“It’s So Intuitive!”: How Anthology Adopt Helped Southern Cross University Build Connection with Remote Learners
With the help of Anthology Adopt powered by Pendo, Southern Cross University provided a smooth and supportive transition to users as they upgraded the Blackboard interface.
Institution Type: Public
Location: Gold Coast, Lismore, and Coffs Harbour, Australia
Southern Cross University (SCU) was founded on January 1, 1994, with the goal of mirroring the famous constellation of the same name and illuminating a prosperous path for thousands of young Australians. And, unlike most New Year’s resolutions, SCU has been unwavering in this pursuit and has grown over the last three decades to become a higher education powerhouse in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
While SCU has three main campuses in Lismore, the Gold Coast, and Coffs Harbour, as well as satellite locations across the country, a staggering 43% of its 17,000+ students are now fully online, including many from remote areas and underprivileged backgrounds. As a result, maintaining an engaging online learning environment is crucial, as is ensuring that technology updates are clearly communicated and that learners feel supported during times of change.
The Challenge
Ensuring a Smooth Transition to Blackboard Base Navigation
To provide the most modern and streamlined learning experience for students, SCU decided to update their Anthology® Blackboard instance and implement base navigation. The transition date was set for April 2024, as part of a staggered rollout to migrate courses and move to the full Ultra experience.
The team at SCU recognized that this was a significant change for both learners and instructors, as right from the first time they entered the learning management system (LMS), they would be met with a completely new interface. They knew that channels such as email and their website were important but ultimately wouldn’t reach all users, so they needed a means of communicating the changes within the LMS itself. Previously, they had used IMPACT by Instructure® for this purpose. However, they found that the campaigns weren’t engaging and were cumbersome and time-consuming to set up.
We wanted to make sure students weren’t overwhelmed during the transition, particularly those who study remotely and don’t have the option to ask questions to staff on campus.
Dr. Shelley Barfoot, System Analyst, Technology Services, Southern Cross University
The Solution
A Detailed Walk-Through Guide from Anthology Adopt
As part of their preparations for Blackboard base navigation, SCU made the switch to Anthology® Adopt and prepared an engaging, twelve-step guide to support the transition. The guide, which all users had to complete the first time they signed in to the LMS, covered all the vital information about how the Blackboard interface had changed, and passed through each menu option to explain the related content and functionality. The final step allowed users to provide feedback on the new experience.
Insights Delivered
Adopt Is Both More Efficient and More Engaging
The team at SCU instantly noted that Adopt offered an improved experience. The process of creating the guide was simple, while the output was professional and engaging. The opportunity to easily include multimedia such as video made a big difference to the quality of the walk-through. The ability to download guides and share them internally helped facilitate approval processes and alignment across the institution.
It’s so intuitive! You just make a light box, put some words in and you've already got something that's really polished. Adopt really is much simpler—other tools are time-consuming, and we don’t have time to spare.
Dr. Shelley Barfoot, System Analyst, Technology Services, Southern Cross University
The option to include feedback at the end of the guide provided two crucial benefits. Firstly, it allowed SCU to quickly understand user sentiment and address any areas of confusion. Adopt’s analytics meant that they could analyze this information separately for students and faculty and devise a unique follow-up plan for each where required. Secondly, it meant that students were far less likely to provide feedback via other channels—such as to their Help Desk team—reducing the strain on technology support resources and allowing them to focus on the upgrade process.
Based on the success of this initial guide, SCU has since expanded its plans for Adopt and applied it in a range of different scenarios. They have created guides to highlight features in the LMS that were being underused, such as filtering the grades tab, and plan to continue doing so as new innovative features arrive in each monthly Blackboard release. They have also begun to interrogate Adopt’s insights on workflows to better understand user behavior and to align targeting with user roles in Blackboard to allow for more focused campaigns in the future.
Now that we’ve successfully implemented base navigation, I’m really excited to further explore all the ways that Adopt can improve the learning experience for both students and faculty.
Dr. Shelley Barfoot, System Analyst, Technology Services, Southern Cross University
Epilogue
Both Anthology and Pendo thank Dr. Shelley Barfoot and her team at Southern Cross University for their partnership and willingness to embrace new technologies that advance learning. Dr. Barfoot spoke in May at the Asia-Pacific Blackboard users’ meetup on how Adopt has benefited Southern Cross University, and we’re tremendously grateful for her support and advocacy.
