itslearning blog

Introducing Notification Preferences

vania.hasegawa@itslearning.com (Vania Hasegawa) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:04:17 GMT

Notification Preferences let users control which notifications they receive and how they receive them. The settings are divided into different sections. Some apply to the notification bell, while others apply only to email alerts.

Discover the New Course Catalogue

vania.hasegawa@itslearning.com (Vania Hasegawa) — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 08:53:52 GMT

Organisations can decide to make their courses available for open enrolment.

Available around Easter time, the new Course Catalogue will allow learners to discover and enrol in your courses independently, whether they are colleagues seeking professional development, students looking for enrichment opportunities, or community members wanting to learn something new.

This article explains how it works.

7 Lessons from International School Principals on Implementing an LMS

vania.hasegawa@itslearning.com (Vania Hasegawa) — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 12:09:18 GMT

In a recent webinar, our pedagogical consultant Philip Wharton spoke with two principals who together have over two decades of experience using itslearning in international schools.

Annegret Ochsenreither-Asmus, Schulleiterin at ecolea International School in Schwerin, has used the platform since 2013. Laurent Cassell, Gymnasium Principal at Metropolitan International School, has also been using it for many years.

Managing Course Permissions

vania.hasegawa@itslearning.com (Vania Hasegawa) — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 12:57:25 GMT

Managing access rights in digital classrooms is an important part of course administration. The permission system has been updated with a revised interface that supports managing course access.

Further information on the permission system can be found in our support article.

Pedagogy first: what I learned researching school digitalisation

Ole Lindgren — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 09:00:03 GMT

At 7:45 on a Tuesday morning, digitalisation doesn't feel like strategy.

Ole Lindgren presenting his findings at BETT, itslearning innovation summit

It feels like a teacher opening their laptop, checking whether today's lesson will actually work and hoping the tools do what they're supposed to. It feels like a school leader balancing long-term ambitions with the reality of full timetables, limited training time and constant change.

This everyday reality was the starting point for my master's thesis on how digitalisation policies travel through the education system. I spent several months interviewing school owners and principals in Norway about what actually happens when national strategies meet classroom practice.

Although the research is Norwegian, the patterns are recognisable across Europe. Different systems, different languages, similar challenges.

Strategies that are hard to use

One of the clearest findings was that national digitalisation strategies are often experienced as too abstract to guide daily work. Schools and local authorities are left to figure out what the strategy actually means for teaching, planning and collaboration.

One district administrator put it like this:

"It has been very vague. Very little concrete. A lot of opinions in the media. It's confusing for school owners."

This creates flexibility, which can be valuable. But it also means that what happens in one school can look very different from what happens in the next. A lot depends on whether the school leader has time, interest and the support to make sense of it all.

The training question

In most schools today, devices and platforms are no longer the main issue. The technology is there. The harder question is pedagogical: how do these tools actually support lesson planning, feedback and student progression?

One school owner described a pattern I heard several times:

"One third of the cost is buying the system. One third is running it. One third is training. But it's that training and good use that's always been ignored."

Teachers are often expected to rethink their practice without enough time to experiment, reflect and learn from colleagues. That's asking a lot.

Leading without a map

Many school leaders find themselves responsible for digital transformation without feeling equipped for it. Most trained as teachers, not technologists. They understand pedagogy. Procurement, system integration and change management are different skills.

One principal was refreshingly honest about this:

"I can be fooled completely on this, because I don't know enough. A school leader with a pedagogical education, unless you have a very special interest, you don't have a chance in hell of knowing what you're doing."

This isn't a criticism. It's recognition that the system often pushes responsibility to school level without building capacity first.

What seems to help

The schools that manage digitalisation well tend to share some approaches. None of them are revolutionary, but they make a difference. They start with something small and specific.

Rather than transforming everything at once, they focus on getting one thing right. Often it's simple: everyone uses the lesson planner the same way. Plans, resources and deadlines become visible and predictable. That consistency helps students, teachers and parents. They create time for sharing.

When teachers get a low-stakes format for sharing what they've tried, something shifts. One school described how initial skepticism turned to enthusiasm once teachers saw they could learn from each other without pressure. The next session had a waiting list. They distinguish structure from method.

A consistent planning format or telling someone what platform they must work in isn't about controlling how teachers teach. It's about reducing cognitive load for students who navigate multiple subjects and teachers every day.

AI brings familiar questions

With artificial intelligence now entering classrooms, schools face a situation that feels familiar. New technology arrives quickly. Experimentation happens everywhere. Shared guidance takes time to develop.

The research suggests that clear frameworks help, particularly around ethics, privacy and appropriate use. But within those frameworks, teachers need freedom to make pedagogical choices that fit their students. Getting this balance right matters. Without it, AI risks widening the gaps that already exist between schools.

What I took away

Digitalisation works when people have clear expectations, time to build confidence and opportunities to learn from each other. It struggles when we focus on tools and hope the rest will follow. The schools I studied weren't waiting for perfect conditions. They were finding ways to make progress with what they had, step by step, together. That's probably the most useful lesson of all.

Ole Lindgren is a former teacher and Pedagogical Advisor at itslearning. This post draws on his master's thesis in school leadership, examining how digitalisation strategies are implemented from policy to classroom practice.

Why Bett felt different this year...

Mariana Heggholmen — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 13:49:40 GMT

Why Bett felt different this year...

Bett in London has always been a place for scale. Big halls. Big ideas. Big promises about the future of education. This year, something felt different.

At the itslearning Innovation Summit, the energy was quieter and more deliberate. Conversations were less about what was new and more about what actually works. Less about tools, and more about teaching, learning, and the day-to-day reality educators are living with.

Across keynote conversations, customer discussions, and expert perspectives, a similar tone kept surfacing. Educators are not short on technology. They are short on clarity, time, and alignment.

Some of the most important insights did not come from the stage alone. They came from listening closely to school leaders, teachers, system administrators, and researchers approaching the same tensions from different directions.

This blog brings those voices together, not to resolve them, but to understand them better.

Rethinking how change really happens

Improved Image Management Across the Platform

vania.hasegawa@itslearning.com (Vania Hasegawa) — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 10:14:29 GMT

Discover the image selector feature in itslearning, a simplified way to upload, manage, and reuse images for enhanced personalisation and efficiency.

Image cropping for profile picture and personalised avatars for enhanced recognition.

vania.hasegawa@itslearning.com (Vania Hasegawa) — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 10:07:46 GMT

We are pleased to announce two upcoming features in itslearning: image cropping for profile pictures and avatars in itslearning. This makes the platform feel more personal for users, while giving administrators better tools to manage user images across the system.

A more accessible and modern Resource Page

Mariana Heggholmen — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 14:35:41 GMT

A more accessible and modern resource page.

At itslearning, we’re committed to building a learning platform that works for everyone—and that includes making it more accessible, easier to navigate, and modern in design. That’s why we’re excited to unveil the redesigned Resource Page: a cleaner, smarter, and more user-friendly experience for both teachers and students.

Please read our support article for more information.

The long-term value of a well-designed LMS

vania.hasegawa@itslearning.com (Vania Hasegawa) — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 11:34:40 GMT

When international school leaders evaluate learning management systems (LMS), they typically start with pricing spreadsheets and feature checklists. But the schools thriving five years after implementation looked beyond the first year's invoice.