Digital Learning at Trent embraces the principles of digital pedagogy; an approach that thoughtfully integrates technology with purposeful, research informed teaching practices. These integrations enhance access, engagement, and meaningful learning in online spaces. Digital pedagogy leverages tools to design learning experiences that promote equity, flexibility, and connection, whether students are on campus or learning at a distance. At the Trent Teaching Commons, our Digital Learning team supports this work by bringing together eLearning designers, educational technologists, administrative support, and a multimedia specialist who collaborate to create dynamic, high-quality digital learning environments like online courses and educational resources.
According to the 2025 Pan-Canadian Report on Digital Learning Trends from the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association, “the primary reasons driving student preferences for online or hybrid learning are to manage competing priorities [and] cost savings”. The Trent Teaching Commons digital learning team partners closely with faculty to develop online courses that expand program flexibility through a strategic mix of online offerings. The emphasis on student choice and accessibility is part of a broader effort to enhance the opportunity for deep, meaningful learning in digital space.
Beyond course development, the Digital Learning team leads special projects that enrich teaching and learning across the university, including the creation of open educational resources tailored to the needs of specific programs, as well as full-scale digital media production such as podcasts, educational video series, and other forms of scholarly media. Whether you’re exploring online course design for the first time or envisioning a digital innovation within your program, we’re here to support you in bringing your ideas to life.
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Online Course Development and Support
Looking to develop or re-design an online course? See how we can help make that happen!
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Blackboard Support
Need help optimizing your Blackboard for the best learner outcomes? Our team can help with that!
E-Book of One's Own Foundations Micro-credential
An e-book of one’s own is a simplified version of a learning practice called “Domain of One’s Own” which was in turn inspired by Virginia Woolf’s book “A Room of One’s Own”. Woolf’s book had the central premise that without the time, space, and resources to write, a woman cannot engage in free expression. We believe the same holds true for any student. Give a student the right space to work and they will be able to freely express themselves. One of the difficulties of a Domain of One’s Own (DoOO) is the high bar for digital fluency one must have to get started. Hence this simplified approach, an e-Book of One’s Own.
Big Shiny Courses: Now on Blackboard Ultra
Are you ready to take your course design to the next level with Blackboard Ultra? The Trent Teaching Commons is pleased to introduce Ultra Big Shiny Courses; an enhanced and reimagined set of supports designed specifically for Blackboard Ultra as we approach the Fall 2026 deadline for all courses to move to the new platform.
Open Educational Resources
In 2021 and 2022 several projects at Trent received over $900,000 through the province's Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS) to develop and improve digital content and capacity. The results? Seven high-quality and expertly crafted open educational resources developed by Trent faculty and in collaboration with the Trent Teaching Commons, and students, instructors, and designers across the province.
