Bay Path College Launches on Canvas Network its First MOOC to Enrich Women's Leadership Conference

LONGMEADOW, Mass., April 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bay Path College is pleased to announce the launch of "Advancing Women's Leadership Series: Own Your Story," a massive open online course (MOOC) on Instructure's Canvas Network that will serve as a companion piece to Bay Path's upcoming Women's Leadership Conference. Delivered by The American Women's College at Bay Path — the first fully online accelerated degree program only for women — the MOOC dovetails with the event, which will feature journalist Lara Setrakian, New York Times Columnist Bruce Feiler and the iconic Barbara Walters.

The Women's Leadership MOOC by Bay Path owns the distinction of becoming not only Bay Path College's first MOOC but also the first-ever MOOC tied to a conference. As such, it revolves around the conference theme, "Own Your Story," supplementing the proceedings at the April 25 event at MassMutal Center in Springfield, Mass. The free, three-week MOOC, which begins the same day as the conference and runs through May 15, will be hosted on Canvas Network, an online platform provided by learning technology company Instructure.

Focused on adult women but open to all, this unique course allows participants to document privately, and to share if they wish, the meaningful stories that have been passed down to them and the stories of experiences that participants have lived. The hope is that each participant will draw new meaning and strength from this process.

"Stories can do so much for us, including teach, inform and inspire," states Bay Path President Carol Leary, who will also teach in the MOOC. "Finding our story — whether it's personal, a family or a business — is very enlightening. It helps us own and come to terms with the past and the present, enabling the future to be that more rewarding."

President Leary will be joined by seven other leaders who will be guest faculty in the MOOC, including educator and author Erin Gruwell and nationally-known wealth coach and financial advisor Deborah Owens. Highly interactive, the course will draw on video and text and focus on five distinct areas: education, spirituality, community, family and wellness. Additional information can be found on http://www.baypathconference.com.

About Bay Path College
Bay Path is a four-year private college with an enrollment of over 2,400 students at its Longmeadow campus and satellite campuses in Sturbridge (MA) and Burlington (MA). The College offers undergraduate degrees for women; graduate degrees for men and women on campus and online; and the American Women's College offering accelerated degrees programs for adult women—online or on campus through its One-Day-A-Week Saturday program. Through its programs and campuses, the College is united in its mission to propel students into careers that not only change lives, but also contribute to the well-being of all of us.

About Instructure
Canvas is the learning management system by Instructure that gets used. Why? Because it's easy to implement and easy to learn, so it makes teaching and learning easier. In addition to the Canvas LMS, Instructure provides Canvas Network, an index of open, online courses taught by educators everywhere. To keep learning, visit www.instructure.com.

Contacts:
Kathy Wroblewski, Director of Communications
(413) 565-1233 | [email protected]
www.baypath.edu

Devin Knighton, Director of Public Relations at Instructure
(801) 722-8187 | [email protected]
Twitter: @devinknighton | www.instructure.com

Copyright © 2014, Instructure, Inc. All rights reserved. Instructure, Canvas and their respective logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Instructure, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others.

SOURCE Instructure; Bay Path College