Case Studies

A Canvas learning environment for Santa Clara University's online Master's in Teaching

Written by Curio Group | Aug 10, 2026, 9:00:00 AM

The challenge

Santa Clara's School of Education was preparing to launch an online teaching degree expected to match the quality and identity of its on-campus experience. The program also needed to support reflective practice required by California accreditation.

A standard Canvas implementation could host the course material, but it couldn't by itself provide the coherent program environment or reflective portfolio experience the degree required.

The approach

Curio engaged senior stakeholders to understand the program, brand, technology environment and accreditation context. The team created a customised Canvas template and integrated Learning Journal into the existing technology stack so students could reflect, annotate and build evidence over time without leaving the learning environment.

What Curio delivered

  • Stakeholder discovery and requirements definition
  • A Santa Clara-branded Canvas program template
  • Consistent course structures and interaction patterns
  • Learning Journal integration within Canvas
  • Reflective annotation and portfolio functionality
  • Technical alignment with the University's existing systems
  • Delivery ahead of the Fall 2023 launch

The result

Santa Clara entered launch with an online learning environment designed for the identity and pedagogical requirements of the program, including an embedded way for students to develop reflective evidence throughout their study.