Taylor’s University has spent years building a reputation for quality. Ranked among the top one percent of universities globally and within the top thirty in Asia, the institution has been clear about its ambition. As Ts. Dr. Enna Ayub, Director – Digital Learning Experience at Taylor’s Digital, explained, Taylor’s recently revised its strategic vision “to deliver quality education in the region, and to be recognised internationally for the quality of our work.”
That focus on quality became especially important as the university looked beyond its physical campus. Like many institutions across the region, Taylor’s was responding to shifts accelerated by the pandemic.
“After COVID,” Enna said, “the world realised that you don’t have to go to school to learn.” Geography mattered less, expectations changed, and learners increasingly wanted education that could fit around work and life.
One response was the launch of Taylor’s 100% Online Postgraduate Programme, a fully online pathway designed for working adults. The programme began in 2023 and currently includes six postgraduate offerings, ranging from education and business to applied computing and global hospitality management. From the outset, the stakes were high. These learners would experience Taylor’s entirely online, and the quality of that experience would reflect directly on the university’s reputation.
“Our priority,” Enna said, “is to ensure that learners studying 100% in this online environment enjoy an engaging and high-quality learning experience.”
A different context, a different set of risks
The learners Taylor’s set out to serve through the Online Postgraduate Programme were not traditional undergraduates. They were professionals, often balancing careers and families alongside study. That reality shaped every design decision.
“Working adults,” Enna explained, “you’re busy. You’re professionals. So when you come into your learning environment, you just want to know what you need to do.”
For these learners, time spent navigating cluttered interfaces or searching for information is time taken away from learning itself. “Adult learners,” she added, “don’t need to see anything not related to what they need to know.”
The risk, then, wasn’t simply whether courses could be delivered online, but whether the experience would feel coherent, supportive, and credible at scale. A sub-standard or frustrating experience wouldn’t just inconvenience learners—it would undermine confidence in the programme and, by extension, the institution.
As Enna put it, “A really great LMS will determine whether the learner has a great learning experience.”
Choosing a different LMS for a different job
Taylor’s did not approach this challenge by replacing its existing systems. Across the wider university, a long-established learning management system continues to support on-campus and blended delivery. Canvas, by contrast, was introduced specifically for the Online Postgraduate Programme.
“Our usage of Canvas,” Enna said, “is specifically for the online distance learning programme.”
That separation was intentional. The existing platform, which had been used for many years, was well suited to conventional, lecturer-managed courses. However, it was not designed for the kind of experience Taylor’s wanted to create for fully online postgraduate learners.
“Our legacy LMS is more for the conventional course,” Enna explained. “The way it’s been set up is that lecturers can set it up themselves. For the Online Postgraduate Programme, that model came with limitations, as we are exploring an interface that can offer greater flexibility and customisation to deliver a cleaner, more streamlined UI/UX experience.”
Meaningful customisation of the UI/UX would have required dedicated development resources, something the team did not have. “With [our legacy LMS], you would need to have your own team of technical developers at the back end, which we didn’t have, and it’s quite pricey to maintain,” Enna said.
“As the Online Postgraduate Programme took shape within Canvas LMS, questions began to emerge about how else we could further enhance the learner experience. This prompted us to explore a more holistic approach to the entire digital ecosystem.”
Building quality first through LMS scaffolding and design
Rather than rushing to scale, Taylor’s took a measured approach to building the online experience. In the early stages, learning designers played a central role in shaping courses and supporting academics.
“It’s scaffolded,” Enna said. “It wasn’t a perfect environment, but we were building something and moving towards it.” At launch, most lecturers were new to Canvas, so responsibility for course development in Canvas and maintenance sat primarily with the learning design team.
“The ones familiar with the system were the learning designers,” she explained. “In the beginning, when we launched the programme, it was very much guided and scaffolded by them.”
This work was supported by a broader team of specialists, including video production, learning technologists, ICT support, and graphic designers. Together, they focused on transforming content that had once been delivered face to face into an online experience that felt purposeful rather than transactional.
“We want to build an exciting learning experience,” Enna said, “one where learners feel supported along the way.”
