A learning platform gives you a digital environment where pupils can explore social media without exposing their data to the outside world. But there are still a number of issues you need to consider to ensure your student’s eSafety.

1. Give pupils a safe online environment to work in

Children growing up in a digital age need to develop technological skills, but they also need to learn how to use social media safely. Your pupils may already be on Facebook: the key is to help them experience social software in a safe arena. Use your learning platform’s in-built social media tools (blogging, messaging, discussion, etc.) so pupils can explore the possibilities, without sharing information in the public domain.

2. Update your site’s blocking filters regularly

Nearly every school uses a network filter to block access to sites that contain unsuitable content, but it’s possible to beat the filters – as this BBC article shows – so keep your filtering software up to date.

3. Give parents information, but only about their children

Inviting parents as guests into the learning platform is a great way to keep them informed about their children’s education. When setting parents up on your learning platform, carefully review user access rights – you can restrict what guests can see or, better still, use a parent profile that automatically only reveals information about the parent’s own children.

4. Think about eSafety and privacy on your school website

The school website is a great way to promote activities and show what life is like at your school. But think carefully before putting information on this very public sphere. It may be useful to put information about school trips on the website, but do you really want everyone to know that the Year 4 class will be wondering around the town museum on Tuesday afternoon? If parents have their own account within itslearning, you can communicate information about school trips very easily but in the knowledge that it is not being shared with the outside world.

5. Offer continuous eSafety training for teachers

Classroom teachers are often on the frontline when it comes to eSafety, so make sure they have the training and resources they need to educate their pupils about the dangers and pitfalls – and can avoid them themselves.

There are great resources available for this kind of training. Insafe, for example, is a European network of Awareness Centres promoting safe, responsible use of the internet to young people – and is a great place to find materials to use with teachers, parents and pupils. At educationcity.com you can find some great resources and posters for younger pupils.

Find out about the eSafety features in itslearning:

• Setting user profiles and policies for pupils and teachers
• Ensuring privacy in your learning platform

The class and its teacher have previously won a prize for their project work, and they put everything into their Stone Age project. The carrot in this process was the test that the pupils had to sit at the end of the project. They had to create the test themselves. Their motivation was to obtain enough knowledge during the project to be able to test each other.

This was not necessarily the outcome in all cases. It wasn’t always true that those who designed the tests knew more than their classmates. But for teacher Trond Skeie this was a positive experience. When the "answer book" turned out to be incorrect, pupils were simply stimulated further. Pupils who were told their answer was incorrect, when they thought they were right, wanted to challenge those who had designed the test. "Discussions ensued, and pupils revisited the source together to find the correct answer. This added another dimension to the task," says Trond.

Presenting the project

itslearning was also used to share the work with others, including parents. Drawings were scanned, literary texts were written, pictures and facts added. Trond has had good experiences with pupils disseminating their work in this way: "They are proud of what they have created, and that generates an important feeling of achievement."

Learning from each other

The most important thing when getting started with itslearning is to implement routines for how to work with the tool, according to Mr Skeie. Once pupils know their way around the platform they quickly become independent. "My experience is that pupils only need a basic introduction. They soon acquire knowledge and experience when co-operating with others."

Use pictures

The noticeboard is crucial in getting pupils to log in more often. An active noticeboard shows that the teacher is present, and pictures make it lively. I never upload messages without adding a picture. Selected icons represent different types of content. This generates a sense of recognition and helps pupils with reading difficulties to find their way.

Look back

itslearning gives pupils a unique opportunity to monitor their own progress. Try going back to a task the pupils performed two–three years ago, and ask them to improve on it. A useful exercise! I’m certain that my pupils learn more English grammar now than they did before we started using itslearning because they are able to work systematically.

Listen and learn

Audio is a fantastic tool when trying to learn a foreign language. Listening to the correct pronunciation of words and expressions is useful. With itslearning pupils can also record and listen to themselves, get comments from the teacher and practice and improve. Added value: improved self-confidence and increased participation in class.

Discussions for all

Class discussions are usually dominated by the same pupils. I find that the discussion forum in itslearning coaxes comments out of even the shyest of pupils. I set discussion tasks such as “Is reading useful or just a waste of time?” and learn a lot about my pupils by reading their comments!

Include the parents

Teenagers can be very introverted and often don’t tell their parents about what they get up to at school. I use itslearning to give parents an insight into their children’s school life. In a separate “parents’ classroom” I upload practical information, examples of tasks, pictures from school trips etc. I have found that a mixture of useful information and “nice-to-know” material generates the highest number of log-ins.

“Audio provides great opportunities for language teachers,” says itslearning educationalist Elisa Bjersand, but it is also useful in subjects where it is difficult to document oral abilities. For pupils struggling with writing, the option of submitting a sound file rather than text can be a good idea.

Magnhild Hakestad from the Fyllingsdalen high school writes: “Sometimes you can let pupils submit sound files instead of text. That way you reinforce the oral requirement as a basic skill. It is also very useful for foreign languages. Pupils with writing difficulties also get a better chance to show what they can do. The teacher can sit down in peace and quiet and listen to it, giving them a better basis for evaluating oral skills.”

