Case Study: Rochester Institute of Technology achieves more accessible, higher-performing learning with D2L Brightspace

Rochester Institute of Technology - Customer Case Study

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) needed a more accessible way to deliver online learning for a diverse student population, including deaf and hard-of-hearing students, learners with academic support needs, and students facing location-based access restrictions. Using D2L Brightspace, assistant professor Sandra Connelly set out to create a more inclusive, reliable classroom experience for her General Biology course.

With D2L Brightspace, Connelly built a one-stop course hub featuring 200 short, captioned lecture videos with an American Sign Language interpreter, plus quizzes, discussions, and gradebook integration. The results were strong: students spent 60% more time with course material, average class grades increased by 10%, and enrollment nearly doubled as the course’s accessibility and effectiveness spread by word of mouth.

Rochester Institute of Technology

Sandra Connelly

Assistant Professor