LEARN
LEARN is the University of Waterloo's learning management system. It enables instructors to manage course materials, activities and assessments and to interact easily and efficiently with their students outside the physical classroom. (It's basically Google Classroom for Waterloo)
LEARN is an instance of D2L Brightspace.
History
Before LEARN, the University of Waterloo used an LMS called UW-ACE (Angel Course Environment), which was based on Angel Learning Inc.'s software. After Angel was acquired by competitor Blackboard, Waterloo decided to replace UW‑ACE with a more sustainable and feature-rich system, rather than migrating to Blackboard.
In 2011, the University formally announced that D2L would replace UW-ACE as the centrally supported learning management system, with migration occurring over the next year (University of Waterloo Daily Bulletin, March 17, 2011).
D2L (Desire2Learn) was founded in 1999 by John Baker, a University of Waterloo student, making LEARN a system with local roots. D2L developed the Brightspace platform, which became the core of the LEARN system. Around 2014, the D2L product line was rebranded as Brightspace (ASA Newsletter, 2015).
Trivia
- LEARN is always capitalized. I do not know why. I don't think it stands for anything.