Property Council of Australia boosts e-learning with D2L's Brightspace platform

The Property Council of Australia, a not-for-profit organisation representing property developers and owners, has embarked on a digital transformation journey to enhance its members' learning experiences. The digital revamp pivoted on the selection of D2L's Brightspace platform to manage and deliver online courses provided through its Property Council Academy (Academy).

The Property Council, representing the most significant employment sector in the country with over 1.4 million workers, offers diverse and complex training needs. Through the Academy, it provides more than 150 online and in-person courses developed and delivered by over 400 industry experts to learners from 2,200 member companies nationwide.

Previously reliant on multiple platforms that were not well-integrated, causing inefficiency and a disjointed user experience, the Council sought a more seamless solution, especially in the wake of COVID-19.

Kelly Jones, Director of the Property Council Academy, says, "Prior to implementing D2L Brightspace, we were using a number of different platforms that did not integrate or talk to each other. It was really clunky and inefficient, and it did not provide a seamless user experience for our learners."

The onset of the pandemic necessitated a swift pivot to a 100% virtual classroom model from the previous format, where 98% of Property Council's courses were delivered face to face.

D2L Brightspace entered the picture toward the end of 2020 and was fully implemented by the first quarter of 2021. The principal objective was for the new Learning Management System (LMS) to manage the delivery of the Academy courses efficiently, expand the number of courses being offered, and introduce a self-paced learning approach. The goal was to attract a broader, more diverse audience from across the nation and regional Australia, thereby growing the Council's revenue and driving cost efficiencies.

By July 2021, Brightspace was successfully integrated with the Property Council Academy's virtual classroom platform, OnDemand, and its new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform. The Academy has since transformed its course delivery, offering digital learning experiences accessible anywhere, anytime, and on any device. This flexibility has greatly benefited learners, who can now complete their courses at their convenience.

Brightspace has substantially improved the Academy's members' learning experience. The platform allows course participants to upload their assessments directly, allowing educators to mark their work and provide feedback.

"Our members have found Brightspace to be very intuitive and user-friendly, easy to navigate, and the way the content is delivered is engaging as it can incorporate video, interactive elements and gamification," Kelly Jones highlighted.

The Property Council's online courses now possess dynamic content, including gamification aspects, educational videos, virtual classrooms, and hybrid content to blend self-paced online learning and classroom interaction.

"We've had a great experience with the account manager and the entire team at D2L, who listen to our feedback and work with us to resolve any issues we may have," said Jones. This new LMS, she believes, will "help us take Property Council Academy to the next level."