Introduction

           Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) is the 2nd largest school district in the state of North Carolina next to Wake County Schools.  After the onset of virtual learning that occurred in the Spring of 2020, CMS voted to start the school year with 100% of the students learning remotely.  The district had accounts with Instructure in the past to use Canvas as an optional learning management system, but as every student was learning from home, Canvas became a requirement.  Many courses had content materials planned out and blueprinted in Canvas courses while others had shells of the blueprinted materials.  Teachers, students, and parents had to become acquainted with Canvas quickly to survive the new 2020-2021 school year.  Students and teachers were immersed in a crash course of using the various functions of Canvas, but parents were left in the wake to figure it out on their own.  Many students are heavily reliant on an adult to help them navigate school. Without the aid of a nearby teacher, students looked to their parents to pick up where the teacher could not.

           A basic course for parents using Canvas seemed to be an imminent need for many families.  Canvas has many nuances that can be overlooked but may be beneficial to the parent and students.  “School-home communication has many positive effects” (Laho, 2019). 
 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools provides all students with the best education available anywhere, preparing every child to lead a rich and productive life.
 

The mission of CMS is to maximize academic achievement by every student in every school.
 

           The underlying goal of the school system is student-focused around preparing each student to have a successful future for his/her adult life outside of school.  The students will be prepared to survive whatever life throws their way in the twenty-first century.  CMS is prepared to use the best content and materials to enable teachers to mold and guide students in the most conducive way for enriching the student’s next chapter.  Maintaining and increasing the high school graduation rate are ways in which CMS targets student’s achievement opening doors to continuing education through college and alternative programs.  Teachers improve and continue to learn the best methods to reach every student while bridging the gap between poverty, race, and academic achievement in the community. 

           For students and teachers to be successful, there needs to be a team collaboration with the parents.  Research shows that when parents are involved in the children’s school, there is a better outcome for all (Laho, 2019).  After learning became strictly remote, parents had to step up and be more present as a substitute teacher presence.  They ensure that students wake up and focus on learning, or help troubleshoot with technology issues.  Parents need to understand the platform that their children are using to meet with the teacher every day and keep the learner successfully engaged.  With so many functionalities available in Canvas, parents need to know how to stay organized so that they can ensure the student stays organized.  A course to orient parents on how to maneuver different aspects of Canvas is necessary or helpful to create a more positive learning experience for the student. 
 

The course would be beneficial to any parent or guardian that plays a supporting role in a student’s life.  Families with elementary and middle school-aged students will especially find the course helpful because the children are less self-sufficient than high school-aged students, but anyone is welcome. 
 

Resources needed for this course include basic materials like a functioning computer with solid internet connectivity and time to practice and develop new skills.  The learner will need to be able to go to the Canvas Instructure Homepage either by accessing it through a district portal or by going to the Canvas homepage at https://canvas.instructure.com/login/canvas.  The course will operate as a live course via Zoom where learners can join synchronously, and then the asynchronous learners can watch a replay of the course. 

 

            To find out more about what areas needed to be covered for the creation of this project, two surveys were conducted through the use of Google Forms.  One survey was for the parents to hear their needs and opinions regarding what they want to see in a Canvas course and the other was for the teachers to voice the concerns they had for the parents.  The survey results came back as very informative.
 

            The parent survey first went out to parents registered as observers in my Canvas courses.  No one took the survey. Therefore, the next step was to turn to social media.  I do not usually have a large social media presence, so only one friend took the survey. Plan C involved a group on Facebook that I was part of called Charlotte Moms.  Those moms are where the majority of the feedback came from.  Seeing how the Parent Survey went, I posted the teacher survey in the Charlotte Moms Facebook Group.  That time I had no luck.  I turned back to my friends, coworkers, and daughters’ teachers where I got a total of 6 results.  All-in-all, the results deliver new insight as to what the needs are.
 

