Member Article

International Cat Care selects D2L’s Brightspace to modernise online courses for vets

D2L, the learning-technology leader, announces that International Cat Care, a charity passionate about improving the care of cats, has selected its Brightspace learning experience platform to deliver a more engaging and interactive online learning experience for veterinary nurses studying the health and welfare of cats.

For over 50 years, International Cat Care has been raising the standard of treatment and care provided to cats by giving veterinary surgeons, boarding cattery operators, those involved in rescue work, breeders and cat owners information and resources to improve cat welfare. A critical part of its work is to provide education and good-quality training to its non-veterinary students studying for a Feline Behaviour iCatCare Certificate, as well as a number of International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM) courses on feline nursing and behaviour for vets and veterinary nurses.

Previously, the company was using a very basic learning platform that consisted of an online discussion forum where case notes and modules were shared and discussed. As the number of learners grew, International Cat Care realised it needed a sophisticated platform that would deliver a much more modern and interactive learning experience.

“We are passionate about our cause and aim to educate each learner on the behavioural needs of cats as efficiently as possible,” said Dr. Lizzie Rowe, distance education coordinator, International Cat Care. “Before using Brightspace, we had good content but we were struggling to deliver it effectively to our learners. Our system was very out of date. With an increasing number of learners, we needed to modernise to ensure we were providing the most engaging user experience that would enable us to grow. The majority of our learners work a normal 9-5 day so they have limited time, which meant we needed a platform that was practical, as well as inviting and easy to use.” International Cat Care conducted research to find the most suitable and engaging virtual environment in which to deliver its learning materials. After being whittled down to two VLEs, Brightspace was chosen for its flexibility, ease of use, mobile-responsive design and seamless course delivery.

“D2L and Brightspace stood out from the start – the platform is flexible and mature enough to manage all aspects of our courses, and requires very little tech know-how,” continued Rowe. “Since our initial rollout last October, we’ve been inundated with positive feedback. The platform has the ability to draw learners into the educational experience and is extremely intuitive, which is fantastic. The user-friendly interface and ability to collaborate, interact and communicate with each other has also proved to be particularly popular. We are continuing to expand our training programmes, with new courses now being offered to vets and other individuals that work in cat welfare, and we look forward to furthering the use of Brightspace as part of that.”

Brightspace is mobile, offers real-time analytics, a personalised learning experience and complete accessibility, all within one flexible VLE. The dynamic and mobile Daylight interface also enables International Cat Care to design courses easily, create content and grade assignments on any mobile device. “We’re extremely happy to be working with International Cat Care,” said Elliot Gowans, VP EMEA, D2L. “To help such a great cause provide a cutting-edge learning experience to those working to improve the welfare of cats is very rewarding. Brightspace’s flexibility and engaging interface is perfect for a company like this, where learners are based all over the world and often have very little time to learn outside their day job. We look forward to continuing our partnership.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by D2L .