North East Scotland College

A key decision that influenced moving to Brightspace was the flexibility of the platform, as the look and feel was more enticing than our previous VLE. The personalisation we can achieve with intelligent agents and the mobile friendly app are excellent features too.

David Haggath, learning technologist, NESCol

Challenge

To provide convenient learning access and build digital skills in a diverse student population

NESCol is a progressive college and longstanding user of technology to deliver the best possible learning experiences. Students and educators at the college have used a virtual learning environment (VLE) for many years as Iain Henderson, learning technologies manager, explains: “Digital is at the forefront really, whether it’s paperless classes or hybrid classes—every course has the ability to use the VLE.”

The college embraces technology to help it meet teaching and learning challenges, including providing access to learning at its furthest sites and providing easy access to learning wherever students are.

David Haggath, learning technologist at the college, gives an example of the Scottish Maritime Academy which offers training across the merchant navy and fishing sectors. It is one of only two centres in the UK that provides the kind of learning it does and it caters for students who may have to travel a long way through blended learning—a mixture of self-study and face-to-face attendance. The college’s VLE provides the flexibility and accessibility the Academy needs to sustain this model.

To further extend this flexibility, the college is committed to students being able to access learning through a range of devices, from any location. Amy Wilson, digital learning advisor, says: “One of the things we’re focusing on is mobile because we’re noticing more students using those devices.”

Digital skills are another challenge the college seeks to address through technology. Iain points out that education should not be an exception to the prevalence of digital now in all areas of life. He believes the college should help students gain digital skills to equip them outside education, but recognises that to do so, it must address the varying needs of a diverse student population.

“We have a wide spectrum of ages at the college from older learners, people who may be retraining for job changes, and younger students coming out of school,” Iain explains. “They’ve got very different digital skills; we need to support those students with all those different needs.”

Solution

Flexible, convenient and inviting digital learning

NESCol has an ongoing Digital Futures project, which aims to improve digital practices among staff. In 2023, the college formed a working group of senior management, lecturers and the digital learning team to review available learning platforms on the market. This resulted in a partnership with D2L which began in the summer of that year.

“Brightspace was chosen over the others for the flexibility in the platform, the look of it that is just more inviting, and the Pulse app,” says David.

Iain cites a number of Brightspace features to help staff, including data from the platform that can provide insights into students’ progress, “simply and quickly when you want them, without having to sit waiting for a report to load or request a report from someone else to be customised.”

Grading in the platform and integration with external platforms to submit marks also provides a convenient experience for educators. Intelligent agents, too, are valued for performing tasks on staff’s behalf by automating emails. These are triggered by defined activities happening or not happening in a course, such as students not logging in or accessing material assigned to them, which may indicate they are struggling or disengaging.

“Time saving is really crucial,” says Iain. “A lot of grade schemes are repetitive—staff must create them every year or every course. We’ve taken the most popular ones and created them so they’re sitting there waiting to be used.”

NESCol is committed to a student-centred learning experience and recognises the value of personalisation and customisation to help provide this. It has branded its Brightspace portal MyNESCol and transferred student portal information into it to give students a single, cohesive and comprehensive go-to source for all their questions. Previously, it was hard to update information in the portal because access couldn’t be delegated to content owners and can now with Brightspace.

The digital team is excited by release conditions in the platform, which help create custom learning paths by attaching conditions to content to release it only when students meet the criteria. That could be by completing a first topic before access is granted to the second one, for example.

For students, NESCol staff are keen to make use of badges and certificates to motivate students, along with quizzes and discussion forums to maximise engagement.

The college also now uses Brightspace for its own staff training, delivering inductions for new starters, health and safety and other mandatory courses through the platform. This gives staff flexibility and usability for their own learning and development (L&D) and insight into the learner experience so they can best support their students.

A big ask from teaching staff is, how are my students doing? Brightspace has it built in. I showed a group, and they were just blown away by how much they could see.

Amy Wilson, digital learning advisor, NESCol

Results

NESCol looks to the future with intuitive and accessible learning

NESCol’s transition from its previous VLE to Brightspace has been successful and the college has seen some early positive outcomes.

“We’ve heard from people who are using it that they like it,” says Amy. “They like the way it looks, and it feels intuitive. One of our early adopters said that students found it much easier than the previous VLE. They had no instruction and were able to do quizzes, submit work, view class materials with no help at all.”

Another important point of comparison for the team is how accessible digital learning through Brightspace is, to meet the needs of all students. Iain refers to a dyslexic student who struggled with the previous VLE and staff who pointed out the difficulty in seeing the difference between objects on the screen. “They’ve come back with some very positive initial impressions,” he says.

The capability to provide effective online learning on mobile was an important priority for NESCol, so Iain was delighted to hear from one of the lecturers that students had downloaded the app and were excited about the new platform.

As the team continues to develop and build on MyNESCol, it is excited to give staff training its own branded identity, and to support managers with insights into L&D progress. NESCol also recognises the potential of the platform to support branded short course offerings to broaden the college’s sources of revenue.

Throughout, the team has been able to draw on its strong working partnership with D2L through weekly account meetings and online events, where NESCol can get questions answered and hear from other institutions’ experiences.

The online D2L community works in such a good way. You can see what’s happening, what other people are doing and what people are asking.

Amy Wilson, digital learning advisor, NESCol

NESCol set out to replace its VLE with a platform that would provide access to learning at its furthest sites, support anytime learning through mobile devices, help students gain digital skills and meet the varying needs of its diverse student population. It had a first impression of Brightspace as an inviting, flexible digital learning solution and is delighted that early adopters have responded positively to the change. As NESCol continues to work with D2L it aims to expand its use of the platform, providing advanced features to support learning outcomes, enhancing staff training and opening up additional revenue opportunities.