            The parents were asked 11 questions with an optional comment box at the end.  The questions asked were:

1. How the adult was related to the student
2. What grade were the students in who were using Canvas
3. How the student attended school
4. If the person taking the student was actually registered as a parent observer
5. Overall comfort level of being an Observer in Canvas
6. Knowledge/skill level viewing assignments
7. Knowledge/skill level viewing grades
8. Knowledge/skill level communicating with the teacher
9. Knowledge/skill level of viewing/using the Course Calendar
10. Knowledge/skill level of viewing/using course settings
11. What is the most important aspect of Canvas

           As mentioned before, the results came from a group of local mothers.  If fathers or other guardians would have answered, would the results have been different? The grades of the students varied from Kindergarten to twelfth grade where the majority of the students were in elementary grades, and second grade had the most.  Learning was done with the majority being solely online, with some hybrid of going in physically and staying home and one child goes strictly in person.  All of the parents were registered as parent observers except for one. 

           On a scale of 1to 5 with 5 being the most comfortable/skilled and 1 being the least comfortable/skilled, comfort level with Canvas overall was on the higher side of a bell curve with a few who were very uncomfortable and a few who felt very good about Canvas.  9 out of 28 respondents chose a 4 out of 5 in their ability to view assignments and knowing what needs to be done by the student.  Also, 9 out of the 28 chose a 2 or 1 out of 5 in viewing assignments. Skill level regarding seeing grades the student received on an assignment varied. 9 parents felt very good with accessing and see grades while 9 parents also chose a 2 or below in their comfort level.  

           Parents understanding how to communicate with the teacher via Canvas had 10 people feeling very confident in their ability and 7 scoring below a 2.  Levels of comfort using the course calendar ranged from 9 people feeling very skilled and 8 people ranking below a 2.  Changing and viewing settings was the most dramatic difference from that of the others.  Only 5 people felt like they really knew how to change settings, while 12 parents indicated a comfort level below a 2.

The overall consensus of what parents find the most important aspect of Canvas is knowing what assignments the student has done and what assignments are still left to do.  In conjunction with that, which assignments will sync to PowerSchool and which ones do not and why are the main concerns from the surveys.  There is a disconnect with teachers grading and communication to the parents as to what will count and what will not. 
 

            The teachers were asked 4 questions with an optional comment box at the end.  The questions asked were:
 

1. What subject/grade did they teach
2. How long have they been using Canvas
3. What aspect of Canvas did they get the most parent questions from?
4. What aspect of Canvas did they think was the most important for parents to know

           The teachers who answered the survey questions are mostly high school math teachers that I have worked with over the years with the exception of one middle school math teacher, one high school foreign language teacher, and one high school English Language Arts teacher.  Experience teaching with Canvas ranges from 1 year to 10 years with the majority being under 3 years of use. 

           Teachers receive the most questions on assignments and grading.  They would like the parents to understand that not everything in Canvas will get synced to PowerSchool and that it takes more time to grade all of the assignments.  Parents should use PowerSchool grades to see how the student is doing versus looking at the grades in Canvas. 
 

            To wrap it up, I think that parents and teachers want the same things.  I am finding that some of the concerns are a matter of communication that is outside the realm of Canvas but includes Canvas as well.  For example, parents see all kinds of assignments listed in various places for the students within Canvas.  Some get done by the students because the teacher will verbally assign it during some type of lecture or instructions, while other assignments still appear as not done.  There are many settings involved for teachers who sometimes forget to update or change an assignment due date to make that assignment go away for the students and observers.  If the parent is not listening in to the class’s live instructions, then there is not a way for parents to completely understand what is required and what is not.  In many cases especially for the younger grades, the Canvas courses are blueprinted by the district.  That means that every so often the district updates each teacher’s Canvas course with new materials and assignments.  Each update comes with new settings that the teachers have to navigate on their own.  The problem is that there is no consistency in the blueprints, and teachers are not prepared when the curveball gets thrown.  In some cases, they are not aware that the parents or students see all the updates as well.  Because each district is doing their own thing, across the board, there is mass confusion and lack of communication.  Teachers are not aware there is a need to communicate because they cannot see from the parent or students’ perspectives. 

            With these surveys, I find it ironic that most parents surveyed were from elementary-aged students, but the teachers surveyed were from the opposite spectrum as high school teachers.  I think that across the board, the grades of the students versus the teachers does not matter.  Everyone has the same concerns regardless of grades and classes. 
 

