Dr. Erin Bailey recently earned a Bronze Award for 'Canvas in a Flash’ from Kent State University’s Center for Training and Learning (CTL). The award signifies her successful completion of the Canvas in a Flash course and her demonstration of familiarity in using the Canvas online platform.
Dr. Bailey is an Associate Professor of Biology at the Geauga Campus and Twinsburg Academic Center, where she teaches courses in Human Biology, Biological Foundations, Foundational Anatomy and Physiology I & II, and Immunology. 
“Winning this award means that I completed an online course that included various assessments that made sure I understood the practices of using Canvas as a learning management system,” says Dr. Bailey.
Kent State University’s CTL exists to provide opportunities, leadership and support for faculty members to grow in their scholarly and professional endeavors. Its long-term aim is to support community members in the process of creating, transforming, and maintaining Kent State University’s environments for learning as spaces where all students can succeed.
CTL provides Canvas in a Flash, a self-paced training experience for faculty members seeking professional development, including the acquisition of skills to design, build and teach online courses.
Having earned a B.S. and M.S. in Biology from Youngstown State University, Dr. Bailey then earned her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Kent State University. After postdoctoral work with the Department of Immunology at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Department of Pathology at Case Western University, Dr. Bailey taught at Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown. She joined the faculty of the Biology Department at Kent State University’s Geauga Campus, teaching at the Twinsburg Academic Center since 2012.
Dr. Bailey used Canvas’ student-centric training to propel her teaching objectives. “The student comes first,” she explains.
“I want students to have the best learning experience possible when they are in my class. Therefore, I was excited to take this Canvas in a Flash course as a student, giving me a new perspective of the learning management system. I was able to experience navigating through a course, learning new material, and uploading assignments. By performing these tasks, I saw what possible issues the students might encounter while in Canvas. Knowing the questions students might have using Canvas helped me design my courses better so that the students would not have as many problems while taking the class.”
This award reflects Dr. Bailey’s sense of professional development and personal achievement. “I strive to learn new things every day,” she says.
“It is nice to receive recognition from your workplace when you are continuing to better yourself to help others. And by completing this course, I learned various teaching techniques to implement in my classes to help my students succeed in class. I plan to continue acquiring new educational skills that can be applied to future teaching awards from KSU’s Center of Teaching and Learning.”