University of Notre Dame Australia - UNDA

Role: Learning Designer

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Overview

Since 2022, I have been a Learning Designer at UNDA, where I have combined learning design expertise with technical development to support teaching, learning, and administration. My work spans both Blackboard Original and Blackboard Ultra, building consistent course experiences, coding custom HTML/CSS/JavaScript applications, and delivering institution-wide projects like the Homepage Hub. Alongside LMS design, I have built systems in Power Apps and Power Automate to manage assets, track workflows, and automate repetitive processes.

The audiences I serve are diverse: academic staff needing support to design and deliver courses, professional staff seeking more efficient systems, and students who benefit from clearer, more accessible learning environments. Constraints include working within the technical limitations of Blackboard, ensuring WCAG 2.2 compliance, and building scalable solutions that can be used across multiple campuses, faculties, and departments.

Process

  • Blackboard Original & Pathways/VET Support
    I worked with departments, including Pathways and VET, to improve course design and consistency in Blackboard Original. I supported academic teams through design consultation, resource development, and customised templates to meet program needs.
  • Homepage Hub (Blackboard Original)
    To address the challenge of fragmented navigation across courses, I co-designed and coded a Homepage Hub using HTML and Bootstrap. This hub centralised key information, links, and resources, giving students a consistent entry point across courses and faculties. The design balanced visual appeal with accessibility, ensuring staff could easily update and maintain it.
  • University-Wide Homepage Hub
    Building on this success, I was part of the core implementation team for the Homepage Hub, a university-wide project that, together with a new course outline and assessment template, reached nearly 3,000 courses.
  • University-Wide Homepage Hub (Blackboard Ultra)
    Building on this success, I led the design of the Ultra Homepage Hub, a project rolled out university-wide. This hub provided a standardised home page for all courses, embedding key university resources while allowing space for faculty-level customisation. It simplified navigation for students and improved the consistency of course presentation across the institution.
  • Blackboard Ultra Applications
    I developed custom applications hosted directly in Blackboard Ultra’s content collection, using plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These included:
    • A Banner Maker, adapted and rebuilt from the University of Arkansas Global Campus solution, to help staff create consistent, branded course banners.
    • A Module Icon Maker, also adapted and rebuilt from the University of Arkansas Global Campus solution, to enable staff to design and apply accessible, consistent icons for their modules and folders.
    • An interactive checklist generator to support student progress tracking
    • An assessment table and overview generator to standardise assessment information for staff
    • An HTML embed generator to simplify the integration of rich media and custom code into Ultra courses
    • A package editor to support the conversion of learning content and files from Blackboard Original to Ultra.
  • Asset Management System
    Using Power Apps and Power Automate, I built a technology loan system to manage requests, track availability, and automate approvals. The system connected SharePoint data with a streamlined staff-facing interface, replacing manual processes with efficient, transparent workflows.
  • Workflow Tracking and Automations
    I created the I&D Efficiency Assistant, an internal tool that integrates with SharePoint and Jira to track requests, projects, and teaching support. This system automated repetitive tasks, centralised communication, and gave leadership clear visibility of team workload and project status.

Throughout all of these initiatives, I worked closely with staff to sketch user flows, prototype in accessible code, and test directly within Ultra pages to ensure each solution was practical and user-friendly.

Outcome

The impact of my work at UNDA has been felt across multiple levels of the university. Academic staff now have access to consistent course templates, interactive applications, and home hubs that improve both teaching efficiency and the student learning experience. Students benefit from simplified navigation, clearer assessment information, and more accessible digital environments.

Operationally, the asset management system and workflow tracking tools have reduced administrative burden, improved transparency, and freed staff time for higher-value work. Staff adoption of Blackboard Ultra has grown, supported by the rollout of university-wide tools and training. Feedback consistently highlights that these solutions are easy to use, accessible, and make a tangible difference to everyday teaching and administration.

Operationally, the asset management system and workflow tracking tools have reduced administrative burden, improved transparency, and freed staff time for higher-value work. Staff adoption of Blackboard Ultra has grown, supported by the rollout of university-wide tools and training. Feedback consistently highlights that these solutions are easy to use, accessible, and make a tangible difference to everyday teaching and administration.

Demo

Preview of the Blackboard Ultra Application