Project Opportunity
During the University of Waterloo’s 2022-2023 Learning Management System (LMS) review, many instructors identified a desire for more interactive tools within LEARN to better engage students. The review highlighted that there were LMS features that were underused, particularly those that could support active learning and diverse learning needs.
To respond to this feedback, the Teaching Innovation Incubator piloted Creator+ (C+), a D2L add-on tool designed to help instructors create interactive content directly within LEARN. This pilot explored whether Creator+ could offer a practical and user-friendly way for instructors to design more engaging online learning experiences.
Teaching and Learning Innovation
Creator+ is an engagement tool integrated into D2L Brightspace (Waterloo LEARN) that allows instructors and course designers to build interactive learning materials directly within their courses. Through C+, instructors were able to:
-
Improve how students navigate and interact with course content through visual design elements
-
Embed formative checks and practice quizzes for understanding within lessons
-
Break complex concepts into smaller, interactive learning steps
Incubation Timeline: September 2023 - August 2025
Project Goals
Evaluate the efficacy of Creator+ to determine how it can be used to better support UW students in their learning (e.g., engagement, ease of use, potential learning improvement).
Create resources for instructors to support adoption and piloting of tool.
Compare Creator+ to similar interactive content tools used at UW (e.g., Mobius, H5P) to determine if it can meet (or exceed) current use cases.
Determine whether Creator+ should be licensed long-term at the University of Waterloo.
Key Insights and Evidence
Who participated?
During the initial roll-out of the pilot, C+ saw uptake from across campus including:
-
92 requests from instructors for C+ integration into an academic course
-
79 requests from instructors and/or staff for C+ integration into a development/sandbox environments1
-
11 requests from instructors and/or staff for C+ integration into professional development courses and/or online community groups
Despite the initial high interest expressed by stakeholders, usage data revealed that C+ was used in:
-
39 academic courses, 17 PD courses, and 49 test environments during the pilot period.
Project Team
Pam Fluttert, Director (Instructional Technology and Media Services)
Scott Anderson, Supervisor, Learning Environment (Instructional Technology and Media Services)
Daspina Fekekos, Computing Consultant (Instructional Technology and Media Services)
Incubator Project Team
Kyle Scholz, Interim Managing Director
Sarah Seabrook, Strategic Projects, Communications and Community Engagement Specialist
Natasha Cardinal, Undergraduate Research Coordinator
Jessica Hoang, Undergraduate Research Coordinator
What we experienced:
Feedback from instructors and staff was collected through surveys, workshops, and focus groups with C+ users. Relevant students were identified via course data where C+ was used and solicited focus group feedback with renumeration provided. Here's what we found:
Significant time was required for instructors to redesign course delivery when using C+. Instructors report this as a barrier to adoption for course use.
Intentionally limited campus wide roll-out of C+ to manage support demand and existing capacity constraints.
Uncertainty about long-term access to C+ which discouraged experimentation amongst instructors and staff.
Outcome
Based on these findings, Waterloo did not continue with Creator+ licensing. As such, Creator+ will no longer be available for creating new interactive content in LEARN.
The University remains committed to supporting instructors through this transition and to exploring sustainable alternatives for interactive content creation in the future. If you are interested in using interactive content, the Centre for Extended Learning’s Agile Development Team (ADT) can support you. Submit a ticket to ADT to be added to the support queue.
Reasons for non-continuation
-
Usability and workflow challenges created added complexity for instructors and support teams.
-
Scalability concerns across Waterloo’s diverse academic programs especially when other engagement tools are already centrally funded (e.g., Mobius, H5P).
-
Uncertainty in long-term support capacity amid evolving institutional priorities.
-
Cost-to-value concerns particularly in today’s constrained higher-education funding environment.
A campus survey further highlighted capacity challenges, as over half of the responding instructors supported the idea of interactive content, but only one-third indicated they had the time or resources to adopt it. Additionally, students expressed a strong preference for in-person engagement, which further shaped the overall decision.