Having successfully completed the vigorous evaluation process, itslearning demonstrated its capability to meet the Government Procurement Service’s requirements; presenting a genuine understanding of the specific needs of the education sector.

The IMLS Framework was developed following extensive research with educational suppliers and stakeholders and has been designed to facilitate faster, more cost effective and efficient purchasing decisions. It provides schools, Local Authorities and groups that are launching academies, free schools or university technical colleges, with an easy route to procure from approved, high quality, trusted suppliers in a fully EU-compliant manner.

itslearning has been selected as one of fifteen suppliers in Lot Two of the IMLS Framework Agreement, which focuses on learning services that support the curriculum through the delivery of pedagogical tools.
Commenting on the announcement, Dylan Jones, director, itslearning says: “The accreditation from the Government Procurement Service is a major step forward in further increasing our presence in the education market. Through experience, we have developed a strong understanding of the ICT requirements of schools, colleges and learning providers and we are delighted to be able to use this to assist in easing the load on school procurement, whilstsupporting the highest quality teaching, through the Framework.”
This announcement comes following two other recent successes for itslearning, as it was shortlisted for two prestigious awards; Marketing Campaign of the Year at the Education Resources Awards and ICT Company of the Year at the BETT Awards.

For more information visit www.itslearning.co.uk

There were some fantastic ideas, including innovative ways to use video to teach vocational subjects and a great way to motivate language learners. But after careful consideration, our panel of judges settled on these two winners.

Flipping the classroom: Anne Cathrine Gotaas, Sandvika Further Education College, Norway

This flipped classroom concept is simple: students study the theory at home and use classroom time to put their newly gained knowledge into practice. Anne Cathrine delivers flipped classroom teaching to her students by creating videos, animations and other resources and adding them to the relevant itslearning course.

Best use awards
The Best use of itslearning awards 2011 were open to any teacher who uses itslearning. The winning entries had to demonstrate a use of itslearning that engages students, raises student achievement and is easily transferable to another teacher. The judging panel was made up of four people:

• Russell Prue, ICT Evangelist, Author & Broadcaster
• Alastair Cameron, Senior Learning Strategist (itslearning)
• Trond Skeie, Training Manager (itslearning)
• Arne Bergby, CEO (itslearning)
The videos are embedded into a test and students must answer one or two questions after watching the video. The student will then see if she has understood the video or if she has to watch it again. This technique also means that Anne Cathrine can see which areas have caused problems for her students – and she can prepare her classroom lessons accordingly. She can also track which students have watched or read the materials and which haven’t.

Improving behaviour among disaffected students: Dee Kerwick-Chrisp, Greys Education Centre, UK

Greys Education Centre takes the students that other schools deem too hard to teach. With these students, encouraging good behaviour is usually vital to successful learning.

Once a week, every student meets with a teacher to set their behaviour goals, which are then added to the student’s individual learning plan (ILP). Then, at the end of each lesson, the class teacher refers to the student’s ILP before assigning the student a behaviour grade (using a 1-5 scale that only reflects good behaviour).

Any student with an average above 3.2 for the week can enjoy a free lesson – and the student with the best score gets a certificate. This reward system has proven extremely successful, with students competing with each other to get the best score. The student’s weekly behaviour report is also printed out and sent to their parents – and the reports are sometimes used as evidence that students are adhering to court orders.

Great ideas for teachers everywhere

“The decision was extremely difficult and we’d like to thank everyone who entered for sharing their great ideas with us,” says Alastair Cameron, one of the judges. “We’re really pleased that there are so many great teachers doing great things with itslearning, and I hope that teachers around the world will benefit from reading about and seeing their ideas.”

You can see all 12 entries (each with a description and video) that made the shortlist on our global website.

Contents

• Video summary
• Improvements to the new design
• New space-saving news content block
• Improved course list content block
• Embed external content in pages
• Better overview in the assessment record
• New version of the rich-text editor
• Get more out of the calendar with resource booking and iCal support
• More information for teachers in the personal profile
• Send notifications when you update an element
• Corrections

Watch the video below to see what's new in the release.

Improvements to the new design

In the previous release we did a major update to the look and feel, and now we've improved it even more. The Intermediate, Animal misfits and Space themes are now available in two versions: one with text in the top menu and one with icons only. This makes it easier for teachers to tailor the themes to different age groups.

We've also introduced a brand new Summersky theme, which in essence is a different version of the standard itslearning skin.

• Read more about the different interfaces and themes in the itslearning help!

New space-saving news content block

We're happy to introduce a new version of the news content block. The new block is more compact and has a smaller font.

Improved course list content block

It's now easier to keep up to date with what's happening in your courses thanks to several new features in the course list content block. You can now see how many changes have been made since you last visited the course (the orange droplet) – and you can also see which courses have had new bulletins added to them (the grey icon).

• Read more about the course content blocks in the itslearning help!

 

Embed external content in pages

Now to a feature we know many page creators have been waiting for: you can now embed external content from services such as YouTube and Slideshare directly from the rich content block into pages. Look for the new 'Source' button in the editor when adding or editing rich content.

 

 

Better overview in the assessment record

The assessment record, or grade book, has been updated with four sought-after features:

Categories

You might have different types of assessments in a single course, such as for homework assignments, group assignments, classroom assignments and tests. These assignments can now be grouped together to form a category (you can, of course, create your own categories). This means you can filter your assessment records by category to get a better overview and also weight assessments differently within individual categories.

