SRM Institute of Science and Technology Online Education

The Challenge

Growing into a world-class institution

SRM Institute of Science and Technology Online Education (SRM Online) is the online education branch of the SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRM IST). Founded in 1985 by Dr. T.R. Paarivendhar, SRM IST is a private-deemed university based in Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu. In line with SRM IST’s vision to become a world-class institution, SRM Online was created to provide accessible and cost-effective education to learners all over the globe and promote lifelong learning.

Today, SRM Online offers over 170 courses, ranging from traditional undergraduate and postgraduate programs to microlearning courses that help busy professionals gain new skills. As the online university grew year on year and launched new courses, its learning management system (LMS) began to suffer from performance issues because it lacked the scalability necessary to support the growing student population.

Furthermore, as the Indian government geared up to transform the educational sector with a new National Education Policy focused on a more holistic approach to education, SRM Online expected an influx of new learners, which would push the limits of the LMS even further. To create headroom for future growth and unlock new operational efficiencies for its faculty, SRM Online set out to find a new LMS.

Solution

Selecting a scalable platform

After a thorough assessment of the market, SRM Online selected D2L Brightspace as its LMS of choice. The institution found that the Brightspace platform offered limitless scalability to support the growing student body without putting unnecessary pressure on faculty and administrators. With a user-friendly interface and powerful tools such as intelligent agents for automating repetitive administrative tasks, the platform helps faculty teach larger classes of students more effectively than ever before.

The flexibility of the platform has also made it easy for SRM Online to deploy both traditional programs and microlearning courses across its engineering, management, medicine, sciences, and humanities departments. In addition, D2L offered superior support services and transparent pricing, giving SRM Online peace of mind about operating the LMS as the university continued to grow and innovate with its online courses.

Result

Enabling engaging learning experiences

Today, SRM Online is well-positioned to continue its journey to offer a world-class education to everyone.

For example, the university has leveraged the Data Hub feature in Brightspace to drive continuous improvement of the learning experience. Powerful analytics tools make course assessments twice as efficient, while surveys provide enhanced student feedback. As a result, administrators can identify faculty who may need extra support with developing a course and reach out to help them achieve their goals. At the same time, insights from Data Hub enable faculty members to make data-driven improvements to their courses.

Compared with the previous LMS, SRM Online has seen assessment submission rates increase threefold, highlighting higher learner engagement and participation enabled by the flexible and interactive Brightspace platform.

At the same time SRM Online has attained a 30% increase in faculty user satisfaction rates compared to the previous platform, with faculty members reporting that Brightspace is more intuitive and easier to navigate.

“Our partnership with D2L has truly revolutionized how we deliver innovative education to a diverse and growing student community,” concludes Mr. Diwakar Jayachandran, online learning portal admin (LMS-SIS). “Their exceptional support services, powerful analytics, intuitive user interface, seamless operations support and transparent pricing have exceeded our expectations, empowering us to create meaningful learning experiences like never before.”