Blue Devil Portal debuts on Canvas

By Genna Olavarri,

BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–

The Blue Devil Portal was recently added to Davis High students’ library of courses on Canvas. 

While the portal is still “under construction,” it currently provides students with links to different pages on the DHS website, such as the athletics and library pages. School announcements and the videos and surveys from past advisory periods can also be found in the portal. “[It is] kind of a one-stop shop,” said Bruce Cummings, teacher librarian and Canvas manager for DHS.

The online learning platform Canvas has effectively replaced School Loop, a grading and communication system that was previously used districtwide. “The Blue Devil Portal kind of duplicates that communication function in School Loop,” Cummings said. 

Beau Runyan, the Davis Joint Unified School District instructional technology specialist, modeled the portal template after the “homerooms” that Davis School for Independent Study had been using on another learning management system. “Their idea has basically been adapted to all of DJUSD,” Runyan said.

Students can currently comment on announcements and may be able to contribute to schoolwide discussion boards in the future. “So if you want to post something to the school to say ‘hey, I’m having an issue with this, can you help me?’ […] you might be able to use it like that as well,” Runyan said.