 

Add terms and categories directly into new elements

It's now possible to select a term and category when adding tests and assignments.

Column headers always show

The column headers in the assessment record are now always visible at the top of the grid, even when you scroll down a long list of participants.

Improved input field for marking

A new autocomplete feature enables you to give a mark or assessment quicker when marking assignments. When you enter the assessment, itslearning will suggest an assessment as soon as you type the first letter or number. This is especially useful if you use an assessment scale with many options.

 

• Read more about the assessment record in the itslearning help!

 

New version of the rich-text editor

You can now use a brand new version of the rich-text editor. The new icons and colours give it a more modern look, but the editor works exactly as it did before.

 

• Read more about the rich-text editor in the itslearning help!

 

Get more out of the calendar with resource booking and iCal support

These two new features will improve the calendar for all our users.

Resource booking

Administrators can now create a list of resources – such as rooms, cameras, computers, and smartboards – and let other users book them directly through their calendar.

Note: we've decided to launch this feature as a limited beta, and only selected sites will have access to it. Interested? Read about the beta program and how to join it at http://info.itslearning.net/ResourceBeta.html.

 

• Read more about setting up and using resource booking in the itslearning help!

iCal support

Do you use a Mac, an iPhone, Microsoft Outlook or any other device that supports iCal? If so, you can now subscribe to calendar activities through an iCal feed. Simply click the Subscribe link in the Activities content block. Read more about iCal on Wikipedia.

 

 

More information for teachers in the personal profile

Course teachers now have access to aggregated information in the person profile. In plain English, this means they can now see a full list of assessments, attendance reports and behaviour reports for each student – including assessments and reports from other subject teachers – when they click a student's personal profile. You have to be registered as teacher of that student in at least one course to see this information.

 

• What information can other users see in your profile? Find out in the person profile topic in the itslearning help.

 

Send notifications when you update an element

Have you ever found a mistake in a page, note, assignment or test and had to notify everyone that you've made a change? Now you can send notifications automatically when you make a change. This isn't a default setting (as people don't want to be bombarded with notifications about every little change), so you need to untick the 'Minor edit' box before saving the change. itslearning will then take care of the rest.

 

In elements with autosave, such as Pages, you'll find a Notify about changes button:

 

 

Corrections

In this release we have corrected more than 100 issues. Read this document to find out more about the most important (English only).

The project was led by Head of ICT, Lindsey Dedaniec,who commented that boys in particular were motivated to spend a great deal of time outside of school hours working on the learning platform to develop their games.  Lindsey said that “One of the challenges of teachers is to get homework out of students. But with this project we didn’t have that problem."

Students filmed themselves and loaded the footage into the games to give instructions to the players and created riddles to unlock keys to the next stage. If you would like to see the article in full, click here

Under the first tab ("General") you should see "Browsing History".

Click on "Delete" under this and then tick ONLY the following for deletion: "Cookies", "Temporary Internet Files" -  please make sure that "Preserve Favourites website data" is UNTICKED (this is only an option on recent versions of internet explorer)

Then Click "Apply" and "OK". This will clear your cache and should allow you to log in normally. If you still experience any issue, please call our freephone support line on 0800 9775714 and a member of the team will be pleased to help you.

Regards
Darren Lloyd
itslearning

itslearning has a new look!

You've probably noticed the new colours, icons and menus already? Read all about the design refresh in this article.

Access information through the person profile

To all learners: Your assessments are now only a click away. Before this update you had to enter each course to see your assessments. Now you can simply click your name in the personal menu to access your assessments, attendance and behaviour remarks.

See your relations to other users

When clicking another person's name – for example in course lists and assignment overview – his profile opens. To make it easier to distinguish users, the profile now shows any courses you have in common, and how you are related. For example: "Frank Beck is your teacher in the following courses: History and English".

Discussions

To make it easier to follow discussions, new posts and threads will now appear in the notification content block.

Attendance change log

Teachers can now view the attendance change log. Previously, this information was available to mentors and headteachers only. You'll find the log in Status and follow-up >> Attendance >> Reports >> Term report.

Updated app library

The app library is revamped. Read more in this press release.

Corrections

In this release we have corrected more than 50 issues. Read this document to find out more (English only).

Release webinar

Watch our release webinar to find out more about the release:

These courses are being held in local schools with teachers invited to attend from a number of schools so that no one school has to bear the full cost of a training day.  Schools can book their VLE administrator onto one of these courses for just £125.

The roll out of this programme is starting in Essex and Norfolk just after Autumn half term and we plan to continue across the country thereafter.  We are actively seeking schools in other local authorities to host these training courses and, in return, the host receives a free place on the course.  If you are interested in hosting a course, please contact darren.lloyd@itslearning.com .

Multimedia made easy

Many teachers and students use media elements such as video, sound and animations as part of teaching material or assignment answers. In this release we have improved the user experience around embedding and previewing of multimedia objects – both external content and content made with the inbuilt video recorder. This makes it a lot easier to use video files in content that is created with the rich-text editor.

So, what have we done? First of all, the Link to my file option in the Insert menu in the rich-text editor has been renamed to File from my web files.

