Collège du Léman, a renowned international day and boarding school in Switzerland, is home to a vibrant community of students representing more than 100 nationalities. With a strong focus on academic excellence and personalised learning, the school has long embraced educational technology to enrich the student experience. However, the use of multiple digital tools over time created challenges around consistency and communication. To address this, Collège du Léman turned to itslearning; a comprehensive learning platform designed to streamline digital resources, centralise planning, and foster better engagement across the school community.
The transition to itslearning was a strategic move aimed at transforming the way education is delivered at Collège du Léman. The platform plays a key role in:
- Centralising course planning and digital resource sharing, ensuring consistency and accessibility across subjects.
- Enhancing communication between educators, students, and parents, fostering a more connected and transparent learning environment.
- Streamlining the tracking of assessments and academic progress, allowing for more effective monitoring and personalised support.
The power of the itslearning Planner
Central to the successful integration of itslearning at Collège du Léman was the Planner tool, an invaluable asset for organising and delivering educational content. This feature gave teachers the ability to create clear, numbered lesson plans, presenting a logical sequence of tasks that made learning more intuitive for students. Lessons could be structured by topic and unit, offering a consistent and predictable journey through the curriculum.
Moreover, the Planner allowed educators to align resources and activities with specific learning objectives, giving both teachers and students a transparent view of progress. This not only enhanced instructional clarity but also ensured that nothing important was missed along the way.
"The big shift for us was Plans, starting to centralise everything in Plans. That would be the advice I give any school using itslearning is get teachers to use Plans. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but they should start putting resources and communicating with students through plans as soon as possible." Jacob Rosch, Head of Educational Technology.
Blended and remote learning innovations
In the spring of 2020, like many schools around the world, Collège du Léman was faced with the sudden shift to fully remote learning. The school quickly identified three key challenges to address:
- Standardising lesson delivery across a diverse and international student body.
- Sustaining high levels of student engagement and participation in an online environment.
- Documenting lessons and tracking student progress effectively.
To meet these challenges, the school turned to itslearning as a central solution. A consistent daily routine was established: each morning began with a message outlining the day’s objectives and activities, giving students clarity and direction from the outset. The Planner tool played a critical role here, helping teachers number and organise tasks so that students could manage their workload independently and confidently.
To boost engagement, a variety of interactive tools were introduced. Teachers made strategic use of discussion boards, assignments, quizzes, and peer assessments to foster collaboration and encourage active participation. Regular feedback loops ensured that students felt supported and connected—even while learning remotely.
“The Assignment tool is excellent because it extends beyond just submitting work and receiving feedback. It enables ongoing conversations about the work, allowing students to refine and resubmit their assignments for a final version. Another great thing about assignment is the peer assessment feature. This is really key for me because it allows that level of interaction that is often missing in a virtual school environment.”Tom Moores, Sports Science teacher
Teachers also used the Page tool, to gather weekly lesson plans, maintain relationships with the students, allowing them to connect to each other, ensuring the students had a voice and choice in the lessons. They also used it to address students mental health and well being. English teacher Aimée Skidmore set up her page for the week with lessons, a video message, a class discussion board and surveys for the students to provide feedback.
“What I like about pages is that it is one place for the students to find all their assignments, tasks, instructions and resources. And I can also give some audio and video cues. I can structure learning objectives with connected lessons neatly embedded underneath. This was especially valuable for students with learning difficulties who found it hard to navigate through the system. I also use the chat function to be present for my students.” Aimée Skidmore, English teacher.
The built in 360 reports in itslearning was crucial for documenting and keeping an eye on the students’ progress. It easily shows the teachers how the students are engaging with the learning material and allows for teachers to take a proactive approach even in a remote setting, and reach out to the students who may need extra support.
Summary of best practices for blended and remote learning
- Structured learning plans
Developing clear, numbered lesson plans that outlined a sequence of tasks, making navigation intuitive for students. The Planner tool in itslearning allowed teachers to organise lessons by topic and unit, ensuring a coherent and predictable learning path. - Active learning techniques
To enhance student engagement, teachers used integrated collaborative tools such as Microsoft Teams and Padlet. As well as native itslearning tools such as Discussion, message boards and surveys. To allow the students to discuss the learning material, ask for peer or teacher help and provide feedback on the learning experience. - Emphasis on student well-being
Recognising the importance of mental health during remote learning, teachers integrated well-being resources into course materials. The school implemented well-being sections within their pages, providing mindfulness exercises, stress management tips, and community-building activities to ensure emotional support. - Continuous feedback and assessment
Regular feedback loops were established through assignments, quizzes, and peer assessments. Teachers utilised features like inline commenting on Word documents, video feedback, and structured rubrics to provide meaningful evaluations. The teacher also kept an eye on student engagement through the 360 report, allowing them to reach out with support to students who may be in danger of falling behind. - Centralised communication and engagement
To maintain student-teacher and peer interactions, Collège du Léman used itslearning's messaging system and discussion boards extensively. The Pages feature was also employed to post video messages from the teachers, showing the students that they are present.
Results and impact
Collège du Léman remote learning techniques with itslearning helped them secure student engagement in a challenging time. Teachers observed improvements in student autonomy, creativity, and ability to navigate course materials independently. The structured approach not only maintained academic rigour but also supported students' well-being, demonstrating the effectiveness of a well-designed remote learning strategy.
Moreover, teachers found that students took greater ownership of their learning. The ability to revisit recorded lessons, access structured playlists, and engage in self-paced activities contributed to a more student-centred educational experience. The virtual school environment also facilitated deeper collaboration, with peer assessment and interactive discussions fostering a sense of community.
“Students are showing more independence; they are taking control of how they approach work and how they get things done. We really put them in the driving seat for their course, it’s up to them to go onto the platform and see what’s going on and interact with the course materials. I see more creativity in the way they are working and how they are showing their knowledge.”
Aimée Skidmore, English teacher.
Conclusion and future directions
Collège du Léman’s transition to blended and remote learning stands as a compelling model for schools aiming to strengthen their digital learning environments. By prioritising structured lesson planning, active student engagement, well-being, and continuous feedback, the school fostered a virtual classroom that was both supportive and effective. The strategic implementation of itslearning provided a centralised, intuitive platform that enabled both educators and students to navigate the challenges of remote education with confidence and clarity.
Looking ahead, Collège du Léman aims to further develop itslearning as the central hub for all educational activities. The school's goal is to continue fostering a culture where teachers and students instinctively turn to itslearning as their primary learning space.
“We will continue to develop Plans in itslearning and make it ‘the one place’ students and teachers go. My short mission is 'it’s on itslearning’. That’s what we want to hear teachers say to students, teachers to say that to parents, students say to parents, and students to say to each other, ‘it’s on itslearning’. We want it to be that one place where people go to find resources.”
Jacob Rosch, Head of Educational Technology.
Collège du Léman have already started to expand the LMS’ use for professional development, school-wide communications, and further personalisation of learning experiences. By continuously refining its digital strategies, the school will ensure seamless access to learning resources, effective communication, and a dynamic educational experience for both students and educators.