We did it!

It has been a busy time these past few years transitioning Cuyamaca College to the Canvas Learning Management System. But we all did it!

Three years ago, a small district-wide group called the LMS Working Group, led by Kerry Kilber Rebman, began meeting to help guide the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District (GCCCD)  through the process of deciding whether or not we would move to Canvas, and once that was decided, how to implement it.

Rebman's effective leadership throughout this process brought together the right people at the right times to figure out how to make this huge transition as a district. I appreciate the time and thought given to this project by the many people who helped, starting with the Academic Senate leaders at the time: Tate Hurvitz and Alicia Munoz who ensured faculty were well-informed and kept the vote on schedule.

In August of 2016, Cuyamaca College created the first Distance Education Coordinator position for our college with .4 release time. Jodi Reed did a great job establishing this position and kept faculty on schedule for receiving training. And of course, this could not have been possible without the hundreds of faculty who took the time and effort to learn Canvas and transition their courses from Blackboard to Canvas. Thank you for your perseverance!

This project was finished on schedule and by all reports is a resounding success for students and faculty alike. Nearly every day, as I walk around campus, someone stops me to tell me that at first, it was hard, but now they love Canvas. Growth mindset really does work!

That's what Cuyamaca College is all about these days. We all dug down deep and did  the hard work to get to the other side of a steep learning curve. Teachers got a good reminder of just how hard it is to learn something new, and how it takes grit and determination to get through to the other side of a tough class or project.

One of the best decisions we made was to give stipends for Canvas mentors from each division to help faculty through this process. My gratitude goes out to our mentors for their contributions to the success of this adventure.

There are many others who helped, and I am deeply grateful for all of you who took this journey with me.

I plan to begin posting to this blog regularly again. Now that the major Canvas learning curve has been traversed, it is time to continue the journey with short snippets of information, and no assignments or due dates! I call this type of professional development, "trickle training." Through this blog, I will begin posting Canvas tips, tricks, news, timely reminders, and other helpful information for teachers approximately once per week.

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