More interesting, the My files pop-up window that appears when you click File from my web files has been changed. It now contains tools to link, embed and preview files. But what do the different icons do?

• Link icon: Inserts an URL with a link to the file.
• Embed icon: Embeds the video file into your content (which means that you see a player in the element to which the video is added). Note that if the icon looks like this:  the file type cannot be embedded.
• Preview icon: Opens a new page for previewing and setting the dimensions of the videos you're embedding (see screen shot below).

What file formats are supported?
There's a wide range of file formats available, but we have decided to support the most common file types used for web.

• Files from the inbuilt video recorder
• Apple QuickTime Movie (mov)
• Windows Media Video File (wmv)
• Flash Video File (flv)
• Shockwave Flash Movie (swf)

As of now, file types such as mp3, avi, mpg and mp4 cannot be embedded.

Keep up to date with your courses

To make it easier to keep up to date with your courses a new content block for notifying you about changes and updates in courses is now available on My dashboard and the course and hierarchy dashboards.

RSS subscriptions
Do you want to keep up to date without logging on? Why not subscribe to the RSS feed in Outlook, on your phone or your preferred RSS reader? Click the RSS icon in top left corner to subscribe. Below is an example from Microsoft Outlook.

Customise the notification content block
Want to customise the content block? Dashboard administrators (hierarchy and My dashboard) are allowed to edit:

• block title
• whether to show updates from all courses or just favourite courses
• how many items to show per page

What notifications do you need?
What notifications would you like to receive? Click beta feedback box at the bottom of the content block to give us your feedback!

Improvements to the course and project content block
Previously, changes in the course content block (the one with the list of courses) was highlighted in red. The changes are now based on the course notification content block. It only shows a change if a notification has been given to the current user since the user's last visit to the course. A blue dot next to the course name indicates that it was updated since your last visit. The same changes apply to the project content block.

Planner

Custom fields in planner
Before this release you could inline edit custom lesson fields in the planner. Now it's also possible to edit custom fields from the edit lesson page.

More filter options for the planner content block
In the Show drop-down in the planner, students can now decide to show plans within a period of time (for example a week) to give a better overview. New options are:

• "Next week": shows the plan for the current week
• "Next two weeks": shows the plans for the current week and next week

Curriculum

Our users in the US and the Netherlands will now find new learning objectives in the learning objective libraries. The learning objectives are ready to import into plans and course elements with a few clicks of the mouse.

Common Core Curriculum for the USA
Common Core's Curriculum Maps translate the new Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten through 12th grade into unit maps that teachers can use to plan their year, craft their own more detailed curriculum, and create lesson plans. They were written by public school teachers for public school teachers.

Curriculum for Dutch vocational education
Dutch users will now find the new 2011 curriculum for Dutch vocational education (BVE) in the learning objective library.

Attendance

Some of our users have suggested that it should be possible for mentors to comment on day and session attendance. We thought it was a good idea, and this has now been implemented in the attendance system. For ease of use, the comments on day/session attendance behave exactly similar to hour remarks. The mentor can decide if the comment should be visible for the learner.

Do you have an idea? Please submit it in our idea portal!

Task list deadline

Before this update the deadlines on tasks appeared with both weeks and days. To make the deadline format consistent throughout the platform it now only shows days until deadline.

Shibboleth

We have added support for single sign-on through non-federated Shibboleth 1.3r.

Procapita: Users with no username or password

Sites using the Procapita (MIS) integration experienced that users without username and password were imported to itslearning. Procapita has updated their solution, and users without username and password are no longer imported.

IST Extens and IST SATS

It's now possible to export attendance, behaviour and assessment data to IST Extens and IST SATS.

API

More data is available in the API for apps. Administrators must approve apps that should have access to protected data from Administration >> Manage protected data for apps. This means that a school can allow an app to receive, for example, social security numbers or phone numbers.

Enhanced IMS-ES options for integration partners

The IMS-ES integration system has been improved. Third-party MIS/SIS vendors can now create/update Parents and Parent/Child relationships through the IMS-ES interface. To assist third- party vendors read existing groups from itslearning we have implemented the "readMembershipsForPerson" and "readMembershipsForGroup" methods.

Periods have been replaced with terms

In the assessment record (or grade book), periods have been replaced with terms. This article explains more about the change.

Miscellaneous updates and enhancements

Click to see a list of other minor updates and enhancements.

Many teachers use spreadsheets when creating plans, so we’ve built the itslearning planner like a spreadsheet. A highly customisable tool, the planner features a set of ready-made columns, but you can decide to add new one or delete or change the names.

Of course, you can do this is Excel as well, but the itslearning planner gives you much more. Your plan is automatically published to the students – and parents. You decide which columns to make visible, and can also create private columns for notes or remarks.

Topics and lessons

Other courses may suit a periodical structure better. This enables you to name topics after dates or week numbers, and use thematic headings for the lessons – or create a lesson for each day. The planner is flexible and fits numerous approaches.

Include course content in the plan

To make sure your students always know what material to work with, the planner allows you to connect course content to the plan. This means that you are simply linking learning tools, such as pages, tests or assignments, and ensures that students always know what to work with without having to browse through the folders in the course.

