Major product innovations for
the Instructure Learning Ecosystem support the lifelong
learning journey with a focus on AI and enhancements to insights
and edtech effectiveness
SALT
LAKE CITY, July 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/
-- Instructure, the leading learning ecosystem, announced
major AI innovations, partnerships and significant core LMS
enhancements to increase educator efficiency and improve student
success at its annual InstructureCon conference. Product innovation
is focused on key areas: AI, insights, edtech effectiveness and the
lifelong learning journey. The company also announced the launch of
a standalone product, Instructure Intelligent Insights.
From responsible integration of AI tools that enhance learning
through personal connection to a more cohesive user experience with
Canvas serving as the hub of all teaching and learning, the
innovation announced by Instructure is designed to power a lifelong
learning journey and turn education into opportunities. At
InstructureCon 2024, new AI product announcements included features
developed directly within Instructure products, a number of
well-tested partner integrations, including Khan Academy's Khanmigo
Teacher Tools and updates that enable partners to develop
context-aware AI experiences within Canvas.
"We're excited to announce substantive innovations to the
Instructure Learning Ecosystem, with a strong focus on Canvas built
in close partnership with our customers," said Shiren Vijiasingam,
Instructure's Chief Product Officer. "We started with equitability
in mind, addressing use cases that would help create a more level
playing field for all learners while honoring the expertise of the
educator."
A Rich Landscape of AI Content Generation
Instructure
leverages internally developed tools and those of its network of
over 1,000 partners to help educators harness the power of AI. One
such area is AI-assisted content generation, with an ever-growing
landscape of available tools. One way the company will meet the
rapidly growing educator demand for AI-assisted content generation
is by announcing the upcoming availability of a Canvas integration
with a teacher favorite, Khanmigo Teacher Tools.
- Khan Academy: Khanmigo Teacher Tools
Instructure
announced the seamless integration of Khanmigo Teacher Tools,
directly within Canvas and available later this year for all
customers in the United States.
Khanmigo simplifies AI for teachers and generates high-quality,
trustworthy outputs they can modify and co-edit with AI support.
This integration includes access to over 20 tools in Canvas—helping
educators plan lessons, generate questions, draft newsletters,
write letters of recommendation, prep substitutes and more. By
accessing Khanmigo from Canvas, educators can smoothly transition
between planning, grading and student communication all within
Canvas.
Updates to Move AI Beyond Content Generation
Beyond content generation, Instructure also announced holistic
updates that go even further in supporting institutions by
partnering with them to develop their AI policies and plans,
accelerate teaching and learning practices and implement their own
transformative AI solutions. The company is making its new AI tools
freely available for Canvas customers and working with AWS to
safely, securely and efficiently scale to its community of tens of
millions of educators and learners at more than 7,000 organizations
around the world.
"With the LMS at the center of teaching and learning,
Instructure is uniquely positioned to support institutions on their
full AI journey," said Vijiasingam. "Not only can we connect our
customers with a vast ecosystem of integrated content and
efficiency tools, but we can also accelerate key learning
experience workflows and help them transform to a future where AI
is a core part of everything they do."
Tools that Prepare Institutions to Adopt AI
- Nutrition Facts
Instructure has published "AI
nutrition fact" labels on all first- and third-party AI tools that
integrate with its products, providing an unprecedented level of
transparency into the LLMs and data policies of the tools in use.
Nutrition facts on third-party AI tools are available on the
Emerging AI Marketplace, giving institutions greater
decision-making capability in service of safe technology use.
- LTI Certification
With the upcoming launch of
the Instructure Certified LTI Apps program, Instructure
announced its plans to enable integration partners to set
themselves apart, meet integration best practices–including those
for AI data privacy–and provide safe, seamless experiences with
tools inside of Canvas.
AI Tools that Scale and Enhance Teaching and Learning
- Discussion Summaries
Educators can create customizable summaries of long and complex
discussion threads, a feature especially useful for large-format
classrooms.
- Translation of Inbox Messages and Discussions
Educators can leverage real-time, context-sensitive translation of
content across 100 languages, an ideal feature for students who may
not speak the language of instruction or for students who aren't
fluent in the course language.
- Smart Search
Smart Search allows users to search
across Canvas course content while returning results that recognize
the relationship between concepts—for example, searching for
"guitar" will return results about violins because they're both
stringed instruments.
Tools that Enable Institutions to Adopt and Create Their Own
AI Solutions
- Smart Search API
The Smart Search API vectorizes
Canvas course content so that LLMs or third-party AI tools have the
context they need to produce more relevant results. This API, the
first of its kind in an LMS, is now available to customers and
partners.
- Institutional LLM-powered Features
Instructors should
have the flexibility to select the best tools for their
instructional needs, so Instructure supports a seamless and safe
experience as institutions integrate Canvas with their own LLMs.
Instructure already enables several institution-driven self-hosted
AI deployments, extending deeply embedded AI experiences within
Canvas.
- Enhancing seamless AI assistant experiences in
Canvas
A new top navigation placement and postMessage API now allow
students to interact with AI Assistants directly within their
course content, without leaving their learning environment.
Intelligent Insights Product Launch
Instructure
announced the launch of Intelligent Insights, which leverages
AI and analytics to help educators make data-informed decisions
that improve teaching and learning outcomes. With this new product,
educators get insights about students in need of attention, course
readiness, LTI usage and more. They can also use Ask Your Data, a
conversational AI feature, to ask and answer questions in natural
language.
Core Teaching & Learning Innovation
Instructure
developed a customer innovation program to drive a series of
improvements to the Canvas experience. Over 60 product enhancements
resulted, including improvements to everyday educator workflows, an
optimized feedback loop, increased personalization and streamlined
communication within Canvas LMS. In addition, new features will be
available throughout the year including:
- Block Editor
Currently in Beta, Block Editor includes
a drag-and-drop editor interface for easy content creation and is
free for all Canvas users.
