Educational software firm Instructure is set to launch a
new network that will make it possible for colleges and universities of any size
to get into the open online course game that has been limited to elite
universities to this point. Canvas Network will debut in January, with schools ranging from Brown University, Providence,
RI, to Scottsdale Community College, Scottsdale, AZ, already accepting students
for the program.
Instructors, given free rein on how the course is set
up, can use the same platform institutions provide for students of
tuition-based courses. Registration is open to anyone with Internet access.
“Canvas Network enables us and other participating
institutions to decide the way we want to structure our courses,” said Joel
Hartman, vice provost and chief information officer at the University of
Central Florida, in an article for eCampus News.
More than 20 free courses are being offered in topics
ranging from art appreciation to Gender Through Comic Books, offered by Ball
State University and facilitated by Spider-Man creator Stan Lee.
“Hundreds of institutions already use Canvas to teach
tens of thousands of courses,” said Instructure CEO Josh Coates. “Today, we’re
enabling the institutions to make these courses open to the public through the
Canvas Network.”