Case Study: Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) achieves continuous, accessible learning and improved engagement with D2L Brightspace

How the UCDSB Uses the VLE

The Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB), serving over 27,000 students across 78 schools, needed a reliable way to keep learning consistent across a large, rural region with frequent inclement weather, a strong demand for e‑learning and blended models, staff professional development needs, and credit‑recovery cases. Teachers also needed a solution that was easy for students to navigate and that supported both in‑person and remote continuity when buses were cancelled or students were absent.

UCDSB uses Ontario’s VLE (Brightspace) to embed interactive tools (Desmos, Excel, videos), deliver announcements, assignments, portfolios and mobile notifications, and host professional learning. Teachers report easy customization and strong student uptake (75–80% sign‑in spikes on snow days), faster feedback, better organization, and uninterrupted instruction — enabling effective e‑learning, blended classes, timely support during closures, and improved outcomes for catch‑up and credit recovery.

UCDSB

Kevin Gray

Teacher