University of Ottawa Chooses D2L's Brightspace as its Next-Generation Learning Environment

WATERLOO, ON--(Marketwired - January 23, 2017) - D2L, which has helped transform learning for people all over the world, announces that the University of Ottawa -- the world's largest bilingual school (French-English) with more than 42,000 students -- has chosen Brightspace as its new learning management system (LMS). Brightspace was selected to support the university's vision of offering the most advanced next-generation digital learning environment (NDGLE), designed to meet the modern demands of today's students and instructors. D2L now supports more than half of Canada's research-intensive universities.

Drawing on the conclusions of a report published by EDUCAUSE in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Ottawa's leaders realized that, "to continue to drive a positive, relevant and impactful learning environment for faculty and students it must evolve from its traditional LMS environment and deploy a platform that can serve as a central nervous system for learning," said Aline Germain-Rutherford, Associate Vice President, Teaching and Learning, University of Ottawa.

"Learners and instructors are savvy technology consumers in their personal lives, and they expect personalized, easy-to-use solutions when it comes to their teaching and learning tools," Germain-Rutherford added. "D2L demonstrated that Brightspace is purpose-built to be at the forefront of next-generation digital learning environments, providing our students and faculty with a 'one-size-fits-me' learning ecosystem while providing the university with a solid foundation for future innovation. In particular, the platform's support for multiple languages was an essential requirement for us as the world's largest bilingual school."

Critical to the University's decision was a platform that delivered an NDGLE and addressed the "five domains of core functionality," as set out in the EDUCAUSE report:

• Interoperability and Integration
• Personalization
• Analytics, Advising and Learning assessment
• Collaboration
• Accessibility and Universal Design

The technology sitting at the center of the next-generation digital learning environment also required adherence to IMS Global standards and open APIs. D2L's solution met and exceeded these requirements.

"From our very first discussions, we found the faculty and leadership at the University of Ottawa cared deeply about delivering a more personalized and engaging learning experience to help every student learn in their own way," said John Baker, CEO of D2L. "We are excited to be the chosen partner and look forward to working with the students and faculty. Our team works hard to ensure we have strong multilingual resources -- this will ensure outstanding support in both French and English."

ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA

The University of Ottawa is home to over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Its campus is a crossroads of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. The institution is one of Canada's top 10 research universities, where professors and researchers explore new approaches to today's challenges.

ABOUT BRIGHTSPACE

D2L's Brightspace is a learning management system (LMS) that helps schools and institutions deliver personalized learning in a classroom or online to people anywhere in the world. Created for the digital learner, Brightspace is cloud-based, runs on mobile devices, and offers rich multimedia to increase engagement, productivity and knowledge retention. The platform makes it easy to design courses, create content, and grade assignments, giving instructors more time to focus on what's most important -- greater teaching and learning. At the same time, analytics reports track and deliver insights into the performance levels of departments, courses, or individuals.

Brightspace was recently named the #1 LMS in Higher Ed by Ovum Research and #1 in Adaptive Learning by eLearning Magazine. In addition, Aragon Research included Brightspace in its highly-coveted Hot Vendors In Learning list.

ABOUT D2L

D2L is the software leader that makes the learning experience better. The company's cloud-based platform is easier to use, more flexible, and smart. With Brightspace, companies can personalize the experience for every learner to deliver real results. The company is a world leader in learning analytics: its platform predicts learner performance so that companies can take action in real-time to keep employees on track. Brightspace is used by learners in higher education, K-12, and the enterprise sector, including the Fortune 1000. D2L has operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore. www.D2L.com/brightspace.

© 2017 D2L Corporation.

The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L Brasil Soluções de Tecnologia para Educação Ltda.

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