North Carolina Signs Statewide LMS Contract
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.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].