Training provided multiple days of onsite sessions for key members of the initial rollout team. And with the Support package, Pasco could count on 24/7 access to Canvas technical support for three system admins, which was essential as all of the district’s 9,200 teachers and staff began learning and experimenting with Canvas.
“The Canvas team has been a great partner in responding to our ‘SOS calls’ and they’ve gone above and beyond to engage our team in a series of problem-solving activities and Q&A-type sessions to help us think about the different tools and upcoming features,”
-Joanne Glenn, Principal, Pasco eSchool
The Results
After just nine months, Pasco County was well on its way to achieving all three of its Canvas implementation goals. In addition to migrating 21 eSchool courses to Canvas and opening those courses to virtual students in fall 2013, 8,900 (or 97%) of Pasco’s teachers, administrators, and staff had completed the PD program delivered through Canvas. And as part of its Canvas trailblazers program, the district offered in-person training to 25 teacher-leaders and virtual training for another 150.
To further increase teacher fluency with the LMS, the district’s Office of Teaching and Learning created the Canvas Learning Center, a teacher collaboration area for downloading resources and testing curriculum tools.
“We have teachers from all over, at all levels, and with different technology backgrounds, and they’re all gaining Canvas exposure and familiarity through professional development. We’ve begun to create a Canvas culture.”
-Joanne Glenn, Principal, Pasco eSchool
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