You can also attach learning objectives from the learning objective library, and the elements appear as links in the plan. For example, you can upload a folder with background material for the students to work with early in the plan, and tests and assignments later on when you are ready to measure what they have learnt.

Tips

• It's a good idea to keep the plan at a higher level. Keep it simple, without too much detail.
• Too much text can make the plan difficult to read. Instead, link to elements in the course.
• Use Select columns to rearrange or remove columns you don't need.
• Use the Planner settings to add or delete columns, and to decide who the columns should be visible to.

Read more about the planner in the online help.

Kjersti Engelstad Stokke at the Share & Use Conference in 2010.

The first time Kjersti involved the students in planning, she spent five with her students in a brainstorming session. Involving students in such a project requires careful planning – you cannot relax and leave everything to the students. For Kjersti, the preliminary work included mapping skill targets, the curriculum, text books and other relevant learning resources.

Highly engaged learners

Kjersti was nominated in the category Creative use of itslearning at the Share & Use Conference in Sandvika, Norway, in 2010. You can read more about the planning on Kjersti’s blog Ceteris Paribus (in Norwegian) where she describes in detail how she involved her students."In order to create engagement and stimulate the pupils' curiosity, I created a poll in itslearning a couple of days before in which I asked what part of the subject they looked forward to," says Kjersti.

The objective of the planning day was to let the students get to know each other, and find out more about the subject content and collaborative writing and discussion tools in itslearning. Another goal was to let them influence what training methods, assessment methods and tools to use in the course.

For the students, the main goal was to prepare a plan for the first twelve weeks of the course. They had their say in almost everything – not only what they should work with; but also how they should work, test dates, and even what kind of assessment to use.

Important discussion tool

The discussion tool proved to be important during the planning, and as an aid to help students get to know each other. Kjersti and her students wrote a short introduction about themselves, including their background and professional interests. After this introduction, the discussions focused on the plan.

"I divided my students into groups of four," Kjersti explains. "I made a discussion for each group and used the permissions to restrict other groups from accessing the discussion, because I believe that students express their opinions more in smaller groups."

The Sandvika teacher sees several advantages with the discussion tool. First of all, the students have to think about what they write – which helps them reflect on the subject content. The fact that other students can read makes them more aware of what they write. And it gives quiet and shy learners are less ‘scary’ forum to express themselves.
At the end of the day, the students evaluated the results with the itslearning survey tool. Kjersti says the results showed that the students appreciated that she involved them in the planning.

External tools integrated with itslearning

It's simple to integrate external tools in itslearning, and Kjersti used several handy tools during the planning. Mind maps – such as Mindmeister – proved useful to gather all the student’s thoughts and suggestions, or to "steer" the discussion in the classroom. Another important internal tool was Google Docs form tool – which can be added as links in itslearning.

Fun science and the Doppler Effect

Making science entertaining fun and informative takes a real talent – and this guy has it in spades. There are a lot of videos on different subjects, and they are a great way to start a discussion in class or to embed on itslearning for your students to watch as part of their revision.

> Watch Charlie

The lecturer who talks to himself

You may not be able to use this video with your students, but the mock maths lecture (delivered on April Fool’s Day) is hilarious viewing. The maker, Mathew Weahters, has even produced a video showing you how to make your own films, so check out the video and be inspired.

> See Mathew Weather’s April Fool’s lecture

Mr. Duey’s maths raps

These videos may be hard for many teachers to stomach, but primary school kids love them. One school in the UK even reported that the videos inspired their students to sing about fractions in the school corridors, which may be bad for your ears, but is probably good for their education.

> Check out Mr. Duey

Facebook in real life?

Want to educate your students about the realities of Facebook? This video takes a look at how your life would be if Facebook was a real part of it and not just online. Amusing and thought-provoking, it’s a great way to start a discussion on cyber-safety and social networking sites.

> See the Facebook in real life video

Simple science and party tricks

Richard Wiseman shows you ten simple tricks you can do to impress people at parties. You can use the video in class (or just parts of it) to discuss the science behind the magic.

> Check out the science tricks

 Teacher Moliehi Sekese from Lesotho in Bergen, Norway.

Moliehi teaches English and science at Mamoeketsi Primary School in Lesotho – a small, low-income enclave completely surrounded by South Africa. In Lesotho, a country of 2 million people, about 40% of the population live below the international poverty line. According to UNAIDS, an estimated 24% of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS, (the third highest per population percentage in the world). However, an estimated 85% of the population over the age of 15 is literate. As such, Lesotho boasts one of the highest literacy rates in Africa, in part because Lesotho invests over 12% of its GDP in education.

Faith in technology despite few resources

Award winner
Moliehi Sekese won the Microsoft Innovative Education Forum's Educator's Choice award in 2009 for a school project about indigenous plants. She visited the itslearning user conference in 2011.

You can also read what Ann Michaelsen's students wrote about her in the article International guest visits our International English class.
At Mamoeketsi Primary School, the teacher is the only source of information for students, because text books, and even desks and chairs, are scarce. In fact, until recently, there was no electricity at the school, and Moliehi had to charge the laptops from home.

She was invited to the itslearning user conference in Bergen, Norway, in April. Here the teacher from one of the poorest countries of the world made a lasting impression on the teachers from one of the richest countries of the world.

