implementing CBE programs. CBE's emphasis on ... degrees and programs such as nursing, where students ... Nightingale Co
Skills-Based Mastery for the Next Generation of Nurses Brightspace enables smooth adoption of competency-based learning at Nightingale College
Overview First popularized in the 1960s, competency-based
AT A GL ANCE
education (CBE) is an educational philosophy that puts
Client Nightingale College
the emphasis on a student’s mastery of skills versus
Students 200 full-time
time spent in the classroom.2 CBE is well-suited to older,
Staff 40
working students who may be returning to school to fin-
Level Post-secondary
ish a degree or enhance their credentials. It has
Institution Type Health Sciences
re-emerged as a key trend in education and has gained
Solution Brightspace Competency-Based
significant traction with policymakers and educators in
Education solution
the last several years. Colleges and universities across North America have been actively implementing CBE programs.
CHALLENGE • Previous LMS didn’t offer the ability to introduce competency-based education (CBE) programs effectively
CBE’s emphasis on skills mastery lends itself well to
• Poor process enforcement around
degrees and programs such as nursing, where students
conditional release of content
are required to demonstrate competency at the con-
• Instructors unable to accurately monitor
clusion of their learning to achieve professional accred-
and re-direct mastery of competencies
itation. Nightingale College, a nursing school located in
• Weak SCORM integration in previous LMS
Ogden, Utah, has fully embraced the CBE philosophy from its inception. Focused on supplying the new gener-
SOLUTION
ation of nurses to the US healthcare system, Nightingale
• A learning platform capable of supporting both
College’s faculty and staff are dedicated to equipping
CBE and traditional credit-based online learning models
students with the necessary knowledge and skills to im-
• Robust content release conditions that enable accurate
prove care outcomes and quality of life for each individu-
tracking and gating of students’ progress in
al, family, and community they serve.
self-paced learning model • Improved e-learning interoperability through implementation
Serving students living in predominately rural locations,
of more robust SCORM integration
Nightingale needed a learning management system (LMS) that could fully support a CBE methodology and
RESULT1
provide students with a hybrid environment that
• 70 students and three full-time faculty up and running in pilot
supports both online and skills-based learning.
program in two weeks • Better student adherence to course requirements and competency achievement • Better ability for instructors to monitor students’ mastery of competencies
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1 Results provided by Nightingale College Malan, SPT. “The ‘new Paradigm’ of Outcomes-based Education in Perspective.” Journal of Family Ecology and Consumer Sciences /Tydskrif Vir Gesinsekologie En Verbruikerswetenskappe 28.1 (2000): n. pag. Web.
Challenge Along with personalized care, Nightingale College takes a
“We began using an LMS system right out of the gate,
modern approach to learning by mixing traditional meth-
and we were the second school to use this particular
ods with modern technology. In its implementation of
technology platform, using it for student course work, as
CBE, Nightingale has integrated technology-based learn-
a student service centre, and as a faculty meeting place,”
ing tools, including high fidelity simulation and interactive
says Nelson. “But we struggled with the solution’s ability
online learning modules, as well as an LMS.
to support CBE. The Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM)—the de facto industry standard for
“From the very outset, our President and CEO, Mikhail
e-learning interoperability—didn’t integrate well, and the
Shneyder, emphasized that Nightingale would be a com-
solution’s release conditions were poor. In a CBE model,
petency-based college,” explains Aaron Nelson, Manager,
students learn at their own pace, and the LMS should
Learning Resources at Nightingale College. “As a new
be able to track that process and progress a student
school, we have no entrenched mindset and our nursing
forward based on milestones reached. For instance, a
program is a great fit, with all of our students coming
student might be asked to read an assignment and
to us with an existing general college background. The
participate in a related discussion on the topic. In the
majority of our students do their academic course work
first LMS, there was no enforced process and no way of
online, learning at their own pace, then do their practi-
ensuring that a student was following the required steps.
cums at clinics and hospitals close to where they live.”
That’s pretty important when you are trying to demonstrate mastery in a nursing program.”
