University of Cape Town selects D2L to enhance its digital learning infrastructure

D2L, a global learning technology company transforming the way the world learns, today announced that the University of Cape Town (UCT) has partnered with reseller Visions Consulting to implement D2L Brightspace and enhance its digital learning infrastructure, in order to meet the needs of UCT’s teaching and learning community for the next decade.

UCT is South Africa’s oldest university. A leader in teaching and research, UCT is home to six academic faculties – Commerce, Engineering and the Built Environment, Law, Health Sciences, Humanities and Science – with a university community of 29,000 students and 5,000 academic and administrative staff. UCT has a proud tradition of academic excellence and is one of the top-rated universities in the world.

UCT has had a learning management system (LMS) in place since 2006, which has served its needs well in the past. However, UCT has evaluated its future requirements, which included increased provision of digital learning functionality across the continuum of in-person teaching to blended learning, higher demand for fully online courses, long term sustainability and the need for a single solution to replace multiple platforms.

The Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) is a unit within UCT’s Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED), that serves UCT’s academic and student learning and teaching needs, and in 2021, it launched a project to select a new digital learning platform to support the university’s teaching goals for the next 5 to 10 years.

“As part of our long-term strategy within Vision 2030 – we are working towards the university’s massive transformative purpose which includes holistic, innovative future-oriented education,” said Sukaina Walji, director of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at the University of Cape Town. “Our goal is to unleash the creative energy and intellectual capacity of UCT, and critical to this is ensuring equitable student success. As digital tools and technologies play a significant role in all faculties and departments, and at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, we sought a new, cloud-hosted LMS.”

CILT initiated a competitive tender process between June and December 2021. Staff and students provided input through surveys and focus groups. Faculty, student, and other stakeholder representatives also participated in a formal procurement process, defining their requirements, and evaluating bids from all major market players. When D2L Brightspace was selected, campus stakeholders were invited to a Q&A session and webinar to introduce the new platform and to register their interest in early trials.

“D2L Brightspace provides strong support for the priorities our stakeholders identified, and its selection is a major milestone in enhancing our digital infrastructure,” continued Walji. “Brightspace is intuitive, supports a wide range of teaching modes, provides strong communication and assessment features, a robust mobile app, enhanced learning analytics, excellent integration with MS Teams and comprehensive accessibility support for UCT students with disabilities. Importantly, the platform provides a competitive set of features right now, while also having the flexibility to adapt to our future needs in response to the changing higher education and technology landscape.”

“This is a great partnership for D2L, as we have a longstanding commitment to transform the way the world learns, and UCT’s own strategic roadmap is firmly rooted in meeting the needs of a new generation of diverse students and academics,” said Stewart Watts, VP EMEA, D2L. “We are excited to work closely with UCT as it aspires to become a premier academic meeting point between South Africa, the rest of Africa and the world. Our technology will underpin UCT’s Vision 2030 strategy, enhancing learning and teaching across the continuum of in-person, blended and online modes for its community.”