LONDON, UK – 1 December 2021 – D2L Inc., a global learning technology leader, today announced that the University of Groningen (UG) has selected Brightspace as its learning platform to better integrate online and offline teaching, support lifelong learning and prepare its students to enter the global labour market.
Located in the Netherlands, the University of Groningen is a research university with a rich academic history. It is one of the oldest and largest in the country and is consistently ranked within the top 100 universities in the world. As a truly global institution, UG has close links with renowned international universities. Since the establishment in 1614, the university has brought forward striving academics, like the first female student, the first Dutch astronaut and various Nobel prize winners.
UG delivers high quality, research-driven education that enables its students to develop their talents and to become globally engaged citizens. As such, the university prioritises interdisciplinary study in education that builds on its traditional foundation of Social Sciences & Humanities, Science & Engineering, and Health. To prepare students to enter and navigate the global labour market, UG strives to embed employability in the educational process wherever possible.
“Students succeed when their learning is contextualised, so our education and research programmes are strongly intertwined across the full breadth of academic disciplines” said Gerda Croiset, Dean of Education and Training UMCG at the University of Groningen and Chair of the Learning Platform Steering Committee. “With rising student numbers and the increasing diversity of our student body, we require continuous innovation across our teaching model and overall learning environment. Unsurprisingly, technology plays a big part in this”.
UG had a legacy online learning platform in place for twenty years, however, the university wanted a new platform that provided greater flexibility and more options for students and lecturers. D2L was selected for its functionality and usability, following a test with 90 end users.
“While in-person education remains a cornerstone of our strategy, we are blending on-campus and online teaching methods to optimise our model” continued Croiset. “Combining our vibrant campus life with online and blended learning creates opportunities for more efficient interaction between students and teachers, while digital technologies and the integration of online education enables us to personalise student learning journeys and offer more flexibility”.
UG is preparing for the first courses to go live with Brightspace in February 2022. The university is initially rolling out 20 ‘early adopter’ courses, before scaling up to 100 courses by April. The migration is due for completion in September 2022.
“This is a great partnership for D2L, as the University of Groningen’s interdisciplinary programmes, blended teaching models and its impressive focus on lifelong learning and workforce readiness are fully aligned with D2L’s mission and the features within D2L Brightspace” said Stewart Watts, VP EMEA, D2L. “The world of work is rapidly evolving, and the education sector must keep pace. It’s refreshing to see institutions such as UG putting this front and centre in their course design and overall growth strategy – and we look forward to working with them for many years to come”.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN
Based in the Northern Netherlands, the University of Groningen is one of the oldest and largest in the country and is consistently ranked within the top 100 universities in the world. It is a truly global institution with close collaborations with renowned international universities. For more information visit https://www.rug.nl/
ABOUT D2L
D2L is transforming the way the world learns – helping learners of all ages achieve more than they dreamed possible. Working closely with clients all over the world, D2L is supporting millions of people learning online and in person. Our more than 1000 global employees are dedicated to making the best learning products to leave the world better than where they found it. Learn more about D2L for K-12, higher education and businesses at www.D2L.com.
ABOUT D2L BRIGHTSPACE
D2L Brightspace is a cloud-based learning platform built for people who care deeply about student success and helping to prepare them for what comes next.
It gives faculty across your institution tools they’re going to love, makes it easy to support exceptional student experiences in the classroom or fully online. D2L Brightspace is designed in close collaboration with clients around the world – building a pedagogically rich set of features to improve engagement, retention and learning outcomes. It also makes it easier to do assessment and give feedback.
D2L Brightspace is worry-free with 99.9% reliability. It’s highly accessible and looks beautiful on any mobile device, making it easier for educators to reach every learner.
D2L Brightspace has won multiple industry awards, including the #1 LMS Technology for next generation online teaching and learning. To learn more, visit D2L for Higher Education.
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