Competency-based Education (CBE) | Personalized Learning | D2L 
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D2L > Brightspace LMS for Higher Education > Competency-based Education (CBE)

Competency Based Education

With Brightspace, the individualized learning journey can be offered at scale.

Embrace the future of learning with competency-based education

Brightspace is a leading CBE platform – it’s built for competency-based learning and not just completing a course, which sets it apart from other platforms in the market.

A major benefit of offering a CBE program is that it provides individualized learning at scale. Instead of offering a “cookie cutter” learning journey where a cohort moves at the same pace, a CBE program adapts to different learners, and people can go at their own pace.

Is the Time Right for Your Institution to Deploy Competency-Based Education?

Watch this webinar to learn how TAMUC started and ran a successful CBE program

Watch now

Many of today’s students need flexibility that a traditional classroom model doesn’t offer. CBE gives them more control of their own experience—and a better chance to succeed.

Make sure all learners reach their full potential with personalized learning from Brightspace.

Allow learners to learn on their terms, proceed through content at their own pace, and access learning from any device.

Easily deliver timely, comprehensive and personalized feedback to keep learners motivated, on track, and engaged.

Guide a learner’s mastery of subject matter, focusing on discretely measurable competencies.

Encourage collaboration and community by making it easy for learners to connect, participate in forums and discussions, and view each other’s profiles.

Use flexible grading schemes and recognize prior learning.

Identify and track high-risk learners and let Brightspace proactively alert you when to step in and offer help.

Leading CBE programs partner with Brightspace

Radford University logo
Riverland Community College logo
Texas A&M University logo
Tempo Learning logo
Competency-based Education Network logo
SNHU.EDU logo
Purdue Global logo
Valdosta State University logo
NC State University logo
Sinclair College logo
Broward College logo

We’ll be your partner every step of the way, from learning more about CBE to building and implementing your CBE program.

STEP 1:

Set your CBE program up for success —start with Brightspace

The foundation of your CBE program, the Brightspace platform is the first step to success in your personalized learning journey. With the Brightspace platform, institutions don’t need to buy a second LMS or any additional technology to effectively deliver CBE programs; all of the tools you need to create and deliver CBE courses are built right in.

STEP 2:

Join the conversation and learn more about CBE in Brightspace Community

The Brightspace Community provides free documentation for how to use Brightspace to deliver CBE courses and programs, CBE Wiki with lots of resources on best practices, tips/tricks and more, and access to other Brightspace users who are doing CBE at their institutions.

STEP 3:

Leverage the experience and expertise of our CBE consultants to help guide your vision, plan your approach, and execute your strategy with our CBE consulting offerings.

Screenshot of course uplift for CBE style=

D2L is a proud member of the Competency-Based Education Network.

Services Offered

Getting Started with CBE

Learn more about getting Started with CBE

Strategic CBE Planning

Learn more about strategic CBE Planning

Course Uplift for CBE

Learn more about Course Uplift for CBE

Change Management for CBE

Learn more about Change Management for CBE

Screenshot of getting started with CBE

Getting Started with CBE

For schools that are just starting out, we’ll help increase the awareness and understanding of how to facilitate CBE concepts within the Brightspace platform.

screenshot for strategic CBE planning

Strategic CBE Planning

We’ll work together to develop a strategic CBE roadmap that aligns key stakeholders on the vision, goals, and objectives of your program; support the roll-out of your program; and position your program for future growth. We’ll tailor your consulting engagement to meet your needs by selecting the most useful session topics, including:

  • business processes and procedures review
  • pedagogical and andragogical approach
  • technology assessment
  • implementation planning
  • communication strategies
  • outcome and achievement reporting
Screenshot of course uplift for CBE

Course Uplift for CBE

Transform your course modules into CBE offerings with the help of our Learning and Creative Services team. They’ll help make sure that the competencies are aligned to content and assessments, all while using the best methods, processes, and tools available.

Class Progress screenshot in tablet

Change Management for CBE

We’ll help support your continued investment in your CBE program with monthly monitoring and progress check points to review and evaluate progress toward all aspects of your strategic CBE plan, and work with you to adjust the plan as required to bring instructors and learners along the path to adoption.

