Canvas, dubbed ‘The Hub’ by the Educational Technology Committee, will replace Moodle and course materials on the school and departmental websites this year.

Students can visit The Hub at hub.hw.com or via the Harvard-Westlake website.

With The Hub, teachers will be able to reduce the administrative workload in their courses and students will be able to find their class assignments.

“Over time, I think the Hub has the potential to be more integrated into how courses are taught,” Director of Studies Liz Resnick said. “For instance, students may be asked to do some work at home, watch a video or read some material, and then contribute to an online conversation with your classmates and teachers.”

While every teacher is expected to have class policies and assignments posted on The Hub, others will also utilize the site’s grading, collaborative, and more intricate functions.

Science teacher Hillary Ethe plans on using The Hub extensively for the Advanced Placement Environmental Science course.

“As the year goes on and we become more familiar with The Hub’s more complicated capabilities, I hope to experiment with the conferencing tools to possibly talk with students and teachers at other schools,” Ethe said.

Technology Integration Specialist Jennifer Lamkins conducted official faculty training on Aug. 30 and 31.

After considering suggestions from both teachers and students, the Educational Technology Committee decided on the name ‘The Hub’ in a meeting last May.

“We wanted a name for the school’s new learning management system to be unique to Harvard-Westlake,” Educational Technology Committee Chair Jeffrey Snapp said. “It’s a blend of how some people call our school ‘H-dub’,  and it also creates the visual of being the center of a complex network. Deeper use of this exciting tool will develop as teachers see its benefits and students begin to share experiences from other classes. We will all learn from each other.”