Useful for foreign languages

Inger Juel Sukke teaches years 5–7 at the Østgård school. She says: “I have been teaching English for a number of years. During this time I have frequently encountered the problem when going through English homework in class that pupils forget how to pronounce a certain word once they get home. Many parents are also unsure about pronunciation and find it difficult to help their children. When I started using itslearning I realised I could solve this by recording English homework as a sound file. The pupils sit at home with the book in front of them and read along with me.” Sukke says she has noticed her pupils making good progress since she started doing this.

Also for maths

Sukke also uses sound recordings in maths. She records the multiplication table so that pupils can experience it aurally when practising – at home or at school:

“I first give the factors in the right order, then pause before giving the answer so pupils have a chance to say the answer before they hear me say it. Next I record the same multiplication table but with the factors in a random order (e.g. 8 x 3 = ...; 8 x 8 = ...). I then use the work schedule to ask some pupils to go and practice the 8 x table if this is the table they feel unsure about. It is very useful. itslearning is a great tool to have!”

How they do it

The Rich Text editor in itslearning can record sound directly. Some also use Audacity or MP3myMP3 and then upload the sound files to itslearning.

See video tutorial: Sound and video recorders

Sian describes how she has been using portfolio assessment:

"I have started using it's learning for my GCSE drama students to submit their written portfolio work on. In the past, in each class there would be one or two pupils who would choose to improve the written work after my marking and giving feedback on it. Now that I use itslearning not only am I not printing off written work support sheets but I am also finding that roughly a third of the group are choosing to improve their work. Each time they are improving their mark out of 20 by roughly 2/3 marks. As the grade boundaries for drama are high, for some this will mean the difference between grades.

I have found that students really engage well with the instant nature of the feedback and sometimes find that whilst I am marking other people's work that they are online so they read my comments, improve the work and then submit it again for me to remark. My top tip would be for the first time that you get them to submit a piece of work, get the whole class to improve the piece using your feedback. This gets them into good habits and shows all of them the difference that just a little bit of time makes to their final mark for that piece."

Good assessment is all about day-to-day work, variation and systematic effort. " The portfolio in itslearning offers students and teachers an arena for collaboration", says Bjersand. "In addition, active use of the work and e-portfolios is an excellent way of documenting a student's progress and development. "

In order to add benefit to peer assessment of practical tasks Lutterworth College develop questionnaires in itslearning for the students to complete, based on the assessment criteria for each given piece of work. The survey is duplicated, so that each student has their own version, and renamed with the students name or a unique number.

When a fellow student has completed their task, all other students in the group will complete that student’s personal survey. At the end of the task, the teacher gives each student the permissions to view their own results.

Useful feedback

With itslearning surveys students are able to produce automatic summaries of feedback and statistically model data that has been collected. Students often struggled to find areas to develop based on feedback, but now receive detailed evaluations that can be included in their work. Students find it easy to identify areas of weaknesses and after making improvements can re-use the survey to compare the results.

As students often have no experience with the subject they are about to choose (e.g. business studies) they may find the information on a written prospectus informative but not very good at giving a flavor of what the course is like.

To help provide better guidance, Lutterworth College has created an area in itslearning containing discussion groups, frequently asked questions and video conferencing. In addition, sample videos of every subject explain the courses on offer and give an example lesson that a student can view.

Informed decisions

This pathway guide allows students to view prospectus information and use the forums and video conferencing module to chat to students who currently take the subjects. By giving them access to this information they are able to make more informed decisions as to whether to study the course.

Parent access

Parents are able to log in to view the information, thus keeping better informed on the options that are available to their teenagers. More students are now studying the correct subject and as a result achievements are expected to get higher.

This technique really gets students thinking about the question as well as the answer. Students are usually given some past examination papers, and it is their job to create the online test. Once complete, the students activate their tests and allow the group to complete them.

Motivating and time-saving

Students really enjoy creating the tests and get the opportunity to complete and take many more tests than the teacher could create in the same amount of time.

For the teacher, the added benefits of this method is that they can take the best questions and keep them for other groups/years. It is very easy to build up a large bank of questions with very little work from the teacher.

Andrew Runciman, head of ICT at Lutteworth, attended itslearning’s user conference for Norwegian customers in March, and presented different ways of using the learning platform. Here are the examples he showed of various forms of peer assessment, which many teachers have used – for better learning, and to save time!

Oral presentations

When the students have practical assignments that require evaluation, the assignment tool is used to gather valuable feedback to the presenters.

The teacher creates a question form for the students to fill out based on certain criterias, and each student is granted access to a question form, with a unique name. When the work to be evaluated is submitted, each student fills out their version of the questionnaire. The student who has submitted the work is then given access to the survey.

The excess value of using itslearning for this kind of peer assessment is that the students get statistics that gather the information and give them a better overview of what works and what needs to be improved.