- Selective Release of Modules
Educators can
differentiate instruction and personalize learning content for
students through the release of modules to individuals and
sections.
- Canvas Rubric Enhancements
Canvas rubric enhancements pair a cleaner user interface with
easier workflows for creation and marking, facilitating consistency
and fair evaluation. The company plans to release student
self-assessment capabilities by the end of the year.
- Discussion Checkpoints
Students can engage in deeper,
more meaningful discussions with classmates with clear checkpoints
to guide their way.
Product Updates to Support EdTech
Effectiveness
Education leaders need insights and tools to
optimize edtech efficiency, adoption and impact, both within and
outside the LMS. These new features will help institutions engage
with the Instructure partner network and take full advantage of the
openness and extensibility of Canvas:
- EdTech Collective Marketplace
This public-facing
Instructure EdTech Collective partner product directory will allow
users to search for Canvas-integrated tools by relevant criteria
including grade levels, subject and more. Listings for each product
will include basic overviews plus important information about LTI
configuration.
- Canvas Apps Page
This
central hub for LTI tool discovery and management will increase
administrator efficiency and power informed edtech decision-making
inside of Canvas. It includes comprehensive partner listings,
recommendations and LTI configuration resources to help elevate the
most effective tools as well as a streamlined LTI installation and
management experience.
- Expanded LTI Tool Usage Data and Analytics for Impact
Customers
By bringing LTI usage data into Impact,
administrators will have access to actionable insights that help
them drive engagement and best practices based on an understanding
of how LTI tools are being used. Administrators can seamlessly
launch campaigns within Impact to better support educators and
students and get the most out of their edtech tools.
Supporting the Lifelong Learner Journey: Portfolio and
Journey
Instructure announced its vision for the lifelong
learning experience, which includes an Integrated LMS, Portfolio,
Credentialing and Journey (Learner Record). Instructure has been
building this through the additions of Portfolium, Concentric Sky,
Parchment and Scribbles. The company is continuing to invest in a
new lifelong learning experience by bringing together portfolios
and credentials into one learner view. This will enable
achievements to be housed and ultimately recognized by institutions
and employers.
- Canvas Catalog - Enterprise Storefront
Instructure is investing in Canvas Catalog to make lifelong
learning initiatives more scalable and interoperable with customer
CRMs, with Salesforce as its premier partner in this space. With
user-defined fields designed to help identify monetization
opportunities, institutions can better optimize course
offerings.
- Credentials - Industry Standards
Alignment
Instructure also reinforced its continued
investment in standards alignment as it creates digital
credentials. In the digital credentialing world, interoperability
and compliance with industry standards will bolster scalability,
security, privacy and validity. Instructure products will adhere to
OB 3.0 and CLR 2.0 standards.
- Scaling Credentials Programs
Institutions need to
scale credentialing programs across a wide range of courses and
programs to better meet emerging learner needs. Instructure
announced features to deliver more flexible, personalized lifelong
learning experiences, including accessible pathways, removed badge
requirements and removed course copy and blueprint.
- Mastery View College Prep Assessments
Institutions
will save time and money otherwise spent on scanning, grading and
printing by administering Mastery View College Prep Assessments
online. Assessment item banks are immediately available for
purchase separately as add-ons to Mastery Connect. Digital college
readiness assessments are also now available, helping students
prepare for high-stakes tests, such as the ACT, as they move to an
online format.
The InstructureCon 2024 event takes place from July 9 to July 11 at the Venetian Resort in
Las Vegas. It features prominent
keynotes from Jimmy Chin,
Mary Murphy and Dr. Jordan Nguyen and addresses some of the most
impactful edtech trends and how to adapt to the modern learner
journey. With over 260 sessions to choose from, attendees will
learn classroom-tested best practices, dive into the latest
innovation and collaborate with other Instructure community members
focused on driving student success.
For more information about InstructureCon, check out the
Frequently Asked Questions page and the event agenda.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act").
Forward-looking statements are based on our management's beliefs
and assumptions and on information currently available to our
management. All statements other than statements of historical
facts are "forward-looking statements" for purposes of these
provisions, including those relating to future events or our future
financial performance and financial guidance. In some cases, you
can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as
"may," "might," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate,"
"project," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "intend,"
or "continued," the negative of terms like these or other
comparable terminology, and other words or terms of similar meaning
in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial
performance. These statements are only predictions. You should not
place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject
to future events, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond
our control, or currently unknown to us. Our assumptions may turn
out to be inaccurate and cause actual events or results to differ
materially from our expectation or projections. We discuss many of
these risks, uncertainties and other factors in greater detail in
the Company's annual report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 21, 2024 and as may be described from
time to time in future reports we file with the SEC. All
forward-looking statements included in this press release are based
on information available to us on the date hereof, and we expressly
disclaim any obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements, except as required by law.
ABOUT INSTRUCTURE
Instructure (NYSE: INST) powers the delivery of education
globally and provides learners with the rich credentials they need
to create opportunities across their lifetimes. Today, the
Instructure ecosystem of products enables educators and
institutions to elevate student success, amplify the power of
teaching, and inspire everyone to learn together. With our global
network of learners, educators, partners and customers, we continue
to deliver on our vision to be the platform that powers learning
for a lifetime and turns that learning into opportunities. We
encourage you to discover more at www.instructure.com.
CONTACT:
Brian
Watkins
Corporate Communications
Instructure
(801) 658-7525
brian.watkins@instructure.com
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SOURCE Instructure