“We switched to itslearning because it matched our most important needs – good communication tools and the ease with which to share and collaborate on work.”
Isabelle Marx
Deputy Director, Collège Sainte Véronique
The Challenge
The Collège Sainte Véronique in Liège, Belgium has around 2,000 students. They were looking for the best LMS for communication and collaboration. One that would grow with their needs, and make it easy for students and teachers to share, collaborate and submit work.
‘We first started using an LMS in 2012, but it did not suit our purposes. So, we decided to find a new platform and selected itslearning, because it ticked all the boxes for us. We needed a good way to communicate, between teachers and teachers, between teachers and students, between management and teachers, and management and students. Our second most important criterion for an LMS was to have one where it was easy to share and collaborate on documents.’ – Isabelle Marx, Deputy Director, Collège Sainte-Véronique.
'I began using the platform first to communicate with students after class. It allows me to give immediate, personalized feedback directly to the students - a much faster way than giving feedback in class the next day. And, I could now give feedback in many different ways.'
Marie-Laure Vertuel,
English teacher, College Sainte-Veronique
The Process
Engaging teachers
The implementation process was relatively easy. Then it was a matter of getting the teachers and students to use the platform. A group of super users were trained by itslearning and using the ‘train the trainer’ process, this super-user group then trained their colleagues. Teachers were first encouraged to use the platform as a communication tool, and once they saw how easy that was, they began to feel more comfortable using the platform, even during class. They would prepare assignments to be submitted via the platform, and realized that they could give feedback in a more constructive way, even through comments directly on the assignment sheet in real-time.
Student Squad
The school also tapped its student body to help foster the use of itslearning, like third-year student Adrien Croonen. As a peer trainer, he found that helping students navigate the platform eventually gives them a better experience with the platform. And when they are more comfortable using the platform, they realize how intuitive and easy it is to use. The students really like being trained by their peers because it allows them to learn from one another and discover a lot of new functions. The more the teachers used the platform, the more they discovered more effective ways of working and teaching to create new ways of learning.
"It’s really well structured, so it’s easy for students to use. And, that’s exactly what students are looking for, a platform that doesn’t require a lot of processes just to refer to a course or a resource. That’s what we like. It’s easy, fast and efficient."
Adrien Croonen, student
Successful Results
College Sainte-Véronique has been successful because before even implementing a new LMS, they determined what the users’ needs were, and then set about finding an LMS that was the right fit for them. They chose itslearning because it is easy to use, simple to learn, intuitive and had the necessary communication and collaboration features they were seeking to boost student involvement, engagement and ownership.
It is also a valuable LMS for professional training colleges, such as the Saint Véronique Marie José College, where future technical or professional office employees are trained. The advantage of using itslearning to communicate with the CTQs (Technical Qualification Techniques) is that it allows students to see the activities offered at the school and to be able to register directly.