The first feed that I built with Pipes takes my Canvas To Do list–you know, the one that I see when I log in reminding me to grade all that amazing student work–and turns it into a RSS feed that I’ve stuck onto my Google Homepage. Here’s the Pipe:

Canvas To Do List as Feed Pipe

Yeah, because even though Canvas automatically sends me a notification, basically whenever I want, reminding me to grade new student submissions, I need all the guilt-inducing reminders I can get these days.

All you need to run this Pipe is the URL of your Canvas instance and an access key, which is a really long string that you can generate from your very own Canvas Profile:

You’ll copy and paste that Access Token into the Access Token field in the Pipe. This essentially enables the Pipe to access all your Canvas To Do list data that’s currently made available through the API. The Pipe then does just a little bit of parsing to create a new feed from that JSON data.

Now, as simple as this Pipe was to build, I have to say it’s still pretty beta, and the source is kind of a mess of different splits. For instance, I haven’t yet figured out how to loop in and concatenate the course name (that requires another Fetch Data source), nor to include the number of items you need to grade in the feed item headline.

But I’m hoping some wandering Yahoo! Pipes guru can suggest the right path. If that happens, I’ll be able to finish my Pipe That Aggregates All Discussion Posts For All Courses Into One Master Feed.

I could have gone on for pages on this topic (in fact, I did, for about 2000 words before cutting to around 600). That’s my way of saying there’s plenty of room for exploration and discussion, so go ahead, check it out, and leave a comment.

So check it out and leave a comment there if you can!

Engrade also integrates enough built-ins (messaging, discussions, quizzes) that it could be used as an LMS alternative–especially for those who dislike the idea of a totalitarian LMS but need basic class management tools. (If you’ve used Engrade as a LMS, let me know how it went!)

And while Engrade will probably suit the needs of higher ed instructors, features such as “Attendance”, “Seating”, and “Discipline” seem clearly targeted at K-12 scenarios.

All materials in this wiki are licensed as Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial, which means they are free to use by anyone, anywhere, for anything except commercial purposes. We’re proud to be open, especially now, as Instructure opens up the source code of Canvas to the world.

More details available on our wiki site: canvaswiki.uen.org

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCIP3x5mFmw

A nice homage to Apple--clearly one of Instructure’s design inspirations.

If you didn’t pick it up in the video, this release coincides with Instructure’s announcement that they’ve just opened their source code under the AGPLv3 license.

We just selected Canvas as our State’s LMS here in Utah, and this news only reinforces my opinion that the guys at Instructure are looking a lot farther ahead than anyone else in the LMS business. This isn’t to take any credit away from Moodle, which will always have a special place in my open source heart, but, well, if you haven’t tested Canvas--from either a “traditional” LMS or un-LMS perspective--it’s pretty easy to hop in and give it a test drive.

And now my Canvas package download is done. Expect some installation notes later on.

1. Start ManyCam, and in the Sources tab choose Desktop and click Close.
   
2. In your Canvas course, choose to Record/Upload Media (Pages, Announcements, Discussions, etc.), or Add Media Comment (Assignment feedback).
3. Choose Webcam from the right, then Allow Kaltura to access your devices. Change your webcam source to ManyCam Video Source.
   
4. Click Record, minimize your window to show your desktop, and you’re off and running! Save your recording in the Canvas window when done.

That’s it. Easy, integrated desktop capture in Canvas.

UEN committee selects Instructure to provide statewide Learning Management System for state colleges and universities
(Salt Lake City, UT) – A selection committee representing Utah colleges and universities has chosen Utah-based Instructure to provide a statewide Learning Management System (LMS) for Utah college students and faculty. Instructure’s Canvas LMS is a software application that enables educational institutions to efficiently administer, document, track and report on classroom and online learning. The Utah Education Network will host and support the application from its facilities at the Eccles Broadcast Center. More than 109,000 Utah college students and 29,000 higher education faculty and staff will have access to the system by June 2012. The system will also be available to about 40,000 public education students and their teachers.

“The selection committee’s decision is a win-win-win for the state of Utah. It’s a win for Utah students and faculty who gain a state-of-the art Learning Management System at a competitive price. It’s a win for a Utah-based vendor that’s created an excellent product, and it’s a win for all Utah citizens who benefit from the economic development made possible by a well-educated cadre of college students,” said Michael Petersen, Executive Director of UEN.

“We’re excited about this opportunity to partner with UEN, higher education and public schools in Utah,” said Josh Coates, CEO of Instructure. “With Canvas, a new standard for simplicity, usability and elegance has been set, and we believe this will have a direct and positive impact on education in Utah.”

I’ve used Canvas on a few courses of my own–both fully online and hybrid–and can say it’s a great system with a lot of potential. It is also one of the few LMS that integrates with “outworld” social media services such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Docs, and to allow open publishing of courses under Creative Commons licenses.

During these first private demonstrations I compiled some notes as to what I thought was effective and ineffective/detrimental in the presentations. I won’t reveal who did what, but will be very general, and talk in terms of “Dos” and “Don’ts”:

Do

• Keep the message simple and concise. If you’re a finalist, we already know about your product and company, so focus on a few compelling points with exciting examples. Save plenty of time for q&a. Showcase your product and your company.
• Focus on how you’ll serve your different audiences/stakeholders, but succinctly: for us, it’s faculty, students, designers, and admins. Tell us why each will love you and your product.
• Talk about successful institutional clients that are similar to us.
• Use case studies of Real Courses and quotes from Real Users. But it appears you should not use quotes with names without explicit permission, especially if the names will be on the receive end.
• Tell us why you’re everything good and nothing bad about the traditional LMS. If you think your product is “disruptive”, tell us how–don’t just say you are.
• Distinguish yourself from competitors without bashing them. We want to know what sets you apart, why you are moving in new directions that others are neglecting.
• Train your slides and keep them in line. Have a visual designer put them together with input from an instructional designer. Usually images are better than text. Don’t risk cognitive overload: we can’t read and listen at the same time.
• Keep your audience’s attention. Break up your stream of information and announce shifts from one point to another. Even if you can’t interact in real-time, prompt your audience to reflect and respond amongst themselves.
• Include a live demonstration with real people. Make it fast, make it meaningful. Though the product itself failed, Google Wave did it right with its preview demo.
• Test your mics and speakers for feedback before you begin, especially if you have more than one presenter in more than one location. Another idea: have someone on your team in another room listening and watching, and providing the presenter with live feedback. This is great if you’ve turned your chat off and one of your co-presenters is only breathing loudly.
• Be prepared for tough questions, including, “Your price quote for us is totally out of line.” or, “What happens when Blackboard buys/sues you?”

Don’t

• Don’t use a web-conferencing system that you cannot use effectively–especially if your company owns it. Do some test runs in the system, with real users on the receive end via different connections.
• Don’t have your desktop share resolution set above 1024 x 768–many projectors don’t run larger than that, and thus we’ll be unable to see more than half of your presentation screen. If you’re demo’ing through a browser, close unnecessary toolbars to save screen real estate.
• Don’t spend the first 15 minutes talking about your company and staff. You’re a finalist. We know enough about your company. Now is the time to give the final sales pitch in a meaningful and relevant way. Now is the time to close the deal.
• Don’t let your presenters be monotone, or say “um”–train them with a dog shock collar if you have to, but your presenter should be both authentic and enthusiastic. We can tell a fraud a mile away, but we are also subject to falling asleep.
• Speaking of frauds, Don’t come off as a car salesman or a CEO interested only in serving shareholders. I recognize this is somewhat contradictory since you’re trying to close, and of course this perception can be quite subjective.