A 1:1 initiative without a learning management system (LMS) is like having a car without a roadmap. With only the ability to drive and no map, it will be very difficult to get where you want to go. The Canvas LMS provides direction and simplicity to teaching and learning with all of your devices. Canvas is a way to simplify teaching and learning by connecting all the digital tools teachers use in one easy place. Doing this reduces fragmentation and allows teachers to spend more time engaging with their students and less time engaging with their LMS.

When deciding whether or not to use an LMS with your 1:1, let us not find ourselves as indecisive as is Alice in Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. You will remember that she comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire cat, of whom Alice asks, “Which path shall I follow?” The cat answers, “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which path you take.” Unlike Alice, as educators, we all know where we want to go, and it does matter which way we go, for by choosing our path, we choose our destination. Decisions are constantly before us and decisions do determine destiny.

Where do you want to go?

When choosing an LMS, how do we decide? Do we simply choose the least expensive option, potentially sacrificing quality, service, and support? How important is partnering with the LMS we use? Does the LMS we choose truly make teaching and learning easier and drive adoption among teachers and students? Is it getting used?

Things are only as good as they work and we gravitate to what technology is easiest to use. Usability drives adoptability. Simply put, Canvas makes teaching and learning easier. It’s intuitive, collaborative, and you can access it anytime, anywhere, on any device. Being easy to learn, easy to implement, and radically easy to use makes Canvas that much easier for teachers to adopt. Simple is what Canvas does better than anyone else.

Change is hard, how do we do it?

It's been said that there is nothing so constant as change, for our lives are always moving and developing. Technology is a common part of our everyday lives and is increasingly changing our educational experience.

More and more classrooms are embracing Canvas as a way to make teaching and learning easier. Goals like college & career readiness, 1:1 roll outs, and blended/flipped learning are a few of the many reasons why schools choose Canvas.

There is a tendency however to fear change. Many of us are suspect of change and will often fight and resist it before we have even discovered what the actual effects will be. When change is thought through carefully, it can produce the most rewarding and profound experiences. Is your school district ready and/or willing to change?

"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." - George Bernard Shaw

There are four important steps in making change a valuable tool in your school district:

First, we must understand the need for change. The recognition of the need to change has to be a greater force than the luxury of staying the same.

Second, the facts must be authentic. We need to know how, what, where, and why to change.

Third, a system for change must be established. Canvas LMS Project Plan Worksheet

Fourth, we must be totally committed to our plan for change. Unless we have the will to improve, all the other steps to change will be wasted.

How to Choose an LMS in K12.pdf