Awneet Sivia gets passionate about anything that enhances the university experience for students. Awneet, UFV’s Associate Vice-President, Teaching and Learning, is always in favour of technology that provides faculty with new ways to engage learners, and that’s why she’s so keen about a new Learning Management System (LMS).  

UFV is transitioning from Blackboard to Brightspace, a LMS that offers a more streamlined, intuitive experience for students and faculty.  

“As UFV looks to attract and retain students, having a LMS that gives them everything they need to succeed is crucial,” Awneet says with a smile. “The Brightspace platform represents a huge leap forward for the university, and I am very pleased that our students, faculty, and staff will have access to a platform that is on the cutting edge of LMS technology. 

“It’s amazing what we’re going to be able to do with this, and that’s what has me super excited as we go through this process.” 

The LMS serves as the backbone of academic operations, enabling seamless coordination and delivery of courses across disciplines and programs. It is the software that students use for online courses, submitting assignments, and communicating with classmates and instructors, among other things. Faculty use the LMS to organize and provide course content/materials.  

Awneet says Brightspace will provide a noticeable improvement in many areas, including: 

• Offering a more intuitive and streamlined user-friendly interface, making it easier to navigate and find what’s needed. 

• A variety of new features designed to support learning and teaching, including advanced analytics, personalized learning paths, and improved mobile access. 

• Enhanced tools for communication and collaboration, improving connectivity between peers and instructors.  

• Regular updates and improvements to ensure that UFV remains at the forefront of educational technology. 

Brightspace was created by Canadian company Desire2Learn (D2L). According to D2L, more than 18 million people use the platform globally, with more than 1,300 customers across 40 countries.  

Awneet says a major advantage of Brightspace is a reduction in ‘transactional teaching’ that favours instructional control and use. She said the new platform has a contemporary look that allows students to personalize their experience and feel more ownership of their learning within the LMS. 

“What I’ve heard from people who’ve used it is it’s really intuitive, it’s nimble, it’s super easy to use and students love it,” Awneet notes “Our evaluation team heard loud and clear that students overwhelmingly advocated for Brightspace’s student-friendly elements.” 

Awneet says Brightspace provides more accessibility and flexibility for UFV’s diverse community of learners, and it’s well suited for online courses. 

“We went to around 98 percent online use during COVID, and we’re still around 30-40 percent with courses that include some component of online learning – blended or fully online,” Awneet notes. “It’s a significant factor, and it’s not just students and faculty who are doing more online. We’ve got our Program Development Quality Assurance division using it. We’ve got people in the Academic Success Centre and Human Resources using it. Every area of the university is in some way impacted by this change.” 

Brightspace will debut as a pilot project during the winter semester. Awneet says the gradual rollout will ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruption to teaching and learning leading up to the planned go-live date of Aug 25, 2025. 

UFV and the Teaching and Learning Centre will be offering comprehensive training sessions and resources during the transition to Brightspace.  

Visit the LMS Project website for more info.