Despite of having only two laptops available, Moliehi expressed strong faith in ICT in school. "I believe the use of technology creates better and more motivated students," she said. "Now we have two computers and electricity in my school – things we never dreamed of before. Now we can use them to the benefit of the children."

Help raising funds for Moliehi's school

The Norwegian teacher Ann Michaelsen met Moliehi Sekese at the Microsoft Innovative Education Forum Award. Ann and Moliehi stayed in contact and now Ann is gathering funds so Mamoeketsi Primary School can buy more computers, mobile phones and get an internet connection. If you want to contribute, please contact Ann at ann.s.michaelsen@sandvika.vgs.no.

In a recent webinar, award-winning ICT evangelist, author & broadcaster Russell Prue showed how educational institutions can use technology to teach students the creative and problem-solving skills they need in the 21st century – without breaking the budget.

We got to catch up!

In one example, Russell uses the young self-taught make-up artist Lauren Luke. She creates makeup tutorials on her YouTube channel which has over 109 million views and over 450,000 subscribers. Russell shows how we can learn from Lauren who used 21st century social networking tools to market herself – opposite the direction to the current thinking of the education and policy makers. "We are so slow to embrace that in education – we got to catch up," Russell says.

Develop creativity and collaboration

Russell also talks about how schools can develop the students' creativity and collaboration skills by creating a live school radio station. The radio station is of course not meant to replace traditional teaching, but students may benefit from working with the radio station in many different ways – and across all subjects.

Watch the webinar

The webinar is essential listening for anyone involved in teaching and learning today, from educators and headteachers to local authority decision-makers.

Want to see the webinar? Click here to register and download the webinar.

"In itslearning it's just as easy to insert sound and video as it is to write text. I use sound and video frequently in assignments and explaining sequences," Alexander says.

Alexander Aak Eide on stage at the itslearning user conference 2011.

But what do you need to get started with sound and video in itslearning? According to the teacher from the city of Bergen, you need two things: a microphone and a web camera (most new computers have in-built microphones and cameras). When microphone and camera are connected to the computer you can record directly from the itslearning text editor.

Save time on classroom presentations

Alexander uses sound and video to provide his students with feedback when marking tests. A great advantage is that the students can replay the feedback as many times they want. He finds many advantages with integrating sound and video in his teaching – and the possibilities are countless.

"Does all students necessarily benefit from listening to the classroom presentations of all others?" he asks. "If you replace classroom presentations with sound or video recordings you save a lot of time. Students with stage fright may also value this way of presenting, although teachers must be careful not to entirely replace classroom presentations with sound and video."

Do science experiments at home

How to use sound and video in itslearning

To record sound or video from the editor, click the Insert button and then New video recording or New sound recording. Read more in the help.

From the editor you can also insert videos that others have made. Click Insert >> Web 2.0 content. Read more in the help.

Another tip is to let the students do simple science experiments at home at the kitchen sink, and document it with a web camera. To prove that carbon dioxide is heavier than oxygen, Alexander asked his students to fill two glasses of water, place a tea light candle in each and light them. When a small amount of baking soda was poured into one of the glasses the water started to fizz, and the process created carbon dioxide that forced out the oxygen and killed the flame. The young scientists filmed the experiment at home, and handed it in through itslearning – a homework they found fun and engaging.

Visualise content in the classroom

Alexander has also used web cameras in classroom presentations – for example when presenting small gadgets, such as voltmeters, in class. He films all the tiny bits and details on the voltmeter with a web camera and shows the film on a big screen – making it easy for the students to see what he's presenting.

He has also let his students play weather presenters: The students were given a PowerPoint file with maps, and then recorded a weather forecast with itslearning's in-built video recorder. The map was placed in the background – just as on TV.

Use what others have made

"You don't need to create everything yourself – many teachers can save time on content others have made before. A number of enthusiastic teachers share content on YouTube and other content sharing sites," Alexander explains.
He often uses content from a maths teacher, who in a pedagogical way explains how to solve calculations. Videos such as this can also be of great help for parents who are struggling when helping their children with homework.

Norwegian-based educational ICT provider itslearning announced today that it will shortly acquire majority ownership of the Dutch company Dactique. Both companies provide learning platforms and related products to customers in primary, secondary, vocational and higher education.

As a result of the deal, itslearning will establish a subsidiary in the Netherlands, called itslearning Nederland which will combine both Dactique and itslearning’s current Dutch operation. itslearning has operated in the Netherlands since 2004 through partners.

itslearning AS CEO Arne Bergby comments: “One of our main goals with this deal is to be able to serve our customer in the Netherlands better. We want to be closer to our customers on the ground so we can offer them even better service and support, and Dactique are known for their strong customer support and service – so joining forces will be advantageous for all.”

“We’re delighted with the deal,” says Quirijn Hamel, Managing Director, Dactique. “After years of fierce competition between the two companies, the new cooperation will give us more room for product development and innovation – which will be good news for educational institutions across the country.”

Currently, Dactique provides two products to the education sector in the Netherlands: Dapter, a learning and ePortfolio system; and Teletop an advanced learning platform. The two products have a combined total of around 400,000 users.

Operations will continue in Dactique’s facilities in Enschede, the Netherlands and the management team will remain the same. Dactique and itslearning will now work together to combine the best features of their two learning platforms, while continuing to develop Dapter.

