Did you know you could vote on new Canvas features?

Every day, university support staff and faculty talk about the technology they use, especially CarmenCanvas. Exchanges cover quirks of the system, changes, unknown functionalities and often wish lists of how the university community would like to see the system adapt or develop. Until now, faculty have not had a way to communicate directly with the people building the technology that supports their teaching. 
 
With our adoption of the Canvas LMS from Instructure, users now have a forum to engage directly with the makers of the platform as well as peer users to propose new ideas, suggest improvements, give feedback and help promote ideas that would add to the efficiency, accessibility and creativity of the tool. This forum is called the Canvas Community, where instructors can search for answers on technical or pedagogical inquiries, ask questions to solicit feedback from other others and suggest ideas for additional features and fixes. Canvas users can also vote on these ideas, which helps Instructure prioritize updates to the tool.
 
Your voice really does make a difference. According to Instructure,

"In the past two years, 95% of releases have included features originally suggested and voted on by the Community."

Faculty also have a desire to learn more about how their peers within the discipline or across the country are doing the same work, and the Community is an excellent place to connect with other professors and instructors in your field who are teaching with the same tools. You can troubleshoot, ask questions, see models and examples and often enrich your knowledge of the pedagogical side of the technology. A good place to start learning how others are using Canvas is the Higher Education Group within the Community.
 

Be sure to explore the Canvas Community and take the time to vote on ideas. You have the power to shape the tool for Ohio State faculty and beyond!