review process, and they began by listing and ranking LMS
requirements. The district then released an RFP, which
yielded responses from ten vendors, including Canvas,
which the district had never seen before.
As one of the top three finalists, Canvas was then piloted
by 20 teachers who tested all three platforms over a
three-month period. Canvas scored highest in the pilot
testing, so the choice was clear.
Naperville began its Canvas rollout during the 2012-2013
school year. As part of a two-phase implementation
process, the district maintained its legacy system
throughout the year, which allowed teachers to begin
using Canvas at their own pace. Son and his team
anticipated that 50-60 percent of teachers would make
the switch to Canvas by the end of the first year, but in
less than three months, 50 percent of teachers were
already using Canvas to deliver materials to more than
12,000 students.
THE RESULT • • •
All students and teachers across Naperville now use
Canvas as part of their everyday teaching and learning.
“It’s a tool that is highly intuitive for our young learners,
and has the features they need to collaborate and
communicate,” says Son. “And for our oldest learners, it
provides the rich features that they’re looking for—the
media components and real-time collaborations. It really
prepares them for the tools they’re going to use when
they leave our school district.”
Research shows that younger learners absorb information
more quickly than older learners. This is just one of the
many reasons why the district opted to implement
Canvas as a K-12 solution. “‘Canvas is awesome,’
according to my students,” says Janet Park, 1st grade
teacher at Elmwood Elementary School. “With the touch
of a button, they are able to navigate through the whole
site …. It has been transformational.”
In junior high and middle school, Canvas is even more
deeply integrated into daily learning. According to 7th
grade science teacher Josh Louis, “My students access
materials on Canvas every day, and throughout the
lesson they’re responding via quiz or discussion. There’s
always an opportunity for them to interact with the tool
and each other.”
And since Canvas is the only LMS that provides a true
K-20 solution, helping students become Canvas-savvy
early on allows them to build a foundation that will carry
them throughout their entire educational careers—not just
a few grade levels. As Son says, “We have the best
solution for our environment, and we’ll use that to teach
our students how to navigate online learning so that
wherever they go next they’ll be successful.”
Canvas also helps parents stay connected. They can
customize notifications preferences, which mean they
decide how and how often they want to be alerted about
their child’s assignments, activities, and performance.
“With Canvas, parents have a window into their child’s
classroom,” says Park. “They can see all the wonderful
things [their children] are doing.”
Canvas has become an integral part of Naperville’s
present and future success. According to Son, “It’s a tool
that allows us to provide innovative and unique learning
opportunities for all of our students in a personalized way
that prepares them for life beyond district 203.”
Naperville Community Unit School District 203
THE CHALLENGE • • •
Serving more than 17,500 K-12 students, Naperville
Community Unit School District 203 is a high-performing
suburban district just outside Chicago. In 2012, the district
identified the need for a learning management system that
was simple enough for kindergarteners, powerful enough
for high school seniors, and flexible enough for every
student in between.
At the time, Naperville was using an LMS that hadn’t been
updated in more than five years and its limitations were
starting to hinder the progress of this technically innovative
SCHOOL YEAR 2012-2014
QUICK FACTS • • •
KEY FINDINGS • • •
-GRADE LEVEL-
K-12-INITIATIVES-
-RATED-
OUT OF 10 LMSs EVALUATED
1:1 No.1
20,401
Used by all K-12 teachers and students districtwide
Case Study: K12 • • •
ENGAGING ALL LEARNERS—KINDERGARTEN THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL AND BEYOND
and highly-collaborative district. Stakeholders wanted a tool
that was media rich, supported mobile usage, and better
facilitated online collaboration among teachers and students.
THE DECISION • • •
In early 2012, Naperville’s Director of Instructional Technology,
John David Son, took matters into his own hands. Aware of
the low usage and high dissatisfaction with the district’s legacy
LMS, Son convened a team of parents, students, and teachers
from the elementary, junior, and high school levels to find a
better LMS. More than 200 people were engaged in the
NAPERVILLE
69%
100%
50%
Intuitive, familiar interface and cool features like audio/video recording credited for quick and comprehensive adoption
OF STUDENTS WERE INTRODUCED TO CANVAS WITHIN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS
OF TEACHERS WERE USING CANVAS WITHIN THREE MONTHS OF THE INITIAL ROLLOUT
200+ENGAGED IN THE LMS REVIEW PROCESS
4xTHE TEACHER ADOPTION RATE WAS FOUR TIMES FASTER THAN EXPECTED
5 5 5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5 5 5
5 5 5 5 5 5 5
USERS
review process, and they began by listing and ranking LMS
requirements. The district then released an RFP, which
yielded responses from ten vendors, including Canvas,
which the district had never seen before.
