Learning Management Systems

North Carolina Signs Statewide LMS Contract

• By Leila Meyer
• 04/06/15

The North Carolina Department of Education has signed a statewide contract with Instructure to provide negotiated pricing for the Canvas learning management system (LMS) to all local education agencies (LEA) and charter schools.

Ten North Carolina school districts already use the Canvas LMS, and this statewide contract should make it easier for other districts to adopt the LMS. The contract includes a variety of services, such as implementation, training, course migration and 24/7 support.

The Canvas LMS integrates with North Carolina's Identity and Access Management service and Learning Object Repository (NCLOR), as well as with the Pearson PowerSchool student information system (SIS). According to information from Instructure, the two-way integration with Pearson PowerSchool will make it easier for schools to make their SIS and LMS work together. For example, teachers will be able to transfer assignments and grades from Canvas directly into PowerSchool using the "Post to SIS" button in their Canvas grades page. The integration also makes it easier for schools to create Canvas user accounts using the information they already have stored in PowerSchool.

Teachers can also use the Canvas LMS to build their own digital learning environments using apps from the vendor-neutral EduAppCenter, which offers nearly 200 apps for educational content, assessment and ebooks.

The Department of Education worked with administrators and staff from the North Carolina Virtual Public School, Rutherford County Schools and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to evaluate Canvas before signing the contract.