The Challenge
When Manipal Academy of Higher Education Online (MAHE Online) started its search for a learning management system (LMS) back in 2019, it had a list of requirements to refine its search and help the institution overcome certain challenges.
“Scalability, consistency in learning experience, quality assurance, learner engagement, and the ability to deliver programs globally were the primary drivers,” said Dr. Nagasampige. “We needed a robust LMS that could support academic depth while remaining flexible for diverse learner needs.”
D2L Brightspace stood out for its learner-centric design, strong analytics, flexibility in course design, mobile responsiveness, and ability to support global learners with varying bandwidth conditions.
“While searching for an ideal LMS, I found D2L and I realized that it met all my requirements,” he said. “The support system was excellent, so I decided to go ahead with D2L.”
As MAHE Online started to grow internationally, it faced new challenges that needed to be solved. The institution was welcoming a more diverse group of students, which meant having to manage varying time zones, adapting cultural context, and addressing language barriers all while still creating engaging online content.
Scaling Growth Internationally
For MAHE Online, Brightspace enabled faster program launches, smoother faculty onboarding, standardized learning design and strong learner support systems. The platform’s learner-centric features helped enhance satisfaction and retention—with over 85% of learners rating the courses as good or excellent—leading to more growth. Since its inception, MAHE Online’s student population has increased from 114 to 15,000 students, and from one program to ten.
“Brightspace has been central to our scale-up from a few pilot programs to a diverse portfolio of online degrees and certifications delivered across over 60 countries without compromising academic quality,” said Dr. Nagasampige.
“MAHE Online programs are delivered to learners across India, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and others, reaching students from varied academic, cultural, and professional backgrounds.”
Brightspace’s mobile-friendly interface, low-bandwidth compatibility, asynchronous learning design, and structured content delivery helped MAHE Online engage with students no matter their geography or tech challenges. Since implementing Brightspace, MAHE Online has seen a 35% increase in login frequency, 40% increase in discussion participation, and higher completion rates for weekly learning activities.
The institution was able to address obstacles like varying time zones, cultural context, assessment flexibility and learner support through Brightspace features like flexible scheduling, modular content, and customizable learning paths.
As MAHE Online continues to grow, international students continue to stay connected through another suite of features, like discussion forums, announcements, quizzes, analytics-driven interventions.
Brightspace Features That Made the Difference
Within the native Brightspace platform, there are several features used at MAHE to overcome certain challenges, while also keeping the institution future ready.
Creator+ and H5P
One challenge faced by MAHE Online was making learning materials engaging for online students. “If the content is not engaging, students will never come to the LMS. That’s one of the reasons for high dropouts in online programmes,” said Dr. Nagasampige.
After exploring the features of Creator+, MAHE Online found its solution.
Using the H5P integration, they were able to make their video elements more interactive, taking them from a simple recording to include assessments and make the content more engaging.
“I really liked the H5P feature, which helps us integrate assessments within the videos so while watching the videos, students can assess themselves and they’re able to know where they are.” explained Dr. Nagasampige. “Creator+ helped us create more engagement for learners and also create a purpose for a learner to come on the LMS frequently and interact with the content.”
Performance+
At MAHE Online, Performance+ is used to collect data that helps monitor student success. The institution can analyze the data for early signals that a student may be struggling, like not completing assignments.
Having insights like these helps faculty and staff at MAHE Online connect with these students and intervene before it’s too late—saving students from dropping out and potential revenue loss. After implementing Brightspace, MAHE has seen assignment completion rates jump to 95% and a dip in dropout rates by 12%.
Intelligent Agents
As MAHE Online continued to expand globally, student communication became a challenge. Continuing to use traditional mail would take more time to deliver communications, so the institution sought to automate communications instead with Intelligent Agents.
“Intelligent Agents helped us automate our communication systems, where we nudge our students, reminding them of their academic requirements, when to complete assignments,” said Dr. Nagasampige. MAHE Online also uses this feature to send appreciation emails for completing an assignment or after achieving a certain learning outcome. Since MAHE Online introduced Intelligent Agents, it has seen a 40% increase in assignment submissions and a 20% boost in learner performance outcomes.
Closed Captions
Another challenge faced by MAHE as it continued to grow globally was the need to communicate and translate lessons in different languages.
“We enrolled students from African continent, which included students from Lusophone and Francophone countries,” said Dr. Nagasampige. Learners from countries with other native languages had trouble understanding the English instructions.
“That’s where the D2L’s automated closed captions and multilingual support comes in very handy,” he explained. “We integrated closed captions in French and Portuguese, which helped our learners to comprehend the content which was delivered in English.”
Using Tech to Accelerate Growth
MAHE Online’s journey with D2L Brightspace shows what’s possible when the right technology meets a clear vision for global education. By combining scalable infrastructure with learner-centric design, the institution has expanded its reach while maintaining the academic rigor it’s known for.
As MAHE Online looks ahead, its continued focus on innovation, engagement and data-driven support positions it to grow even further on the global stage. With Brightspace as a foundation, the institution isn’t just keeping up with the future of online learning in India—it’s helping shape it.
Want to learn more about how Brightspace can help scale online learning for your institution? Connect with us today to find out.