Skip to main content

Academic Technology Center

Announcing Bentley's Next LMS

Last year we announced the LMS Evaluation Project, an important step towards transforming our faculty and student teaching and learning experience. This was a major undertaking where we set our goals to find an LMS that is modern, user-friendly, and one that supports our diverse modalities. ​During this process we looked at three LMS platforms that are among the top five in terms of market share: Blackboard Ultra, Canvas, D2L Brightspace.

We ran a proof-of-concept and engaged the community through surveys, demos, listening sessions, and hands-on opportunities. In addition to this community engagement, we also looked at a variety of use cases through the lens of the user experience and made careful strategic considerations in terms of innovation, partnerships, investments, and more.

These considerations focused on core course delivery in various modalities, as well as supporting the expansion of post-baccalaureate education, and the possibility of adopting a platform for enterprise learning.   We looked for a platform that would be more holistic and robust in supporting projects related to assurance of learning and analytical data. 

We are excited and happy to announce that Bentley will be moving forward with D2L Brightspace as our next-gen modern learning management system (LMS).

Timeline

Summer 2022 - Planning

  • Begin implementation planning and setup teams including faculty advisory committee.

Fall 2022

  • Technical configuration and training for support staff.
  • Selection of faculty for Spring 2023 pilot.

Spring 2023 - Phase 1 (Pilot)

  • Selected courses run on new platform.
  • Migration of Fall 2022 and prior course content.
  • Faculty workshops on “Getting Ready to Teach with D2L Brightspace”. 

Summer 2023 – Phase 2 (Soft Launch)

  • Courses offered on D2L Brightspace (except May intensives).
  • Continue wit Faculty workshops on “Getting Ready to Teach with D2L Brightspace”.
  • Final course content migration (Spring 2023) and archive.

Fall 2023 – Phase 3 (Full)

  • All Fall 2023 courses on D2L Brightspace.
  • Continue with faculty training and workshops on D2L Brightspace. 

Sandeep Purao headshot
I look forward to the time when our LMS will be more than a file storage and delivery mechanism. It can and will become a platform for innovative pedagogy for us as instructors. It can and will become a platform for new teaching modes for Bentley. And it can and will become a platform for effective learning for our students.
Sandeep Purao
Professor, Information and Process Management

FAQs

Why are we moving from Blackboard to D2L Brightspace?

Last year we announced the LMS Evaluation project, an important step towards transforming our faculty and student teaching and learning experience. This was a major undertaking where we set our goals to find an LMS that is modern, user-friendly, and one that supports our diverse modalities. ​During this process we looked at three LMS platforms that are among the top five in terms of market share: Blackboard Ultra, Canvas, D2L Brightspace.

We ran a proof-of-concept and engaged the community through surveys, demos, listening sessions, and hands-on opportunities. In addition to this community engagement, we also looked at a variety of use cases through the lens of the user experience and made careful strategic considerations in terms of innovation, partnerships, investments, and more.

These considerations focused on core course delivery in various modalities, as well as supporting the expansion of post-baccalaureate education, and the possibility of adopting a platform for enterprise learning. We looked for a platform that would be more holistic and robust in supporting projects related to assurance of learning and analytical data. 

How will I access the new LMS?

We will have a URL setup by Spring 2023 for faculty to access this new platform. In the meantime, you can view a selection of "overview videos" for the D2L Brightspace platform here.

What is the timeline for this change?

The detailed timeline is available here.

What do I have to do to prepare to use D2L Brightspace?

Our implementation team will be working through summer and early fall of this year to prepare next steps and guidelines to help you transition to D2L Brightspace.

When will I start using the new LMS?

The Summer 2023 courses will be the first full cohort to use Brightspace (except May intensives).  If you are teaching a course in Summer 2023, you will have access to D2L Brightspace in Spring 2023.

How long will faculty and students retain access to Blackboard?

Your access to Blackboard will end on June 30th, 2023. If you wish to retrieve any Blackboard course content after this date you will need to contact the ATC. We are also working on alternative solutions for faculty to have access to their prior course content. More details will be shared later in fall 2022. 

What will the student see/experience?

The collection of videos in this D2L Brightspace playlist provide an introduction to the student experience in this LMS.  Also review the selected videos on the "Get to Know the D2L Brightspace LMS" page.

Are the May Intensives (2023) courses on D2L Brightspace?

No, May Intensives for 2023 will be offered on Blackboard.

I teach an asynchronous course. What do I need to know?

The Learning Design Team will make sure that the content in asynchronous courses is re-designed in the new format.

Implementation Team Image
  • Aaron Jackson, Senior Associate Dean of Business (Co-chair)
  • Gaurav Shah, Director, Academic Technology Center (Co-chair)
  • Jillian Cone, Senior IT Project Manager
  • Members from:
    • Academic Technology Center
    • Instructional Design and Assurance of Learning
    • Data Management & Applications Services
    • Systems
Committee

The faculty advisory committee works with co-chairs of the implementation team to guide and advise on decisions and policies and helps champion the new system to the community:

  • Aaron Ancell, Philosophy 
  • Alison Guzman, Modern Languages 
  • Erin Flynn, Marketing
  • Ernesto Schirmacher, Mathematical Sciences 
  • Jackie Masloff, Computer Information Systems 
  • Jean Reale, Senior Academic Coordinator 
  • Liz Hess, CIO
  • Liz LeDoux, English and Media Studies
  • Mark Frydenberg, Computer Information Systems 
  • Mateo Cruz, Management 
  • Mounia Ziat, XD 
  • Nathan Carter, Mathematical Sciences
  • Ryan Bouldin, NAS

Thank you!

We would like to thank the many Bentley faculty, staff and students who contributed through numerous surveys, demos, listening sessions, and hands-on opportunities including our members of various steering committees and evaluation teams. Their guidance and expertise helped us make this important decision in choosing our next-gen modern LMS platform.