Designing for connection in an online environment
One of the most persistent risks in online learning is isolation. Enna was candid about that challenge, drawing on her own experience. “I’ve learned online before,” she said, “and it can feel really lonely.”
Rather than treating community as an add-on, Taylor’s embedded interaction directly into course design. Learning activities were structured so that discussion, reflection, and participation were part of the natural flow of the module.
“Everything moved fluidly,” Enna explained. “From the content, it goes into the discussion, it goes into the poll. It’s all woven into the experience.”
The goal was straightforward but critical. Learners should feel connected, even when studying asynchronously, and never feel as though they were navigating the programme alone.
Supporting scale through the LMS without overloading staff
From the beginning, the team was conscious of staff capacity. Like many institutions, Taylor’s faces ongoing resource constraints.
The LMS became part of the solution by helping the team manage scale without adding disproportionate workload. Structured course models, including the move towards Blueprint courses, were designed to protect quality while allowing academics greater ownership over time.
“We know it’s not sustainable to have everything in one permanent course site,” Enna explained, describing the practical challenges of managing growing volumes of learner data.
AI-enabled support has also played a role in LMS scalability and adoption. Taylor’s introduced an AI tutor within Canvas to handle common learner questions.
“Having this AI tutor really helped to free up the lecturers’ time and the student support team,” Enna said. For learners, the benefit was immediate. “Learners can ask questions even at 1AM or 2AM. It doesn’t matter. You’ll feel supported. That’s the goal.”
Early progress, with eyes on the long term
The Online Postgraduate Programme is still relatively young. “We only started in 2023,” Enna said. Since then, the first five programmes have gone through accreditation, and enrolment is gradually increasing. “Our student numbers are still small, but we want to scale up fast,” she noted.
Learners are joining from around the world, including Europe, South America, and across Asia, particularly in professionally oriented programmes like hospitality and business. “We aim to serve learners from all over the world,” Enna said. “We are no longer divided by geography.”
Alongside this growth, Taylor’s is exploring how microcredentials might fit into the future of the programme. These conversations are being shaped not only by institutional priorities, but also by government initiatives across the Asia-Pacific region that are examining more flexible, stackable learning pathways.
At Taylor’s, the approach is cautious and pragmatic. “There’s no silver bullet, to ensure the success of an academic programme” Enna said.
Rather than creating entirely new offerings, the university is considering unbundling existing postgraduate courses so learners can take individual modules or small clusters and stack them over time.
“The lowest-hanging fruit,” she explained, “is the online postgraduate master’s programme that we have already developed.”
A microcredential pilot is in development, with potential launch timelines sometime in 2026. “These are all in the making. We have recently acquired Canvas Catalog and Parchment Digital Badges, and are now testing the ecosystem to support this initiative,” Enna said.
Turning a programme into proof
Asked what she is most proud of so far, Enna did not hesitate.
“I’m most proud that we were able to establish our ODL programme in a new LMS,” she said. “It wasn’t an easy process when there is already an established LMS that academics are used to.”
For her, the effort mattered because of what it made possible. “The learning in Canvas LMS was designed purposefully so that any adult learner will have a great learning experience,” she said, adding that learning design and student support are just as critical.
Behind the scenes, Enna has been clear about her longer-term hopes. The Online Postgraduate Programme, in that sense, isn’t an outlier, but a proving ground, showcasing learning with an integrated digital ecosystem, from course selection and LMS-based learning to the awarding of digital credentials. The student satisfaction report indicates an outstanding satisfaction score of 96.8%, providing evidence of strong student retention and successful programme completion.”
Lessons for institutions considering selective LMS adoption
For other universities considering their own online postgraduate journeys, Enna’s advice is grounded in experience rather than theory. “First of all,” she said, “you need support from management.”
Dedicated teams matter, as does clarity of purpose. “Be clear about where you want to go with ODL,” she advised, and “know who you’re building it for.”
For Taylor’s, that clarity has always come back to the learner. “They’re ambitious people,” Enna said of working adults, “and they need support.” Collaboration across teams, she added, is what makes that support possible. “At the end of the day, it’s collaboration that’s key.”
