During D2L Launch Week, we explored how D2L’s latest product releases and services can help educational institutions, organisations and associations create better learning experiences. Day one focused on higher education and K-12, with a closer look at D2L Brightspace, D2L Createspace and D2L Lumi. Day two focused on corporate learning and associations, and day three brought together D2L thought leaders and customers to discuss AI in learning.
Read on for highlights from the higher education and K-12 session and the thought leader and customer panel. You can also watch the on-demand recordings.
New product innovation. Real customer impact.
D2L Launch Week
Learn more about and how you can deliver better teaching, learning and workforce development experiences.
Highlights from day one: The future of teaching and learning
This session explored how new capabilities in Brightspace, D2L Createspace and D2L Lumi can support educators and learners across higher education and K-12. Presenters shared product updates and examples of how Learning Services can help institutions put the tools into practice. We also heard from Dr. Tony Sovak of Pima Community College about using Brightspace and D2L Lumi to support learners and make teaching more responsive.
Reducing friction with Brightspace Core
Alka Saxena-Lewis, the session’s host and Director, Product Marketing at D2L, kicked off the discussion by highlighting some of the changes that are helping to make Brightspace easier to use and manage:
- For learners, the Work To Do widget and clearer module completion status are making it easier to see what needs attention.
- For administrators, being able to bulk edit groups and leverage improved content workflows are simplifying everyday tasks.
Saxena-Lewis also brought up some of the updates that are making Brightspace more connected and flexible. Callouts of note included enhancements to Grades and Rubrics APIs, LTI, and the content experience as well as accessibility improvements in Brightspace Editor, additional language packs, and greater visibility into space usage in Analytics Builder.
Together, these releases are about helping reduce the friction you have with your learning delivery so Brightspace can work better for faculty, administrators, students and your broader learning ecosystem.Alka Saxena-Lewis Director, Product Marketing, D2L
Making learning content easier to create and reuse
Presenters explored how D2L Createspace can help educators and instructional designers create, organise and reuse content across courses. Its shared workspace brings together a content library for reusable modules and pages, an asset library for files such as images and videos, and tools for collaboration and course deployment. Teams can update a piece of content and sync changes to any of the Brightspace courses where it’s used.
We see D2L Createspace as a way to introduce a more repeatable workflow over time. Teams can start with the content that makes the most sense—maybe a shared module, a reusable page or a common asset—and gradually build a more consistent approach. Our broader vision is to support the full content lifecycle.Linda Feng Vice President, Product, D2L
Giving learners more ways to practice and get support
After the D2L Createspace demo, presenters turned to D2L Lumi and showed how Lumi Tutor can give learners more varied ways to practice. Its unified study mode can move between text questions and H5P activities based on a learner’s responses and the course content. Learners can review their results and follow citations back to the source material, while administrators can tailor the experience with custom instructions.
Presenters also demonstrated the knowledge bank, a shared place to manage trusted websites, files and FAQs for Lumi Chat and Lumi Tutor. Institutions can choose which sources each tool uses and who can access them, then refresh sources as information changes to ensure learners and staff get answers grounded in the most up-to-date information.
Lastly, Jonathan Holtby, D2L’s Director of Product, D2L Lumi AI, outlined the approach behind Lumi Learner Mode. It’s built to empower learners to develop an AI skillset while minimising the risk of cognitive offloading and allowing for appropriate governance, auditability and review. “Learners optionally engage with it,” said Holtby. “Through the use of active self-reflection in formative AI-generated assessments, we can be more confident that learners are getting guidance on how they should best be learning in the age of AI.”
Putting the tools into practice
Emily Sararas from D2L Learning Services shared examples of how the team helps institutions put D2L Lumi into practice. One institution had outlines, learning objectives, key topics and source material ready but needed to build new courses. The Learning Services team used Lumi Generate to create an initial structure, then Lumi Remix to refine the content. Instructional designers reviewed the work, applied learning design expertise and collaborated with subject matter experts on the final experience.
Start with limited source material, use D2L Lumi to accelerate development, and then layer on human expertise to create the final learning experience.Emily Sararas Senior Director, Learning Services, D2L
Another institution had already enabled Lumi Tutor in its existing courses and wanted to make sure they were getting the most out of the tool. The Learning Services team reviewed those courses, created reusable guidance and sample prompts to show educators and learners when Lumi Tutor could help, and recommended changes to course structure and accessibility so Lumi Tutor tool had clearer information to work with.
Seeing it come to life at Pima Community College
Dr. Tony Sovak, Director of LMS and eLearning Quality at Pima Community College, then shared how Pima uses Lumi Chat in Brightspace to help learners find answers to common questions about courses and college services. The college connected Lumi Chat to sources such as its website, knowledge base and support resources, giving learners a place to start even when their questions involve different departments.
The unproductive friction for them is, ‘Who’s going to own this problem and where do I go to get help?’Dr. Tony Sovak Director of LMS and eLearning Quality, Pima Community College
Sovak also described how he connects in-class and out-of-class learning in a writing course as Pima works toward offering more courses in an eight-week format. He creates short videos in response to questions and ideas from class, then uses H5P Smart Import to make them interactive. Learners take part in collaborative annotation and share brief video notes about their learning. Sovak reviews those responses before the next class and uses them to shape what comes next.
The approach aims to remove logistical barriers while keeping learners engaged with the material. As Sovak put it, “We need to make sure that you still have that productive friction, that you’re still engaging with these ideas and able to respond to them, and that you’re processing them.”
Highlights from day three: A virtual roundtable on AI in learning
Keeping people at the centre of AI adoption
On day three, D2L leaders and customers discussed how institutions can adopt AI responsibly. Panelists recommended starting with a specific problem, reviewing the workflow around it and choosing a high-value area to improve. They also stressed aligning governance with institutional priorities, checking data quality and sources, and deciding how to measure and sustain changes. Involving educators and learners can help keep adoption grounded in real needs.
Start with the problem, not the technology.Kim Loebach Vice President, Professional Services, D2L
Dr. Emma Zone, Senior Director of Academic Affairs at D2L, brought the discussion back to the human relationships at the heart of learning: “Learning is fundamentally a human endeavour that happens in community and it involves trust and it involves relationship.”
The takeaway
Technology is most valuable when it responds to a real learning need and helps educators focus on meaningful work with learners. Reusable content can help institutions keep courses current, while AI can support practice, course development and timely guidance. Throughout, the expertise educators bring to the classroom and the relationships they nurture with learners remain essential.
New product innovation. Real customer impact.
D2L Launch Week
Learn more about and how you can deliver better teaching, learning and workforce development experiences.
