Challenge: Connecting learning in Microsoft 365

Aston University is based in Birmingham, UK, and is ranked highly by students for their learning experience. However, the University’s 2,000 staff did not have access to learning opportunities that were fit for purpose.

The team was seeking a new platform that would align with Aston University’s status as a learning organisation and drive learning adoption for its staff. It needed to be easy to use and manage, integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365, and provide advanced reporting.

“We have very high engagement with the platform. There’s hundreds of people using it on a daily basis. We’ve improved compliance and the levels of mandatory training completed. At last, we’re able to report more accurately on the learning carried out.”

Beth Lloyd, Director, Organisational Development

Solution: Driving LMS adoption

As a higher education institution, Aston University prides itself on being a learning organisation. However, the corresponding learning experience for staff was poor, with no proper Learning Management System (LMS) in place.

Beth Lloyd, Director, Organisational Development commented, “As a university, we should provide a great user experience for staff to access development opportunities. We wanted to change the culture of learning among staff, transforming the experience so it is consistent, streamlined, and gives staff and their managers oversight into development.”

Without a true LMS, learning was also difficult and time-consuming to administer. Anna Kielek, Organisational Development Coordinator, comments:

We had to do everything manually across multiple systems. eLearning was housed on a system that wasn’t fit for purpose and we had issues with completions, registering certificates, and reporting.

Determined to find a robust platform that could transform learning at the University, the team started to review a number of different solutions.

Beth Lloyd shared, “We wanted a platform that was attractive and easy to use so that people would easily adopt it and engage with learning, especially as some staff are less confident with technology.”

As well as the right look and feel, the team had a shopping list of requirements including advanced reporting to meet compliance requirements, automated invitations, and the ability to integrate with Microsoft 365.

Beth Lloyd explained:

We looked at lots of solutions and then a colleague suggested Learn365 (aka LMS365).  The integration with Microsoft Teams was really attractive, and also the look and feel. We really liked the simplicity of it.

Anna Kielek adds, “Because Learn365 is based on SharePoint and our staff work daily with Microsoft 365, the platform already felt familiar to users.”

The experience with the Zensai team was also highly positive.

We liked that the Zensai team felt like a start-up, which was a good fit for us. They were very open to listening to what we wanted, and they really welcomed our feedback. And unlike some other solution providers, all their conversations with us were non-technical.  Our overall customer experience with Zensai has been very good.

The Essential LMS Ingredient

Setting up Learn365 also proved to be straightforward with the team receiving strong support from UK-based Zensai partner Essential.

Beth Lloyd comments, “The team at Essential have been super supportive and are very hands-on. They gave us expert advice on getting the look and feel right and integrating our colours and brand. They continue to be there when we need something or if we’ve any issues.

We were able to add courses and do the basics pretty much straightaway. Being able to pick this up quickly definitely made the whole move much easier.”

After only three months, Learn365 from Zensai – branded internally as iLearn – launched to all staff in November 2023.

Anna Kielek adds, “Essential trained all our admin users and now I’m more familiar with the system I’ve requested other training sessions. They’re always available and super helpful. The support has been really great.”

The team also found Learn365 easy to set up.

Results: Human success that drives LMS adoption

How Learn365 enables human success at Aston University:

1. Aligning learning for employees with the University’s wider role as a learning institution.
2. Empowering employees to manage their own learning with an expanding course catalogue and visible employee dashboard.
3. Bringing learning together into one place with a simple, intuitive and attractive experience that employees want to use.
4. Streamlining learning management for administrators and learning architects, saving countless hours in time and a huge reduction in effort.
5. Empowering analytics to feed into the University’s core compliance reporting processes, and enabling continual improvement across the learning ecosystem.

To date, the launch of iLearn has been highly successful. Beth Lloyd shares, “Usually when we introduce a new system, we get a lot of pushback and people don’t want to engage. We haven’t had that at all with iLearn! Learn365 has improved the user experience, and we’re already seeing greater adoption and engagement.”

Anna Kielek attributes some of the healthy levels of adoption to the increased visibility of the learning available for staff.

The course catalogue is now visible for everyone. For the first time people can browse and find topics they’re interested in like leadership and management and see what’s available. People are picking courses that they wouldn’t have taken before.

Learn365’s employee dashboard also gives learners a convenient overview of courses taken as well as any required mandatory training. Since launch, the team has also introduced a dashboard that allows managers to track their team’s learning.

Another strength of iLearn is the wide range of courses that are available. So far there are around 300 courses covering everything from leadership to how to use software. From compliance-related courses in areas like Health & Safety to specialist training targeted to groups such as postgraduate researchers. The platform is also being used for employee onboarding. 

We have a new starters page which directs people to iLearn to do all their mandatory training.

Employees can also access the University’s catalog of classroom-based courses, while online events are housed in a new “Events Hub”. Training plans are also found on Learn365.  

The initial success of the platform has increased the number of departments across Aston University keen to add their own content. This is another way the university has driven adoption of the LMS. Anna Kielek comments:

We have learning architects spread through the university. We’ve had several teams approach us who haven’t been part of the learning journey before.

Beth Lloyd adds, “This week I’ve had two emails from people asking how they put courses onto iLearn. The platform has gained momentum really quickly!”

Future: Driving adoption of the mobile LMS

Going forward, the team intends to continue to expand the number of courses, but also evolve iLearn.  

We’re keen to explore some of the other functionality within Learn365. One of the next steps on our journey is to use more mixed media, particularly video.

Anna Kielek adds, “We’re also looking at the skills feature. I think that something that staff would jump on if we launched it.”

The team plans to launch the Learn365 mobile app for frontline staff. Beth Lloyd comments:

We have many staff who don’t have easy access to a laptop including cleaners, caterers, estate staff and even lab technicians. Providing access on a mobile device would allow people to complete training at a time that’s convenient for them.

The team is also investigating how they can use the wider Zensai platform for performance management.

The team also regularly talks to their peers in other universities about their positive experiences with Learn365.  Beth Lloyd comments:

We always say if you haven’t launched an LMS before and you’re not technically savvy, then consider Learn365. We’ve found it very straightforward to get up and running in a short space of time. It’s really intuitive. It looks good and it’s easy to adopt. The Zensai team are open to our ideas and their customer service is second to none.

About Aston University

Aston University is based in Birmingham, UK, and is consistently ranked highly by students and in surveys. Recognised as a University since 1966, its origins stretch back to 1895. The University employs 1,500 people with a further 1,000 casual staff. It has a strong reputation in subject areas such as engineering, health, and business.