As one of the top three finalists, Canvas was then piloted
by 20 teachers who tested all three platforms over a
three-month period. Canvas scored highest in the pilot
testing, so the choice was clear.
Naperville began its Canvas rollout during the 2012-2013
school year. As part of a two-phase implementation
process, the district maintained its legacy system
throughout the year, which allowed teachers to begin
using Canvas at their own pace. Son and his team
anticipated that 50-60 percent of teachers would make
the switch to Canvas by the end of the first year, but in
less than three months, 50 percent of teachers were
already using Canvas to deliver materials to more than
12,000 students.
THE RESULT • • •
All students and teachers across Naperville now use
Canvas as part of their everyday teaching and learning.
“It’s a tool that is highly intuitive for our young learners,
and has the features they need to collaborate and
communicate,” says Son. “And for our oldest learners, it
provides the rich features that they’re looking for—the
media components and real-time collaborations. It really
prepares them for the tools they’re going to use when
they leave our school district.”
Research shows that younger learners absorb information
more quickly than older learners. This is just one of the
many reasons why the district opted to implement
Canvas as a K-12 solution. “‘Canvas is awesome,’
according to my students,” says Janet Park, 1st grade
teacher at Elmwood Elementary School. “With the touch
of a button, they are able to navigate through the whole
site …. It has been transformational.”
In junior high and middle school, Canvas is even more
deeply integrated into daily learning. According to 7th
grade science teacher Josh Louis, “My students access
materials on Canvas every day, and throughout the
lesson they’re responding via quiz or discussion. There’s
always an opportunity for them to interact with the tool
and each other.”
And since Canvas is the only LMS that provides a true
K-20 solution, helping students become Canvas-savvy
early on allows them to build a foundation that will carry
them throughout their entire educational careers—not just
a few grade levels. As Son says, “We have the best
solution for our environment, and we’ll use that to teach
our students how to navigate online learning so that
wherever they go next they’ll be successful.”
Canvas also helps parents stay connected. They can
customize notifications preferences, which mean they
decide how and how often they want to be alerted about
their child’s assignments, activities, and performance.
“With Canvas, parents have a window into their child’s
classroom,” says Park. “They can see all the wonderful
things [their children] are doing.”
Canvas has become an integral part of Naperville’s
present and future success. According to Son, “It’s a tool
that allows us to provide innovative and unique learning
opportunities for all of our students in a personalized way
that prepares them for life beyond district 203.”
www.canvaslms.com • 800.203.6755
Naperville And Canvas • • •
Copyright © 2014, Instructure, Inc. All rights reserved. Instructure, Canvas and their respective logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Instructure, Inc. Other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others. Instructure makes no warranty for the use of the information herein and assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear.
THE CHALLENGE • • •
Serving more than 17,500 K-12 students, Naperville
Community Unit School District 203 is a high-performing
suburban district just outside Chicago. In 2012, the district
identified the need for a learning management system that
was simple enough for kindergarteners, powerful enough
for high school seniors, and flexible enough for every
student in between.
At the time, Naperville was using an LMS that hadn’t been
updated in more than five years and its limitations were
starting to hinder the progress of this technically innovative
and highly-collaborative district. Stakeholders wanted a tool
that was media rich, supported mobile usage, and better
facilitated online collaboration among teachers and students.
THE DECISION • • •
In early 2012, Naperville’s Director of Instructional Technology,
John David Son, took matters into his own hands. Aware of
the low usage and high dissatisfaction with the district’s legacy
LMS, Son convened a team of parents, students, and teachers
from the elementary, junior, and high school levels to find a
better LMS. More than 200 people were engaged in the
JOHN DAVID SON, Director of Instructional Technology, Naperville Community Unit School District 203
Canvas is a tool that works for everyone—from our youngest learners to our seniors in high school ... it's highly intuitive and has the features they need to collaborate and communicate.