The acquisition will consolidate itslearning AS’s position as one of the world’s leading learning platform providers with around 180 employees and millions of users.

For more information on itslearning, please visit www.itslearning.eu. For more information on Dactique please visit www.dactique.nl (in Dutch).

For more information, please contact:

Arne Bergby, itslearning CEO, Email: arne.bergby@itslearning.com, Phone: +47 9715 7095

Quirijn Hamel, Dactique Managing Director, Email: q.hamel@dactique.nl, Phone: +31 6 2047 7777

You can find your local itslearning press contact at www.itslearning.eu/press

Notes to editors

About itslearning
Headquartered in Bergen, Norway, itslearning has offices in Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and USA. More than 40% of itslearning’s resources are dedicated to product design and development.

About Dactique
Dactique provides a number of products and services to the Dutch education sector, including an advanced learning platform and an e-Portfolio solution. Founded in 2003, the company is headquartered in Enschede.

In a recent webinar, Russell talked about Todaysmeet, Vocaroo and Jing which are all free. They’re easy to use too – even for the non-technically minded.

Todaysmeet

About Russell Stannard
Russell Stannard runs teachertraining
videos.com which offers free training videos to teachers looking to incorporate technology into their teaching and learning. The site regularly gets 20,000 teachers visitors each month. Russell has won a number of awards for his work.

Todaysmeet is excellent for engaging students in a brainstorming session. It allows you to create an ‘online room’ where your students can chat together and add comments through on-screen messages. All you need to do is add a question or theme to get the discussion started. As an online tool, Todaysmeet is perfect for learning situations outside the classroom. And, if you’re giving a lecture or webinar, your users can ask questions and comment on the fly.

Vocaroo

Students are different and need different ways to express themselves, and sometimes it is good to use something other than written feedback than writing. That’s where Vocaroo comes in – a great tool that lets teachers and students give feedback through audio recordings. Let your students record sound, and allow them to express themselves in new ways.

Jing

A tool for recording what you do on the screen, Jing can be a real time-saver. But how can you use it in your teaching? The key is to use it to improve differentiation and appeal to different learning styles. Some students need visual feedback, and Jing makes it easier than ever before to record screen captures. Watch the webinar to see how to use Jing to comment on student homework.

Want to see the webinar? Click here to register and download.

We are especially pleased that we were ranked 1st out of the 12 providers awarded a place on Lot 1 (Learning Platforms) with the top scoring bid.

This further cements itslearning’s place as the UK’s number 1 Learning Platform and justifies the decisions made by schools across the region to use itslearning.

itslearning is already used by 100’s of schools across the E2BN region in Bedfordshire, Luton, Norfolk, Essex and Suffolk. Our international user base provides Primary, Secondary, HE and FE focused Learning Platforms with over 1,000,000 active users

Dylan Jones, Managing Director, itslearning UK said “itslearning has a long history of working with E2BN and is excited to extend the relationship as part of this new Framework. We believe the Framework offers an excellent route for schools and authorities to purchase our Learning Platform and improve the education of their students.”

Chris Kastel, CEO of E2BN added, “E2BN is pleased that itslearning has risen to the challenge of our rigorous assessment for Learning Platforms. The E2BN Framework Contract gives schools and LAs the protection of a fully managed contract with the assurance that Legislation has been adhered to. We look forward to working with itslearning through the framework to provide the service schools require.”

In the survey of teachers in France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the US, 75% of teachers also rated parental engagement as either ‘important’ or ‘very important’ for the success of a child’s education. However, 44% said they didn’t have the time or means to communicate with parents as much as they would like.

“Teachers agree that involving parents is critical, but they aren’t able to communicate with parents effectively,” says Morten Fahlvik, Research Manager at itslearning. “Most teachers speak to parents at least once a semester. But communication has to occur more often to be really effective. The internet could be the answer – as long as the tool is correctly designed.”

How do teachers currently communicate with parents? According to the survey, 46% of teachers email each of their students’ parents at least once a month; 37% use texts/SMSs and 24% still send letters.

“Many teachers use a mix of technologies to communicate with parents, but none of them are specifically designed for the task,” says Fahlvik. “Teachers want a tool that will improve the flow of information and reduce their workload.”

To meet this need, itslearning launched a parent portal last year. As part of the company’s cloud-based learning platform, much of the information on the portal – such as grades and attendance – is updated automatically to save teachers time. Teachers can also add specific information about individual students as required.

“The teachers have been extremely positive,” says Fahlvik. “We’re now surveying the parents to discover how they feel about the portal.”

For more information, please visit www.itslearning.eu/parentsurvey2011

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Contact information:

Kristine Lango
Marketing and Communications Manager
Email: kristine.lango@itslearning.com
Tel: +47 9828 3778

Visit www.itslearning.eu/press to find your local itslearning press contact.

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About itslearning

itslearning is a learning platform provider dedicated solely to the education sector. Its learning platform is used by millions of educators, students, admin staff and parents around the world – and can be found at all levels of education, from primary schools to universities. The company is headquartered in Bergen, Norway, and has offices in London, Birmingham, Berlin, Paris, Mulhouse, Malmö and Boston.

Choose different skins for individual users or groups

To make sure the itslearning experience is tailored to the individual user, administrators can now decide what skin different people use.

