French Beauty Academy: Making learning look beautiful with Canvas

The French Beauty Academy is Australia’s largest and most prestigious registered training organisation for beauty services.

Established in 1986 as one of Australia’s first government-registered beauty academies, The Academy has a rich history of delivering high-quality vocational training and world-class graduates.

Each year, The Academy enrols students in beauty services, dermal therapy, laser, make-up, body treatments and medi-spa therapies, with lucrative job outcomes in a growing female-dominated industry. The French Beauty Academy is registered (RTO 32220) to deliver nationally accredited diplomas in beauty therapy, screen and media and salon management. All of The Academy’s programs are accredited and recognised by the Australian Qualifications Framework.

The Academy's newest flagship program, “The Future of Beauty,” partners with the biggest names in skin and device technologies to develop an industry-leading, world-class skin-focused program. This first in the Australian beauty industry bridges the gap between training and employment, ensuring The Academy’s graduates are skilled for the beauty jobs of tomorrow.

“This program is at the leading edge of beauty education training in Australia,” said Head of Teaching and Learning Alan French.

“Each Official Education Partner has been carefully selected for integration into the curriculum based on their industry-leading, ground-breaking technology, clinical research and a united commitment to educating the next generation of beauty professionals.”

What drove The Academy’s quest for a new LMS was to be “nationally recognised for exceptional education experiences,” said French. To realise this vision, they wanted dynamic, in-class technology, a motivating experience, and pioneering e-learning integration.

Other key drivers for their LMS choice included:

“We did a lot of research and development even before getting to that implementation stage,” French said.

Initially, The Academy started testing a non-Canvas LMS. Soon after, the LMS hit limitations that required putting in a significant amount of money, time, and resources into it.

“We gave it a go based on the documentation, but had to step back from implementation 3-4 months later as there was a disconnect between promise and delivery,” French said.

The project team then suggested that Canvas was better aligned with The Academy’s focus and had all the needed features and capabilities, making it a pretty easy decision after that.

"Ultimately, Canvas stood out for its intuitive interface, robust features, and alignment with our educational philosophy. It’s the number one LMS in the world, which was a major drawcard,” French said.

The timing to switch to Canvas was also deal. “We were going through a double training package update for our major qualifications, so we thought, ‘There’s no point rebuilding everything in our old system. We may as well transition to the new, better system,’” he said.

Once The Academy adopted Canvas, they had an 8-month build to “really focus on understanding our users and boosting adoption.” A small team of instructors and returning students did user testing to help The Academy build anticipation and excitement for the new LMS.

Next came what French termed the “Big Bang” approach.

“Rather than slowly rolling out the system and having some on our old LMS and some on the new one, all our students starting or returning in January 2022 went onto Canvas.

Students asked questions and gave us feedback on every aspect, including delivery mode, course navigation challenges, funding, and any personal, financial, or emotional barriers they’re having to study,” French said.

After early feedback then came the development of induction videos, then comprehensive staff training and student orientation. Finally, The Academy upgraded its internet speed to cope with additional resources.

The Academy’s Head of Beauty, Angela Clifft-McNae, said Canvas improved operational efficiency and educational outcomes.

To create a brand-aligned fit with its luxury brand, The Academy re-skinned Canvas in-house to “Stella.” The visually stunning design mimics their brand aesthetic to “emulate our amazing spaces and welcoming environments for our virtual campus.”

The LMS design and functionality helps engage students, whether they’re accessing learning on laptops, PCs, tablets, or smartphones.

“Canvas is just so intuitive and easy for our students to use compared to other learning management systems we’ve used or looked at in the past,” Clifft-McNae said.

But it’s not just about looks: Canvas Blueprint is nimble enough for them to capture student evidence in one place, using its preferred structure of one course for each competency.

To be compliant, The Academy must have digital evidence of students’ assessments. In the past, client consultant cards were paper-based, which meant staff had to scan and digitally file them. “Canvas has been really helpful in streamlining our assessment processes,” Clifft-McNae said.

The Academy uses the built-in Canvas Studio to upload video and imagery, which saves costs on using a separate external system. Instructors can track student engagement, like views and reflective comments, via Studio. Students can also directly record and upload videos that demonstrate their fledgling skills.

Using the Canvas reporting panel, The Academy’s management can get “amazing” insights without having to be a data expert, she said.

The team also appreciates being able to download its data from Canvas to run its own niche custom reports. “It’s like having our local server,” Clifft-McNae said. The LMS works smoothly with The Academy’s student management system, too. LTIs that The Academy has integrated into Canvas include:

• Articulate 360 for course creation
• Storyline 360 for course authoring, and to auto-grade students using point-of-sale software, and
• SCORM for digital content.

Because Canvas offers innovative features and updates, The Academy can continuously improve its courses and keep compliant, French said. Updating courses consistently across the LMS is easier now, too.

“We don’t have to go through every single iteration of a course to do the updates any more like we did in our old LMS. Now, we have a parent course and a child course and roll out updates as needed. It means students graduate with the same opportunities and the same quality of education.”

Clifft-McNae said, “Canvas has allowed us to have that consistency. It also enhances collaborative learning through online discussion boards, which has helped lift education outcomes.”

Since adopting Canvas, The Academy has joined the beta test user group, where they have the opportunity to learn about Canvas improvements, preview features, and provide feedback on how they could benefit, said Clifft-McNae.

“Canvas is now part of our proud culture of a very female-empowered workforce and the drive to keep getting better. As we expand our footprint, Canvas will expand with us quite seamlessly.”