Recently, our team traveled to Springfield, Missouri, to host a Customer Discovery Session with fully online K-12 administrators, educators, and students. The event brought together Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (VLLA) leaders from across the country, along with teachers and students, for three concurrent, full-day sessions.
These in-person conversations are invaluable, they give us a direct window into the realities of teaching and learning in fully online environments and help ensure the solutions we build are grounded in real needs.
Throughout the day, participants shared candid feedback on emerging challenges, evolving expectations, and opportunities for innovation. Below are the key themes that came out of this session that will help us shape how we think about the future of teaching and learning.
Navigating AI in Schools: Balancing Innovation with Responsibility
Across both administrator and teacher sessions, AI sparked thoughtful and sometimes cautious discussion. While there is clear interest in the potential of AI to support instruction and efficiency, it is accompanied by real concern.
Educators and administrators raised the issue of student over-reliance on AI and the risk that students may bypass critical thinking and foundational skill development.
From a district and school leadership perspective, moving forward with AI requires strong guardrails. Administrators emphasized the need for:
- Transparency in AI models, including clarity around instructional philosophy and data sources
- Granular control, with the ability to enable or disable AI features at the district, sub-account, and even course level, for example restricting AI use in courses like AP English
- Flexibility at the student level, allowing for more individualized control where needed
- Customization, allowing districts to align AI tools with their own standards and curriculum
Teachers echoed these concerns while also highlighting the potential for AI to reduce workload and support differentiation when implemented thoughtfully.
Elevating the Instructor Experience in Fully Online Learning
In dedicated teacher sessions, instructors shared a clear message. Their ability to effectively teach in a fully online environment depends on tools that are intuitive, efficient, and designed to support real instructional workflows.
Teachers emphasized the need to:
- Reduce friction in day-to-day tasks such as content creation, grading, and communication
- Maintain visibility into student progress without navigating multiple tools or disconnected workflows
- Quickly adapt instruction based on student needs, especially in asynchronous environments
- Balance new capabilities, like AI, with maintaining instructional integrity and rigor
Instructors also highlighted the importance of time. Any new feature or workflow must ultimately help them reclaim time for instruction, feedback, and student support rather than add complexity.
This feedback reinforces a critical priority: designing experiences that not only meet administrative requirements and student expectations, but also meaningfully support the realities of teaching online.
Improving Feature Rollouts Through Transparency and Control
This theme was driven primarily by administrators, who shared the challenges of managing product updates across schools, especially during the academic year.
Many described learning about new features reactively, without enough context or time to plan for implementation. As product development becomes more iterative, there is a growing need for clearer communication and more direct control.
One concept that strongly resonated was a feature management experience within Canvas, where administrators could:
- Preview upcoming features
- Enable or disable functionality based on district readiness
- Access implementation guidance in context
This feedback underscores the importance of transparent roadmaps and in-product communication, helping districts adopt new capabilities with confidence and minimal disruption.
Designing the Learner Experience: Admin Structure Meets Student Voice
Conversations about the learner experience highlighted important differences and alignment between administrator priorities and student needs.
From the administrator sessions, there was a strong desire to create a consistent and safe experience for students. This included the ability to:
- Lock essential widgets like Coursework and Announcements
- Limit or remove features such as People to reduce opportunities for misuse or cyberbullying
Teachers reinforced the importance of clarity and simplicity for students, especially when introducing new tools or workflows.
In student sessions, learners shared a different but equally important perspective. Many described the platform as overwhelming at first and expressed a strong desire for greater personalization and usability improvements.
Students specifically asked for:
- Dark mode to reduce eye strain
- More control over layout and visual preferences
- A simpler and more intuitive starting experience
When introduced to the idea of a chat-based or AI-first interface, students were clear. They prefer fast, direct navigation over conversational interactions, noting that clicking is quicker and more efficient than typing.
Together, these perspectives highlight the need to balance structured, admin-defined experiences with flexible, student-centered design.
Looking Ahead
By engaging separately with administrators, teachers, and students, the Springfield CDS provided a comprehensive view of the online K-12 experience and revealed both shared priorities and unique needs across roles.
From responsible AI adoption to improved feature management and more personalized learner experiences, these insights will directly shape how we evolve our products.
We are grateful to everyone who participated and shared their perspectives. These conversations are essential as we continue building solutions that support educators, empower students, and adapt to the realities of today’s classrooms.
