Instructure Launches an Open Online Course Network on Canvas

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by || 11/01/2012

Instructure introduced an open online course network on Canvas with more than 20 courses from a dozen institutions across the country ranging from Ivy League and research institutions to community colleges.

Beginning today, students can view courses from participating institutions and register to take courses for free on the new Canvas Network at http://www.canvas.net .

“Hundreds of institutions already use Canvas to teach tens of thousands of courses,” said Josh Coates, CEO of Instructure. “Today we’re enabling institutions to make these courses open to the public through Canvas Network.”

Instructure began working with its customers earlier this year to create an initial catalog of open online courses to begin January 2013. The courses listed today on Canvas Network are for everyone and cover topics such as economics, math, engineering, dance, music, art, literature, business and science. A few of the institutions participating include:

  • Brown University
  • Ball State University
  • Colorado State University-Global Campus
  • Peninsula College, Santa Clara University
  • Scottsdale Community College
  • Seattle Central Community College
  • Santa Clara University
  • University of Central Florida
  • University of Utah
  • WestEd
  • Lumen Learning
  • Flat World Knowledge
  • XYZ Textbooks
  • Saylor.org
  • Open Course Library

“We believe the people who know best how to transform learning are teachers and students, so through the Canvas Network we’re enabling them to experiment with new teaching methodologies with more flexibility and less constraints,” said Brian Whitmer, co-founder and chief product officer at Instructure.

Canvas Network allows institutions to define the structure of their courses and the approach to teaching that makes the most sense to them. Some institutions have chosen to pursue a massive open online course format (MOOC), and some have chosen to pursue a smaller online course format with more interaction. Often the courses are taught on the same platform the institution uses to teach tuition-based courses, which means students have a seamless experience as they progress through their academic journey.

“Canvas Network enables us and other participating institutions to decide the way we want to structure our courses,” said Joel Hartman, vice provost and chief information officer at the University of Central Florida, a pioneer in online education. “We value the ability to leverage both the highly capable Canvas platform, as well as all we have learned about online teaching and learning over the past 17 years.”

Any institution, big or small, can use Canvas to offer open online courses. To learn more, contact [email protected].

About Instructure:

Instructure is a technology company committed to improving education. We provide instructors and students modern tools and resources to empower the learning experience. Founded by graduate students in collaboration with educational institutions, Instructure provides Canvas – the open, easy-to-use, cloud-native learning platform.