Tests and assignments

The teacher gives students access to correct the assignment. The teacher assigns each student a partner within the group. It is then that student’s job to assess and grade their partner's work. The students are given a mark scheme and are expected to mark the work according to the examination criteria. Students give feedback and comments that will help to improve their partner’s answers.

At the end of the assessment period, the permission to assess the work is removed from the students, and the teacher checks the feedback and adds their own comments.

According to Runciman this kind of peer assessment has contributed to improve exam results. ”By putting a more able learner with a less able, both students benefit from the task”. The more able students add a large amount of feedback, which really helps the lower ability students identify what to improve. The more able student also has a chance to improve their exam technique by working with the assessment criteria.”

If a student has gone to Spain for the holiday, they can log on to itslearning and write on the summer blog. Giving the opportunity to upload photographs etc. will add another dimension. Thus, the pupils can stay in touch – and work on their writing skills at the same time. Last, but not least: itslearning becomes a tool students will use during the summer, too.

Policies are used to override the default profile or user settings. This reduces the need for the creation of new Profiles or editing existing ones.

• Different settings can be combined in a single Policy
• More than one Policy can be applied to a user or Profile

An example might be where Messages and Projects have been turned off for all pupils on a Local Authority site. A teacher in ‘School A’ would like to use Projects with a particular group of children. However, not only are Projects unavailable to the pupils, they rely on the Messages system to enable the Project manager to invite participants to take part in a Project. In this case the School A Administrator can be asked to write a Policy that switches on Projects and Messages for the selected group of pupils in School A only.

Or, it may be decided that certain groups of pupils or individuals should be assigned a different Start URL to that set for their Profile. The Administrator can create a Policy that sets a new Start URL for them.

Points to remember

• By default Policies are managed by System Administrators under the Administration tab >> Policies.
• The permission to manage Policies is a profile setting and can therefore be delegated.
• It is also possible to add Policies to individual users by clicking the Administration tab >> Users and access rights >> Edit user >> Add policy under the Policies tab.
• Administrators with access to Users and access rights under the Administration tab can view the permissions of individual users.
• The strictest Policy always overrides other Policies.

In control with the Planner

The Planner is a powerful tool to prepare your lessons in itslearning. It allows you to link up assignments, tests, resources and activities to each planned lesson. You can also refer to learning objectives and provide the students with a description of the lesson. If you are not happy with the standard settings these can be edited to suit your own headings. This can of course be adjusted at anytime.

Using the Planner will also give the students a good overview of the course and allow them to plan their work effectively.

Better individual follow-up

The Individual Learning Plan (ILP) is the ultimate tool for following up individual students. As the name indicates, each student gets their personal plan for learning and can write comments and change the status of tasks as they go along.

Note! If you don’t have the Mentor tab in it’s learning, please contact your itslearning administrator. Read more about the Individual Learning Plan in the Help section of the ILP.

Old courses in archive

Some teachers use last year’s courses as a basis for creating new courses for the coming year. If you like to start from scratch, make sure you archive your old courses. That will give you and your students a tidier start for the new year. Courses are archived by choosing “Save in archive” at the top of the list of courses or in Course settings >> Properties within each course.

Get a tidy start

• Help your students find their way in your courses by tidying up for the new school year. Here are some things you may want to do:
• Use the Active option for folders, files, tests, assignments etc. It gives you the opportunity to decide when an element should become visible to students, or simply to hide irrelevant resources.
• Delete all elements you know you will not be using. All deleted items will be transferred to the Trashcan where you can retrieve them if you decide to use them again later.
• If all participants in a course are new, make sure you delete old messages from the bulletin board.
• Check the Course Settings of your courses and turn off the options you are not planning to use. For example, -if you have no intentions of using
• Portfolio Assessment in a course, the students will not be needing the Work Portfolio.

Advantages for administrators and teachers:

• By using eSafety, rules for communication and display can be defined at a school level.
• School administrators can set mentors for their own school.
• Each school can decide how the parent dashboard should be set up.
• School administrators can set and administer terms for their school.
• School administrators can overrule site policies and set policies for their school as well as assigning rights to single persons and groups.
• School administrators can create courses and projects for their own school.
• Vendors of digital resources can allocate licenses to single schools, which means that each school is free to choose what resources they would like to make available for their teachers.

This is what you do:

• Go to Administration >> Hierarchy.
• Choose a school from the list and press Edit.
• Tick off the box for Organisation. The school then gets the hierarchy type School.
• Press Save.
• Do the same for all the schools on your site.

Note that if any sub-categories at a school (e.g. a course or a group) have been set as schools, this will prevent you from defining the school as a School. To correct this you will have to:

• Choose a course/group from the list and press Edit.
• Remove the check mark for Organisation.
• Choose the correct Hierarchy type from the drop-down menu (Course or Group).
• Press Save.
• Do the same for all sub-categories to the school.

Now you can set the school as a School by following the instructions above.

The hierachy should look like this: