D2L: Education at Its Core Is Innately Human
A Q&A with D2L President Stephen Laster
In his career of more than 25 years, Stephen Laster has held top-level positions within higher education institutions as well as with technology companies that are key influencers of technology directions for education. And he's worked in an environment and at a time in which success is not a given for our higher education institutions.
Laster is currently at D2L, where he's recently celebrated his one-year anniversary and a promotion to president. The company is a place where he can focus his expertise on some of the most impactful technologies that the education market wants and needs to see.
Here, we ask him to comment on critical issues for education, on the technologies and practices that can help make a difference, and on the projects he's found most rewarding and productive. We ask him about his own education journey while he comments on some of the most important technology directions he's working on now with his colleagues and customers at D2L.
"If we're going to innovate and invent our way out of the significant challenges that society faces today world wide, then at the center of that there must be a well-educated populace." —Stephen Laster
Mary Grush: As a seasoned technology leader, you have a choice of industries and markets in which to apply your skills. What in your personal or career journey has influenced your commitment to working in education?
Stephen Laster: I have two children: One is a freshman in college, and the other a sophomore in high school. Similar to me, they are both profoundly dyslexic. My journey, of understanding learning both through my kids and through my own dyslexia, is a big part of why I continue to be so committed to the authentic use of education technology.
To unpack that a bit, I see now more than ever that we owe it to the world's population to provide access to high-quality education. If we're going to innovate and invent our way out of the significant challenges that society faces today world wide, then at the center of that there must be a well-educated populace.
At the same moment in time, the world continues to be so complex, that not only is there a world-wide shortage of master educators and teachers, but their jobs have gotten even more difficult. I would argue that you can see this both throughout the pandemic and in the way we now put pressures on universities to scaffold our students in ways that frankly weren't required when we were students at those same universities.
The world continues to be so complex, that not only is there a world-wide shortage of master educators and teachers, but their jobs have gotten even more difficult.
Grush: What will help? Some of the things you've mentioned here are relatively new challenges, but in terms of solutions, what are some tenets that you have been able to rely on over the years? What have you said in past professional contexts that you find remains true?
Laster: I've always said that education at its core is innately human. I think we've all been inspired in both formal and informal educational settings by people who have helped us grow and learn and develop. And, I think technology plays a tremendous role in creating more of those moments of inspiration.
I've always said that education at its core is innately human. I think we've all been inspired in both formal and informal educational settings by people who have helped us grow and learn and develop.
And to that, technology, applied well, helps students to understand where they are in their own learning journey. With some of the basic learning conveyed by technology, more time can be reserved for complex, human-driven applications. And well-applied technology allows us to scale in ways that are necessary — because for better or worse, we have a finite ability to provide and fund the number of educators that might be desirable otherwise.
Grush: How has that nature of education — as innately human — affected some of the turning points in your career and your own professional strategies?
Laster: For me, it's very personal. I made a decision, prior to taking my CIO position at Harvard Business School — that was right around 2010 — that I had to be, as part of my own private battle, very public about my dyslexia and become a role model for my children. In doing that, I've recognized the power of technology in my own journey, in some very fundamental ways.
Initially there was the basic personal computing technology. Back in the '70s, when the Apple II came out, that technology helped me transition from being a student failing high school history, to engaging in my school work as an honors student. And eventually there was my professional work with new technologies, from simulations and immersive experiences, to digital text books and learning resources…
Grush: And now?
Laster: And now, for me, D2L is the culmination of all that passion.
Grush: Can you talk a little more about that?
Laster: D2L has always, from Day One, been committed to transforming the way the world learns. So at a high level, what does that mean? And what are we excited about?
D2L has always, from Day One, been committed to transforming the way the world learns.
First, it may sound basic on the surface, but it's an idea that's not so easy to execute: It's taking the complexity out of how we learn. I've seen literally thousands of students drop out, or not complete, because it was too difficult for them to figure out where to go for that next learning experience.
I think a well-developed learning environment, like ours, makes the approach to understanding the curriculum and the course just very simple, and as such, even elegant. The student's work should not be in figuring out where to go next; it should be with mastering new ideas.
The student's work should not be in figuring out where to go next; it should be with mastering new ideas.
Second, we're creating an engaging learning environment. And when it's you, the learners, and the technology, it's community building. This is how learning pathways are constructed. And it's also the brilliant use of technology to give authentic feedback. We're using the community features we've proven we can do well with.
Finally, at D2L we are focused — obsessed, if you will — on the entire lifecycle: How do you construct the whole learning experience?
At D2L we are focused — obsessed, if you will — on the entire lifecycle: How do you construct the whole learning experience?
And then how do you put pedagogy and outcomes first? How do you lead academic designers and instructors? How do we leverage learner and instructor insights? These are the types of questions we are working on every day.
Grush: Can you tell me a little bit about how specific D2L products factor in to your "entire lifecycle" — and what projects and announcements you have been most excited about?
Laster: Sure. I think the most recent proof point of what I just shared here was the development and delivery to the market of Creator+. We launched this new offering in November 2022, developed in partnership with academic designers and faculty. The purpose and role of Creator+ is to make the native digital authoring environment accessible to practitioners, to make it easy to create an engaging and efficient — and absolutely beautiful — digital learning experience, with really powerful courseware, delivered on Brightspace.
Then, we have Performance+, which is our dashboarding solution, that allows for deep analytical observation and insight, added to Brightspace.
And of course, we have Brightspace itself, one of the most powerful learning platforms out there. We continue to innovate on it and to lead the way with competency-based, stackable, and modular learning. We've added assessments and innovations with Performance+. But the whole creation side was boosted substantially with the addition of Creator+, so now we are accounting strongly for the whole life cycle.
And another area where we are working is that transition out of the university into career and lifelong learning. We've introduced a product called Wave, which allows our university partners to access and address corporate learners more easily. We're embracing the notion of job transformation and that learning doesn't end after the university. Wave will help make sure that learning is accessible throughout one's career.
Grush: D2L is certainly covering all the bases for today's learning lifecycle. How are you looking to the future as the environment changes?
Laster: We subscribe to an agile organization. We are looking ahead, particularly near-term and medium term. What I've spoken about here is very near-term, with immediate benefits. We also have a lab that's experimenting with new types of interaction and new ways of using technology to learn. While I'm not able to comment specifically, I can assure you that we understand that the interface of technology needs to evolve. We're constantly looking into how to bring new types of interactions into our ways of learning. Remember, the company was founded by John Baker to transform the way the world learns. We'll be there, as the technology interface evolves.
We're constantly looking into how to bring new types of interactions into our ways of learning.
Grush: Do you feel that for your own two children, the learning environment is much different today than it was for you? Does their world, in terms of how they learn, look anything like yours did?
Laster: I feel like the learning environment today is unrecognizable from what mine was. The two worlds don't look anything like each other, except for one constant: The most impactful learning I've ever had was delivered by instructors who inspired me. For my kids, that remains a hundred percent true today, and I think ten years from now it will continue to be true.
I think the powerful thing about D2L is, we get that human relationship — and we get that education is innately human. We're using technology to make that stronger.