Canvas Network Announces Minecraft MOOCs and App in a Suite of 15 MOOCs for K-12 Teachers, Students and Parents

-- App allows teachers to link Minecraft accounts to Canvas to automatically sync in-game actions with grades and assignments in Canvas

-- New suite also includes a MOOC with NASA for students and a Maker Movement MOOC for teachers

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Learning technology company Instructure, the creator of the Canvas learning management system for K-12 and higher education, today announced a major new experiment in K-12 learning by unveiling a suite of more than 15 MOOCs for teachers, students and even parents on its Canvas Network platform. The most ambitious collection of K-12 MOOCs to date, the suite includes two Minecraft MOOCs that aim to help teachers leverage gamification best practices in the classroom. Enrollment is free and open for registration for anyone in the world at canvas.net.

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"Even young kids have gotten very adept at Minecraft, so it can be quite intimidating for teachers," said Jason Schmidt, an instructional technologist for Bennington Public Schools who will teach the four-week MinecraftEdu MOOC. "If I can help get teachers over that hump, imagine how delighted students will be to have a learning environment tailored to their interests for a change."

Instructure is also releasing a Minecraft app for Canvas, which allows students to link their Minecraft account to Canvas and use in-game actions to submit assignments. For instance, students can tag locations of their creations for teachers to visit and explore. Contents of books students write in Minecraft will automatically be loaded into the Canvas SpeedGrader. Teachers can even use Redstone, Minecraft's in-game circuitry tool, to create automatically graded assignments.

"MOOCs have the power to tear down walls and bring our brightest contemporaries together," said Melissa Loble, senior director of Canvas Network at Instructure. "Through Minecraft and other engaging forums, we want to help teachers and students come together to advance education everywhere."

With courses ranging from a Mars mission simulator as taught by NASA to a DIY-focused course that teaches fabrication and circuitry to budding makers, the free Canvas Network offerings bring the power and versatility of online learning to the classroom as well as the home. To this end, Noblesville School District is teaching Canvas Network's first-ever MOOC designed for parents, titled, "Parenting in the Digital Age."

"Parental involvement in K-12 education has one of the biggest impacts on a child's commitment to learning," said Jared Stein, vice president of Research and Education at Instructure. "We're launching the industry's first-ever MOOC for parents to help them understand education in a digital world."

Instructure sought partnering institutions that could help demonstrate the full potential of open online learning. It has already seen notable success with creative approaches to education. Last year, it partnered with the University of California, Irvine and AMC to produce a MOOC based on the hit TV show "The Walking Dead." This course attracted more than 65,000 users around the world.

In total, seven MOOCs for teachers are launching on Canvas Network today, including:

1. Digital Literacies 1
2. Digital Literacies 2
3. Five Habits of Highly Effective Teachers
4. Getting Started with MinecraftEDU
5. Minecraft for Educators
6. Teachers without Borders: Educating Girls
7. Tinker, Make and Learn

In addition, seven MOOCs for students will launch on Canvas Network, including:

1. College Foundations: Reading, Writing, and Math
2. First Peoples to the Early Republic: Born in Colonialism
3. Google Ninja
4. NASA Space Center Houston's "Mars: The Next Frontier"
5. The Civil War Era
6. The Gilded Age to the Roaring Twenties
7. The Great Depression to the War on Terror

About Canvas Network

Canvas Network offers open, online courses taught by educators everywhere. Powered by the Canvas learning management system, Canvas Network provides a place and platform where teachers, students and institutions worldwide can connect and chart their own course for personal growth, professional development and academic inquiry. Canvas Network is developed and supported by Instructure, an education technology company that partners with educators, institutions, and technologists to build open educational resources and break down barriers to learning.

To learn more or to enroll in any of the new K-12 MOOCs, visit canvas.net.

About Instructure

Instructure, Inc. developed the Canvas learning management system to make teaching and learning easier for everyone, everywhere. Canvas empowers learning in every context with open, usable SaaS technologies. And through Canvas Network, Instructure provides a cloud platform where teachers, learners and institutions worldwide can connect and chart their own course for personal growth, professional development and academic inquiry. Learn more at www.instructure.com.

Contacts

Devin Knighton, Director of Public Relations at Instructure 
(801) 722-8187 | devin@instructure.com 
Twitter: @devinknighton | www.instructure.com 

Matt Reichman, Method Communications
(801) 461-9778 | matt@methodcommunications.com

Copyright © 2014, Instructure, Inc. All rights reserved. Instructure, Canvas and their respective logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Instructure, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others.