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Fueling up:

Upskilling to grow careers

Name: Zaria
Age: 27

Policy prescriptions: Invest in a Learning-Integrated Life; Transform the learning of today with new partnerships; Accelerate the shift to skills-based learning and hiring

Zaria has five years of work experience and is ready to change jobs and enter a field that has high growth potential in her region. The national government has been investing in collecting better skills-based labour market information for years and has developed a public platform to offer individuals specialized tools to assess their skills against current market needs, and to locate employers that are currently hiring.

On the employer side, the human resources team is closely examining a recent internal skills audit done at their organization and determines that the organization needs additional digital marketing specialists. They initiate a search for individuals with the skills they will soon need and spot a strong candidate in Zaria who requires only light training on regulatory issues regarding the sale of electric vehicles, along with some formal skills development courses on social media marketing strategy. After a successful interview, Zaria is offered the job.

Upon joining, Zaria will receive an educational benefits stipend from the company, and access to a company-provided platform of curated programs for skills building from approved providers. Upon completion of a set of courses, Zaria will receive a credential from a company approved program verifying her technical knowledge and marking the end of her probationary period at the company. To ensure she continues to build her skills, she will move into a formal mentor program with one of her colleagues to receive continual peer-to-peer feedback on her demonstration of skills and knowledge. information

This affordable and accessible learning through employer-funded training has enabled Zaria to begin working while also upskilling to ensure her long-term success in the company and growing industry. The employer is investing in its employees, and company leaders are thinking further into the future about the skills the company needs, and the types of job candidates who will succeed. This match, based on skills potential, was made possible because of government investment in high-quality labour market information and a national platform that matches job candidates with career opportunities based on the candidates’ skills and the identified skill needs of a given job.

Taking the road less travelled:

A networked postsecondary education

Name: Sam
Age: 18

Policy prescriptions: Transform the learning of today with new partnerships

Sam is a prospective postsecondary student who has always been interested in pursuing a global and interdisciplinary education. Sam’s siblings have all instilled in her the importance of studying abroad, having spoken fondly of their academic exchange semesters, field research trips, and intensive language immersion programs. She is inspired, but unsure whether this pathway will be available if she chooses not to complete a four-year degree at one institution.

Sam is interested in understanding how emerging technologies can be used to modernize and improve government services—an area in need of talent not only in her home country of Canada but also abroad. She could take on a general political science, public administration, engineering, or computer science degree at the university close to her home, but none of those degrees feels like the right fit to build the skills she needs to pursue this career interest.

While researching options, Sam learns of a new degree completion pathway that allows students to take courses from a network of universities, colleges, and polytechnic institutions throughout Canada and stack them for skills-based  credentials that are recognized by major Canadian employers. A set of four of these credentials grants an individual a degree-equivalent endorsed by each institution. Sam identifies the skills and knowledge she wants to work towards and charts out four credential pathways:

  1. Service delivery design
  2. Change management
  3. Applications of emerging technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence)
  4. Machinery of government

With this customized learning pathway, Sam has full flexibility to decide how she wants to structure her courses, the institutions within the network she will study at, and the format and model of courses she prefers—whether live in-class instruction or online courses.

Cost flexibility is built in as well—students pay a standard fee based on the number of competencies they intend to learn rather than the normal standard of ‘credit hours’. The province in which Sam lives has endorsed this networked model of  postsecondary education and adjusted its financial assistance program to better support students. Grants and other non-repayable assistance take into consideration the number of courses the student is taking across all institutions when assessing financial need. Previously, Sam would have been required to be a full-time student at every institution to receive support.

Sam also has the option of starting with foundational courses or applying for Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) information so her existing knowledge and skills can be tested and she can move on to more advanced topics.

Sam completes her first three credentials in three years and uses her certifications to apply for a one-year work-integrated learning experience with the federal government in Germany where she can learn first-hand about the applications of artificial intelligence in government. When she returns home, she applies for PLAR to certify her learning on the machinery of government and is granted a degree acknowledging her four-part customized education.

The collaboration between universities, polytechnics, and colleges to create a networked approach to degree completion, and its endorsement by the provincial government, allowed Sam to graduate as an alumnus of multiple postsecondary education institutions. Her exposure to different thought spaces and networks was highly valuable for ensuring she was engaged throughout her education and set up for post-graduation success. In the rapidly evolving field she has chosen, she understands how important it is to continuously upskill, and is prepared to return to formal education for more stackable credentials as she continues throughout her career.

