What does a school day look like when learners don’t simply follow a fixed timetable, but actively shape their own day? At Verdener Campus, a typical morning starts with what the school calls Campus Time, a short orientation phase where learners get an overview: Which tasks are due? What is already completed? Where do I need to catch up? From there, they plan their day and decide where to focus their energy
The itslearning LMS is a natural part of the students day. They don’t see it as a separate tool, but a natural part of their learning.
Verdener Campus is a secondary school with a diverse student body and a wide range of learning needs. The school embraces the diversity, and has built its pedagogical processes around structure and responsibility. As the school’s mission statement puts it:
At the centre of the learning structure are open learning environments and self-organised learning. Direct instruction is complemented, or replaced by, dedicated learning time, during which learners work independently. Teachers take on a different role: guiding learning rather than directing it. Teacher Antje Inselmann describes what this looks like in practice "In the core subjects, we mainly work through self-organised learning in open learning environments. This means that the children think about which tasks they want to work on and plan their day accordingly."
This framework creates an environment where independence isn’t only expected of students, but a natural part of everyday school life.
For this pedagogical framework to work in practice, it needs a reliable foundation. At Verdener Campus, that foundation is itslearning.
Learning plans, materials and tasks are available in one central place. Teachers can adapt, update and tailor content to different learners, and differentiated plans make it possible to provide individual learners with tasks that serve their learning progress
The following video is in German.
The learning platform supports collaboration within the teaching team. Content is developed, refined and reused collaboratively. This creates a consistency while providing flexibility for teachers and students.
Antje Inselmann points to differentiation as the standout benefit:
“We have significantly better options for differentiation because materials are stored digitally. I can adapt, add to or reduce tasks and assign them to individual learners in a targeted way. That is a great improvement compared to how things worked before.” – Antje Inselmann , Second Deputy Headteacher at Verdener Campus
Digital tools are therefore not an end in themselves. They serve a clear purpose: making it possible to put the school’s pedagogical concept into practice.
At Verdener Campus feedback is a central part of the learning process. It goes beyond assessment or grading alone.
Learners receive feedback on their tasks based on clear criteria, so they can understand how their work isassessed and what they can build on. Feedback is given throughout the learning process and is available at any time.
One learner explains the impact of continous feedback:
"I can see exactly why I received a particular grade. There are criteria such as time management or how I worked. That helps me understand it much better and to know how I can improve."
– Liana, 10th grade student at Verdener Campus
For the teachers the approach to providing feedback changes:
"I can give feedback immediately, in writing or also as an audio message. And the learners can return to it at any time, whether they’re continuing their work or want to revisit something."
– Antje Inselmann , Second Deputy Headteacher at Verdener Campus
Feedback doesn’t mark the end of the learning process, it’s woven into it.
This pedagogical model also changes the role of teachers. Rather than being the primary source of knowledge in the room, teachers at Verdener Campus act as guides, supporting individual learning journeys and helping students develop at their own pace. They facilitate development conversations, where learners reflect on their progress and work together with teachers to plan their next steps. itslearning supports this process by making the learning progress visible and easy to track in real time.
One teacher highlights how digital tools have made it possible to support every student more closely “We work as learning guides and support the children in their learning. Through the digital possibilities, I am closer to each individual child and can provide more targeted support.”
The students gradually take responsibility for their own learning, without leaving them without support.
While the students are encouraged to develop independence, collaboration plays an equally important role at Verdener Campus. Depending on the task, learners work alone or in groups, sometimes across different learning groups.
Collaboration is also central within the teaching team. Materials are developed and shared across the team, which contributing to a consistent structure that teachers and students can rely on.
This combination of individual work and shared development creates a learning environment that offers both orientation and exchange, for students and teachers alike.
The way students learn at Verdener Campus prepares them for more than the next lesson. The skills they develop, working independently, using digital tools confidently, and reflecting on their own learning, are ones they'll carry with them long after they leave school.
One student describes the connection like this:
“You learn to complete tasks independently, just like you would at the workplace. You are given a task and have to work out for yourself how to solve it.”
– Sophie, 10th grade student at Verdener Campus
These skills don't develop by accident. They grow through the combination of clear structure, consistent guidance from teachers and tools that support the process.
Verdener Campus shows that self-organised learning does not come from having less structure, but from having the right structure clear, reliable frameworks give students the orientation they need to take genuine ownership of their learning.
itslearning supports this structure by bringing learning plans, materials, feedback and competencies together in one place. The platform makes the learning progress visible, supports differentiation and enables faster, more meaningful feedback. But the platform is only part of the story, what makes it work is how it's embedded in a clear pedagogical concept. For school leaders, that’s the key insight: digital learning platforms deliver the most value when they are treated not as an add-on, but as an integral part of school development. Used well, they can help structure open learning environments, support teachers in their role as learning guides and gradually give learners more ownership of their own learning.
Structure and independence do not have to contradict each other. At Verdener Campus, they reinforce each other: clear digital structures provide orientation, that in turn enables independence, and with the guidance of teachers, learning remains a shared process