A skin is a custom graphical appearance in itslearning. As well as looking different, it’s possible to choose skins with fewer buttons and functionality – and so make the user experience simpler for students who need it. Below is an example of the new Animal Misfits skin.

Time-saving improvements to the attendance, assessment and behaviour system

Do you use systems other than itslearning for managing attendance, assessment and behaviour? Consider using itslearning's built-in systems instead! The last couple of releases we have focused on increasing the efficiency of the attendance, behaviour and assessment systems. In this version we present the following news:

• You can now set up alternating timetables (A-B weeks)
• Teachers can change kept attendance (until the mentor has approved it)
• Comments to attendance remarks can now be deleted
• It is now possible to select more than one student when registering day absence.
• It is now possible to separate day absence from hour absence in the attendance report
• Mentors can set behaviour remarks from the behaviour overview

Read more…

Enhanced planner

The planner is now easier to work with. In order to help teachers get started with the planner, we have now added a hideable tip box on the planner page with a link to the help system. Also, when working with the planner, all changes are now saved in the background.

Read more…

Better support for itslearning when using mobile devices

The rich-text editor in itslearning does not support mobile devices. Users logging on with a mobile device – such as an iPhone or Android phone – now get the simple editor instead of rich-text editor in several places in itslearning.

Other news

We’ve got lots of other updates, too. The technically inclined can visit our product blog to read all the details about the release.

A wide range of seminars and training sessions will be held and many of these will also appeal to schools who are not currently itslearning customers.  The general focus of the event will be on good practice and on using learning platforms to transform learning.  In the current difficult economic climate, delegates will benefit from listening to fellow educational professionals' experience about getting the best results from their investment in a learning platform. 

For more information and to book places, please go to the Client Forum page.  We look forward to seeing you there!

This is an inspiring story as teachers are often concerned about using a new technology in the classroom and the experience at Eastfield shows that it is possible to make positive steps very quickly when the school management team identify a number of specific projects which a learning platform can be used to address.

To find out more about Eastfield Primary click onto their website .

Both interfaces include our full VLE toolset which the teacher is able to fully customise to allow learners to have access to as much functionality as they need or are able to cope with.

If you want to have a look at the current range of interfaces that are available for the VLE, click here. 

We are looking forward to an exciting BETT 2011 and will be hosting a series of excellent live demonstrations from teachers and practitioners on stand D50 in the main hall. All are welcome to come and see these sessions and to meet the it's learning team and our guest school presenters.  Our core theme this year will be showing it's learning's approach to teaching and learning focusing on the six stages of learning, Plan, Engage, Learn, Assess, Reflect and Report.

Our cloud based tools now include integrated Microsoft Live@edu providing schools with market leading mail, calendar, tasks and contacts management services through their it's learning log in credentials.  Just one username and password to access both your VLE and email!  Come along to D50 to have a look.

We will also be showcasing our new Animal Misfits theme specially developed for primary schools featuring colourful graphics and characters designed to appeal to young children.

Live@edu is tightly coupled with it's learning, allowing not only single sign-on to the Microsoft service from the VLE but also access to a summary of recent and unread emails from Live@edu via the user’s VLE dashboard. Also, whenever the school creates new user accounts within it's learning, new live@edu accounts are automatically created for those users. Our integration cleverly allocates different Live@edu privileges to teachers and pupils as those accounts are created. This is particularly important in primary schools as it enables pupils to be ‘ringfenced’so that they can only communicate with teachers and pupils from their own school – they are therefore protected from strangers and the outside world. In addition, we automatically implement the Becta approved ‘blacklist’of inappropriate words within Live@edu to protect children. Any attempt to send an inappropriate message is therefore blocked and the learning platform coordinator at the school is informed.

A major benefit of this new integration and migration service is that schools can now choose their own domain name. Some of the domain name structures previously imposed on schools were unwieldy so they can now choose a domain that is relevant to themand that can be remembered by their students.

The first 45 school migrations to the new it’slearning/Live@edu service took place just before Christmas in Central Bedfordshire . Their old mail addresses were anonymous and complex and so all but 3 of those schools took the opportunity to move to a new simple VLE mail domain specifically set up by it’s learning for schools in the local authority. Consequently those schools now have their own subdomain on a common parent domain giving all users Live@edu email addresses in the format of user@schoolname.cbeds.co.uk.

The result of joining together these two market leading cloud based systems is that teachers are now able to engage and communicate with their learners through a single integrated service with only one username and password to remember.

Kasia Worland, foundation stage teacher from the school commented, "Bedfordshire county council chose It's learning as our learning platform provider. Since discovering it a year ago I have found that staff, pupils, governors and parents are all able to work with it and access it with ease. It has greatly improved communication and enhanced children’s learning which impressed our recent Ofsted inspectors. It is for this reason that I felt I should enter the innovation award as it is innovation in real life form, not just a gimmick." 

Check out the story in the Guardian and watch the video here http://www.guardian.co.uk/classroom-innovation/video/potter-lower-school

Voting starts on 11th December and finishes on 7th January. The 6 entries with the most votes ( 3 from primary and 3 from secondary) get showcased on the sponsors stand at BETT 2011 and winners are announced on the last day of the exhibition (15th January).

Good luck to Kasia and to Potten Lower from the team here at it's learning!