Route guidance:

Personalized professional development

Name: ZheYuan
Age: 33

Policy prescriptions: Prepare teachers for their own lifelong learning journeys; Accelerate the shift to skills-based learning and hiring

ZheYuan is about to join Marama’s school as a new secondary school teacher. He completed his professional teacher education a decade ago, and teaching looks a bit different today than it did when he was studying. With the incorporation of learning technologies in the classroom, and expectations of teachers delivering competency-based education information, he needs personalized professional development to feel comfortable and supported in this new opportunity.

The school district has been on its own learning journey since shifting to a competency-based education model, and has had some growing pains. Over time, the district has come to recognize that success depends on school administrators working closely with teachers to co-create systems of instruction, and pathways to professional development. The district has its own online learning management system (LMS) for teacher professional development, with a catalogue of content covering a range of subjects including:

  • Strategies for student-centred instruction
  • Design thinking—how to prototype and iterate on solutions to test new approaches
  • Online content—using learning management systems to advance competency-based education
  • Data analysis—interpreting student progress

ZheYuan is excited that he can take on professional learning to suit his needs on his own schedule. He recalls an earlier time when he had to spend nine hours a month in-person taking the same professional development courses as his peers who were teaching very different subjects and had varied skill levels and pedagogical needs than him, which was less than effective.

ZheYuan can also take advantage of his teacher community in the LMS, connecting both in asynchronous chats and in live discussions with other teachers and experts from across his region to ask questions and share his experiences. He sees some upcoming dialogues hosted by his school district to share learnings and signs up for those sessions, knowing he will get a valuable peer perspective from other teachers. ZheYuan is thankful that his school leaders recognize and value professional learning and provide the supports and the time needed for improvement.

D2L Whitepaper Contributors

Lead Authors:
Malika Asthana, Manager, Strategy and Public Affairs
Joe Pickerill, Senior Director, Strategy and Public Affairs, International

Contributors:
Jeremy Auger, Chief Strategy Officer
Mark Schneiderman, Senior Director, Future of Teaching and Learning
Brendan Desetti, Senior Director, Strategy and Public Affairs, United States
Mike Semansky, Senior Director, Strategy and Public Affairs, Canada
Nia Brown, Senior Manager, Strategy and Public Affairs

In the driver’s seat:

Owning the personalized learning journey

Name: Marama
Age: 14

Policy prescriptions: Prepare teachers for their own lifelong learning journeys; Accelerate the shift to skills-based learning and hiring

Marama is enrolled in a school with a competency-based education model information. Students are responsible for owning the personalization of their learning pathways, making choices alongside their teachers in how and when they learn.iii Teachers play a central role in guiding and validating all learning, regardless of where it takes place—offering formative assessments to evaluate a student’s mastery of skills and knowledge. Teachers use data from these assessments, gathered through an online learning management system (LMS), to differentiate instruction and provide targeted supports so that all students progress toward graduation. As a student diagnosed with a learning disability, Marama is supported in her education by this personalized learning pathway.

All students complete an assessment in ninth grade to identify their natural strengths as a learner. Their teachers use the results as inputs to design tailormade educational pathways with learning materials and activities that suit the individual students’ learning needs. In Marama’s case, this includes:

  1. Supplementing lecture-based teaching with structured but independent reading
  2. Shadowing professionals who work on the concepts she is learning about
  3. Taking the stories and lessons she’s learned and sharing it back with classmates by designing a creative and interactive presentation

Over the course of the school year, Marama spends a third of her time in live lectures (sometimes online) with her teacher alongside other classmates—but the rest of her time is spent learning in the ways that suit her best. She can log into her online LMS from her mobile device to access her school resources and complete on her own schedule before the assigned deadline. When Marama finds a concept that interests her, she can ask her teachers and counsellor for support in finding a working professional to speak to, or work alongside for a couple weeks, from the network her school has curated over time. And when she has learned something, she is encouraged to reinforce her learning by applying her skills and developing content to share back with her classmates.

Marama’s personalized learning journey empowers her to own her education by learning in ways that are effective for her, with the support that allows her to be successful. Her teachers have high-quality data about student strengths and performance they can share with her parents to show them how she is mastering specific skills, and where she may need extra support. Her school experience empowers her to embrace her subject interests very early on, and she advances to deeper topics quickly as she submits evidence of learning that demonstrates her proficiency. She graduates having cultivated a mindset for self-directed learning early in her education.