Mount Royal wins D2L Excellence Award

Mount Royal University has won a D2L 2026 Excellence Award.

The annual awards from D2L, a global leader in learning innovation, celebrate leaders, educators and trainers who have used D2L Brightspace to foster innovative, accessible and engaging learning experiences. Global nominations were submitted for an individual, team, program or organization.

“We are delighted to celebrate the many innovative ways our customers are using D2L Brightspace to transform the way people learn,” said John Baker, CEO of D2L. “The 2026 Excellence Award winners show what’s possible when the right design and technology is leveraged to have a bigger impact on outcomes. These excellence awards reflect the power of learning to unlock potential in people, support communities and achieve elevated impact across K-12, higher education and corporate learning.”

MRU received the award for Desire to Indigenize – Learning from a Blackfoot Odyssey. Assistant Professor Dr. Christopher Grignard, PhD, Blackfoot (Kainai) Elder and Niitsitapi ceremonialist Joe Eagle Tail Feathers (Iitsooahp’potah), and eLearning Developer Khethwen Woo, from MRU’s Academic Development Centre, reimagined D2L Brightspace as an authentic digital learning sacred space grounded in Blackfoot knowledge, ethical collaboration and treaty relationship. The initiative supports MRU’s Indigenization and decolonization goals while creating a culturally respectful online learning experience that has inspired students, faculty and other institutions exploring how Brightspace can support community-grounded learning. MRU was one of only eight winners from around the world and the only Canadian post-secondary awarded this year.

According to Dr. Chad London, PhD, provost and vice-president, Academic, and Dr. Karim Dharamsi, PhD, vice-provost, Academic, “Central to the work is the principle of ethical relationality. The collaboration with Elder Joe Eagle Tail Feathers is not ancillary to the project — it is foundational — grounding the course in respect for the stewardship of Indigenous knowledge, clearly articulated protocols of engagement and a sustained commitment to reciprocity.”

For Eagle Tail Feathers, the growing interest from other institutions represented something larger than recognition. It reflected the hope that Indigenous communities could share their own knowledge, voices and ways of learning within digital spaces shaped by their own territories and experiences.

“I shared what I have shared with MRU in the hope that others could do something similar. I shared so that others can learn,” Eagle Tail Feathers said.

"When Chris first told me that SIPI [Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute] was interested in doing something similar with their Brightspace as a result of what we have done, I said this was what I wanted to happen. I want all the Native people of this land to be heard and acknowledged. I want our neighbours, the white people, to learn about the Native point of view from the Native people in their area as we have done where we are located.”

In recognition of the work’s pedagogical innovation, Grignard was selected as a recipient of the Innovative Pedagogies Award as part of MRU’s 2026 Faculty Excellence Awards. John Fischer, interim associate vice-president, Indigenization and Decolonization at MRU, described Blackfoot Odyssey as an “excellent example of indigenization and decolonialization of curriculum as expressed in the Indigenization and Decolonization Strategic Framework,” highlighting both the Blackfoot content and the way it was communicated through a digital learning environment using D2L Brightspace.

"For me, this award represents what is possible when members of our MRU community work collaboratively not only with each other but also with members of the Indigenous community,” Grignard said. “There must be a desire to Indigenize, and more importantly, that desire must be put into meaningful action. Thanks to the D2L Excellence Award, the global D2L community will learn about the Indigenization work taking place at MRU as well as the importance of treaty relationship and ethical space."