Most educational institutions recognise that it’s learning is an excellent pedagogical tool. Now, with the acquisition of French learning platform provider InfoStance, we are developing a learning platform that combines pedagogical tools with advanced administration systems. “We are very interested in the it’s learning solution, but InfoStance has a good offer. It would be great to get a mix of the two solutions.” This was said by a potential it’s learning customer in France just a few months ago. Soon, this customer – and many more around the globe – will be able to enjoy a learning platform that combines Norwegian pedagogical flair and French practicality. InfoStance is the only company in France to have achieved full user adoption in Local Education Authorities, and its learning platform, ScolaStance, is known as an advanced school administrative system that integrates seamlessly with all other major school IT systems. We’re working to create an even better learning platform by integrating the best elements of ScolaStance into it’s learning – and our customers will see the first benefits by the end of next year. Here are some of the Scola Stance features we are looking to integrate:

• A resource booking tool for reserving rooms, projectors and other shared equipment
• An enhanced course schedule that’s integrated with timetable systems
• 360° overview of individual learners featuring grade books, ILPs, attendance and moreh
• Easy creation of dynamic student groups that can be used throughout the system
• Integrated website content management solutions for schools
• SDET 2.0 compliance and integration with French SSO and ENT systems

The Partner Alliance means that Microsoft Outlook Live, SharePoint Online and Office Web Applications will be integrated into the it's learning platform through the Microsoft Live@edu service. This means it's learning can now deliver the best suite of online communication tools to improve productivity and collaboration in education. Students and teachers will be able to securely upload, easily share, and collaborate on Office documents from anywhere with internet access, including mobile devices.

Dylan Jones, Managing Director, it's learning UK said “it's learning has chosen Microsoft’s cloud services for education allowing current and future customers to benefit from Outlook Live and Microsoft’s web applications. We took this decision because students and teachers are familiar with Microsoft's rich, high-quality communications products which will keep up with their changing needs. Microsoft not only provides the leading platform, but is also a fantastic partner for it's learning because it is an enterprise company which has experience with large organisations and has a strong heritage in working with local authorities and Regional Broadband Consortia in the UK and internationally.”

Steve Beswick, Senior Director of Education, Microsoft Ltd said “We are delighted that it's learning have decided to integrate the Microsoft platform and partner with us to provide future customers the best learning experiences. As students become increasingly tech-savvy at a younger age and demand more technology services from their schools, we believe that our technology offers the familiar, rich solutions and flexible platform that will best support their learning and help them develop the skills needed by today’s employers.”

About it's learning

it's learning is an international learning platform provider with over two million users in primary and secondary schools, as well as Further and Higher Education. The company is represented in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and USA. With more than 40% of its resources involved in design and development, it's learning invests in the future. The company's goal is to offer the best learning platform worldwide and to be the most innovative organisation within the educational market.

Contact

Dylan Jones, Managing Director, it's learning UK Ltd, +44 (0)7717 416605, dylan.jones@itslearning.com

What is Outlook Live?

Microsoft Outlook Live is based on the Microsoft Exchange Online, the market-leader in business email, calendaring, and voicemail. With Outlook Live, teachers and students get the familiar, intuitive Outlook user experience, whether on a PC with the Outlook desktop client or through a browser with Outlook Web Access, or on mobile phones.
What are Office Web Applications?

Microsoft Office Web Applications are new web-based tools that extend the Microsoft Office 2010 experience to a supported browser. They are online companions to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote that enable users to view, do light editing, and share Office documents from virtually anywhere

A rigorous procurement process over several months has led to Northern Grid selecting four suppliers who can provide learning environments for its pupils, teachers and parents and give them the best opportunities for success in the digital 21st century.

it's learning believe that e-learning can make a difference to pupils attainment in schools and that by providing a Next Generation learning platform to schools they can enhance the learning experience. Through encouraging interactive use of new media both in school and at home, it’s learning can improve a child’s access to educational resources and involve the whole family in the learning experience.

Northern Grid’s LA’s will now be able to choose the it’s learning and utilise the platform’s vast array of teaching and learning functionality including online assessment, individual learning plans, eportfolio, video conferencing, early years interface, MIS integration and parental engagement.

The inclusion on the Framework supports the ongoing development of our relationship with Northern Grid for Learning where we have provided learning platform and portal services for over 5 years to the RBC and we look forward to offering our products to schools in to this decade and beyond.

its learning has developed a system that will help the schools migrate their content from the legacy system to the Next Generation Platform, ensuring continuity from the existing platform. it’s learning recognise that learning platform use is extensive across Northern Grid partner Local Authorities.

The new framework can be utilised by other local authorities throughout the UK and it’s learning welcome enquiries from anyone wishing to benefit from the most advanced learning platform available.

Dylan Jones Managing Director of it's learning UK Ltd said, "We are extremely pleased to be continuing our long relationship with the Northern Grid for Learning RBC, its Local Authorities and Schools and look forward to providing a leap forward in technology and improved educational outcomes through the provision of the Next Generation it's learning platform".

Mel Philipson CEO of the Northern Grid for Learning added, ”We believe that the Framework will offer Local Authorities and their schools an excellent choice of platform to meet their current and future needs. We are pleased that it’s learning is one of the providers within the framework.”