Learning Management Systems | News

Historic Private School Chooses Cloud-Based LMS

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 06/16/14

The private school that educated George Bush and George W. Bush, Humphrey Bogart and Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes has adopted a new learning management system. The Phillips Academy in Andover, MA will be using Instructure Canvas.

Ease of use was a major driver for the choice, according to Christopher Odden, math instructor and chair of Andover's Academic Committee on Technology. "The Canvas platform is fairly intuitive and gentle, even for teachers who typically shy away from online tools," he said. "The interface supports many different teaching styles, but it also serves as an invitation to try new techniques. Canvas provides several convenient ways of interacting with students. As one colleague puts it: 'Canvas is connected learning.'"

The LMS will run as a cloud-based service for the school, which currently has about 1,130 students in grades 9-12. The application's functionality allows teachers to insert audio, video, text and images into their course materials; integrate third-party web tools; automate some kinds of grading; and do "selective release," which allows for personalization of the learning experience for each student. Also, parents can "co-enroll" to gain visibility to their students' grades, assignments and teacher communications,

The software is also in use by Nevada's Clark County School District, schools that participate in the Utah Education Network and Naperville Community School District in Illinois, among others.