Identifying the Stakeholders

            For this project, there are varying forms of stakeholders, primary and secondary.  Primary stakeholders are the people directly affected by the outcome of the project  (Minning, 2019).  In this case, the primary stakeholders are the parents/guardians who are observing their child or children participating in a Canvas course.  Secondary stakeholders are less directly affected by the training but are still affected by the outcome  (Minning, 2019).  The children in school whose parent needs guidance on how to use Canvas along with teachers of these students are considered secondary stakeholders.  The outcome affects them, but not as much as the parents.  When this course is successfully administered, the students and teachers will benefit because there is less confusion amongst the parents/guardians.  Teachers will have better communication with the adults, and students will not have to answer as many questions from the parent.  The other primary stakeholders are the course creator and course administrator for obvious reasons. 
 

            Everyone is overwhelmed. There is a disconnect between communication with the teacher, student, and parent.  A lot of assumptions are made, and in doing so, ideas fall through the cracks of communication. 

Teachers believe that Canvas is intuitive to the parent and students but forget that it may be new to the parent.  Teachers are not communicating how they are using Canvas or how often they are grading versus assigning work. In many cases, districts pre-loaded work and content onto a Canvas course. These “blueprinted” courses have pre-made assignments that show up in a to-do list for students.  Many teachers do not even know that parents or students can see these assignments on a virtual to-do list.  Parents assume that the children are required to do these assignments when, in reality, the teacher may possibly never use that assignment.  Students become frustrated with their parents/guardians because they may end up doing extra work just to appease their elders. Another point of confusion for the parents is the lack of communication in regard to the grading of assignments. For example, if a student does one of the “extra” assignments mentioned earlier, it may never get graded because it does not show up on the teacher’s radar as important.  Also, teachers assign a lot of work daily to create learning experiences, but they do not feel it necessary to take as a grade.  Parents are waiting for feedback since they saw or know their child completed work.  It is also the responsibility of the teacher to stay on top of the grading so that there is accurate time for feedback and prodding of the child to do missing work if necessary.

           This leads to one last confusing issue: grades.  Canvas has a feature that keeps a grade book or record of all the assignments that each student has either done or not done.  It also has the capability to sync with Student Information Management Systems (SIS) like PowerSchool.  Many parents do not understand why the SIS does not match up with Canvas because Canvas has a feature that allows teachers to choose what assignments get sent to the SIS. In cases where teachers create and use a lot of work for the daily classroom experience, that teacher may only want to send formal assessments to the SIS or choose the best grades after multiple tries from varied practices.  In this situation, it is up to the teacher to provide communication to the parents (and the students) to explain how and why she chose the grades that were posted to the SIS.  Parents need to know if they should trust or worry about what the grades look like in Canvas compared to what they see in the SIS.  

           The course creator perceives the issues to require an additional piece of information for teachers.  Teachers need to be aware of the communication gaps presented above and address these concerns with parents at the beginning of the course.   Keeping the communication steady as the course progresses to avoid issues while empowering the team atmosphere in supporting the student’s learning is crucial for success for all parties. 

           Everyone is stressed with the onset of drastic changes in the way students are educated now.  Positive emotions play an important role in mastering new technology  (Janette & Seugnet Bliignaut, 2013).  Solid communication will keep all stakeholders happy regardless if they are primary or secondary stakeholders. 
 

C-M-S Board of Education. (2018). Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools - about us. Retrieved   from https://www.cms.k12.nc.us/communications/aboutus/Pages/The-2024-Strategic-Plan.aspx
 

Janette, K., & Seugnet Bliignaut. A. (2013). Linking emotional intelligence to achieve technology-enhanced learning in higher   education. The Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education TOJDE, 14(4), 99-120. Retrieved from   https://doaj.org/article/fe67a58b1ca94568b6981870cee41c9d
 

Laho, N. S. (2019). Enhancing School–Home communication through learning management system adoption: Parent and teacher   perceptions and practices. The School Community Journal, 29(1), 117-142. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-     com.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/docview/2249688843
 

Minning, L. (2019). The 10 types of stakeholders that you meet in business. Retrieved from     https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/types-of-stakeholders