Orenda Learning

D2L Brightspace is an extremely user-friendly platform that has been easy for my students and me to navigate. Getting started required no additional support or trouble-shooting, and we have been very pleased with the functionality. The design of the platform is clean and visually appealing, and I would happily participate in another course using the D2L Brightspace platform.

Melisa Pubil, Service Learning, and CAS Coordinator, American Community School of Abu Dhabi (Customer of Orenda Learning)

Institution

Guiding Education Providers To Foster Connection And Collaboration Between Students And The Community

Orenda Learning is an educational consultancy firm that equips young people with crucial knowledge, skills, qualities and the agency to affect positive global transformation in our rapidly changing and complex world. Orenda Learning is the provider of ‘Be The Change’ (BTC) – an online programme in service for young people. BTC delivers a robust service curriculum, through engaging lessons and a selection of carefully curated resources.

The ‘Be The Change’ programme is powered by the D2L Brightspace. Orenda Learning offers a wide range of services to support education providers in the development of incredible service programs for learners. The uniqueness of each context is considered and studied thoroughly to build a package based on the individual needs of the organisations. Find out more about ‘Be The Change’ through this video – watch here.

Challenge

Fostering Global Citizenship Through Education

In support of its core mission to foster active global citizenship through education, Orenda Learning offers an innovative program for young people in high school (BTC for High Schools) as well as home schoolers, un schoolers, GAP year students and university aged students (BTC for Independent Learners).

As adopters of learning management systems (LMS), the institute’s founder and educators were no strangers to education technology and the potential of online learning.

They launched the BTC programme in 2020. Shortly, COVID-19 pandemic struck, making online education more pertinent than ever before. They were not completely satisfied with their original LMS and started looking for an alternative, better, and more innovative platform.

They needed an innovative platform beyond a conventional LMS which could cater to a broader demographic of learners – from primary to corporate and independent learners. They were looking for a platform to present a cohesive curriculum in an appealing and easy-to-use way for educators and learners.

Another challenge they were facing with their former LMS was the lack of a visually appealing user interface. Visual dynamics are crucial for student engagement.

“We were looking for an innovative platform and a provider who could address these challenges within a set budget that was not restrictive for a start-up. We were running a community-driven course amidst COVID-19, and the need for a robust, reliable, budget-friendly learning platform was urgent,” says Alice Whitehead, Founder of Orenda Learning.

Solution

Alignment Between D2L’s Key Offerings And Orenda Learning’s Requirements

Upon discovering D2L, Brightspace seemed an obvious choice since the platform offered features, capabilities, and services beyond the typical learning management system. D2L’s offerings were very much in alignment with the institute’s pedagogical principles and requirements.

“When we came to D2L, we were looking for an edtech vendor that was willing to be our on-ground support and come on board as our partner. D2L brought in Edutech India- a reliable on-ground tech support team who have since then been our eyes and ears on the ground. It was an easy and smooth transition from the previous LMS to D2L Brightspace with Edutech’s support, and we have seen only success since the switch,” said Alice.

Another critical feature that Orenda Learning was looking at was a platform that could cater to the needs of learners of all ages. As a global leader in education technology, D2L has the expertise and experience catering to schools, higher education, and corporate learning environments.

“Having spent several years in primary education, I understand how important it is to engage the young minds. I had a very specific vision of how the primary version would look and now, thanks to D2L, we have a solution ready to help materialise that vision,” shares Alice.

The Future

Future-Proofed With Education Technology And Its Latest Key Offerings

A course like Orenda Learning’s ‘Be The Change’ programme becomes more relevant and crucial during a prolonged pandemic. By leveraging the latest technologies, D2L Brightspace empowers Orenda Learning to help learners from all over the world engage in community-oriented activities during these unprecedented times.

D2L Brightspace helps create a collaborative digital environment where learners can participate in community activities virtually. Brightspace also enables the curriculum to have a visually appealing grid-like interface that is attractive and engaging. The use of images and videos in course content serves as an effective mode to engage learners and helps them better understand the concepts. Lessons now come with big thumbnails, attractive visuals, and clear headers that explain each concept.

“I have a bit of a creative eye, and when I look at things, they have to be visually appealing. Visuals and User interface is another area where we struggled with our previous platform. As soon as we moved into D2L Brightspace, I feel like it brought us into the 21st century,” shared Alice.

Furthermore, D2L Brightspace helps to provide a personalised learning experience for learners. For example, the progress bar helps students and the teachers to track the overall learning status of their courses. The platform enables learners to engage in self-paced learning while making it easy to submit quizzes and assignments.

Result

Successful Adoption

Orenda Learning officially started using D2L Brightspace in March 2020. Since then, the platform has been a success, with learners sharing positive feedback.

“The learning platform has an intuitive interface. The website is amazing and easy to navigate,” shared one student of’ Be The Change.

All schools have given great feedback, including the American Community School in Abu Dhabi. “D2L Brightspace is an extremely user-friendly platform that has been easy for my students and me to navigate. Getting started required no additional support or trouble-shooting, and we have been very pleased with the functionality. The design of the platform is clean and visually appealing, and I would happily participate in another course using the D2L Brightspace platform.” said Melisa Pubil, Service Learning, and CAS Coordinator, American Community School of Abu Dhabi.

Leveraging Technology For Efficient Evidence-Based Learning 

With a unique program like BTC, examinations cannot be the only way to assess the skills learned. D2L Brightspace enables Orenda Learning to gauge learners’ performance in this program based on their involvement.

“Performatively, some schools would want to know how their students are progressing towards their goals in the curriculum. This is where D2L Brightspace’s portfolio option offers us the ability to help schools track the progress of students,” shared Alice Whitehead, Founder of Orenda Learning.

This kind of efficient evidence-based learning helped create a positive environment for both educators and learners, encouraging them to make a real impact and demonstrate it with fundamental changes in the community.