Recognizing that an LMS provides a vital backbone for CBE and a hybrid model of educational delivery, Night-
It was determined that Nightingale needed to move for-
ingale invested early in LMS technology. They initially
ward with a new LMS that could better support the CBE
implemented a Brightspace competitor’s technology. As
model.
the college moved forward with the CBE model, however, it found its inaugural LMS solution falling short.
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Solution In their search for a replacement LMS, Nelson and the
“Students and faculty took to Brightspace pretty fast,”
evaluation team looked at a wide range of candidates:
says Nelson. “In fact, the instructors are teaching me a
10 solutions in total. They narrowed the field down to a
few new things.”
shortlist of three before coming to the consensus that Brightspace was the right fit for the college.
“D2L was fantastic to work with. They took us by the hand and handled everything: training our teachers, helping
“Brightspace offered us an answer to our technical
structure our coursework, and providing technical sup-
challenges. It had a robust SCORM integration and very
port,” Nelson says of D2L’s implementation and project
well-defined release conditions,” says Nelson. The D2L
management teams. “They also provided us with experts
sales team also scored high marks for their attentiveness.
on CBE who gave guidance on best practices and CBE
“We’re a small school and we felt many of the vendors simply didn’t think we were worth their while. This was
principles. Overall, it was a really good implementation period.”
not so with D2L. They were very responsive and sent a team to do an onsite presentation. They devoted time
Nelson points to one circumstance where Nightingale re-
and effort to us, and that was greatly appreciated.”
ceived over-the-top customer service from the team. “We found a file had been deleted from the SCORM package.
A year after embarking on the search for a new LMS
It caused 29 broken links in one of our courses. Our stu-
platform, Nelson and the Nightingale team are near the
dents were dead in the water. We called D2L support and
completion of their implementation. “We took a phased
immediately they had two teams troubleshooting the
approach, running both the existing and Brightspace
problem. They put a call into our D2L project managers
platforms in parallel so that we didn’t create too much
who were able to identify where the problem originated
disruption for students and faculty,” explains Nelson.
and it was fixed in two hours. In my mind, that’s going the next mile in terms of support.”
Approximately 70 new students coming into the program began working with Brightspace. They use the LMS to access course work online at their own pace, connect with faculty, and interact with each other. In addition to the pilot group of students, three full-time faculty members were migrated over to the Brightspace platform and are actively using the LMS for the courses they are teaching.
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Result The students and faculty using Brightspace today are finding the platform quite intuitive. In the next phase, Nightingale will migrate all students and faculty over to the new platform. “I think it takes about two weeks to get people up and running and feeling comfortable with the platform,” says Nelson. “Of course, there are comparisons made between the old and new systems, but that is to be expected. The more everyone becomes comfortable in the Brightspace environment, the more it all makes sense.” The improved process enforcement with Brightspace has the ability to incorporate release conditions, making it more difficult for students to skim over critical parts of program learning. “Students now realize they actually have to do all the steps and that the work is required and not a nice to have. It’s amazing how fast they are coming around,” chuckles Nelson. Nightingale College has much bigger plans ahead. “We have a very attractive education model with our students able to graduate with an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) in about a year and a half. Currently Nightingale is operating only in Utah, but we have ambitious plans to scale our model nationwide.” He goes on to explain, “There is a significant shortage of nurses in the United States today, and yet traditional nursing schools have only so many spots, so many capable students fail to be accepted. This creates opportunity for Nightingale to serve that demand and opportunity for Brightspace to be a critical part of the solution.”
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About D2L D2L is the software leader that makes the learning experience better. The company’s cloud-based platform—Brightspace—is not a common one-size-fits-all learning management system (LMS). It’s easier to use, more flexible, and smart. With Brightspace, you can personalize the experience for every learner to deliver real results. The company is also a world leader in learning analytics: its platform predicts learner performance so that you can take action in real time to keep them on track. Brightspace is used by learners in higher education, K–12, and the enterprise sector, including the Fortune 1000. D2L has operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Brazil, and Singapore. | www.brightspace.com CONTAC T US
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