Type Stock company Area served Worldwide Headquarters Bergen, Norway | Industry Educational Website itslearning.com Founded 1999 | |
 | ||
Genre Learning management system Key people Ulf Sven Ivar Mattsson (Chairman)
Arne Bergby(CEO) Subsidiaries Netmedia UK Limited, TeleTOP, Infostance SNC, Fronter AS | ||
Det nya itslearning skolstart
Itslearning AS is a digital learning management system developed by the Norwegian company itslearning AS. It is per 2016 the largest learning platform in Europe, and one of the four largest in the world. Additionally, itslearning AS is one of the fifty fastest growing technology companies in Europe.
Contents
- Det nya itslearning skolstart
- The new itslearning library
- History
- Content
- Users
- Reception
- Criticism
- Awards
- References
It is a web-based learning management system designed for both lower and higher degrees of education: from kindergartens and primary schools to colleges.
The system has over four million active users worldwide with many users in the United States, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and Brazil. Over 900.000 users exist in Norway alone. In 2016, CEO Arne Bergby claimed over 7,5 million people use itslearning world over.
The company headquarters are in Bergen, Norway, with offices in Atlanta, Berlin, Birmingham, Boston, Copenhagen, Enschede, Helsinki, London, Malmö, Mulhouse, and Paris.
The new itslearning library
History
The system was created by a group of students at Bergen University College in 1998 as a master's project on the topic of "virtual classrooms". A group of teachers asked whether the system could be created, and after receiving a sum of start-up money from the College itslearning was created following year in 1999, and Bergen University College became the first user of the system. The company was first established as "it:solutions".
In 2004, Arne Bergby became CEO of itslearning; per 2015 he owns 9,16 per cent of the holding company in ownership of itslearning. A U.S. office was opened in 2009 in Massachusetts. In 2013, itslearning acquired SkoleIntra, and in 2015 Fronter, making it the largest learning management system in Europe. In 2014, 40 per cent of the company was sold to the Swedish private equity fund EQT; the company was at the time valued at 600 million NOK (ca. $73 million per 2016).
An unsuccessful attempt to establish itslearning in Spain was, according to CEO Arne Bergby, ended due to government corruption; a similar unsuccessful attempt to establish itslearning in Italy was ended due to problems getting the funding from the communes.
Content
The system is an arena for communication and cooperation, as well as a tool for administration, evaluation and following up on students/pupils. itslearning is specially adapted for schools, and enables publishing of subject schedules, and individual or group messages (as to a class). In project assignments, students can create groups where files may be uploaded, or ideas discussed. It's also possibly to create and publish tests and competitions in the system. Assignments may be published with or without a deadline, and hand-ins may be uploaded digitally, with options for grading the hand-in digitally and displaying the assessment to the student. There is also access to ePortfolio, which allows each member to create a presentation of themselves. Such homepage contains a blog, and possibilities to upload pictures, etc.
Users
The system has over four million active users worldwide; per 2016, the number is according to CEO Arne Bergby over 7,5 million.
In Norway, the system is used extensively by several schools and educational institutions: itslearning is used by universities such as Norwegian School of Economics, BI Norwegian Business School, Norwegian School of Information Technology and University of Stavanger. Additionally, it is used by primary, middle and high schools. The county municipalities of Akershus, Buskerud, Hordaland, Hedmark, Nordland, Nord-Trøndelag, Rogaland, Sør-Trøndelag, Vest-Agder and Vestfold all use itslearning in high schools.
Several European school districts use itslearning as its school platform, including Dallas, Clear Creek, Oslo and Stockholm.
Reception
The few publicly available evaluation of itslearning indicate that its users are satisfied with the system: a survey carried out in 2003 showed that a high percentage of users at Bergen University College were pleased with the system. A second survey carried out in conjunction with a master's degree showed that 67% of students at different faculties at Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Sør-Trøndelag University College are satisfied or very satisfied with itslearning.
itslearning claims on their own website to have measured customer loyalty and satisfaction at 99%.
Criticism
A public criticism of itslearning has been made by professor Martin Ystenes at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU); in 2007 he called itslearning "a catastrophe", when the system after five years remained still not adapted to the needs of NTNU, but rather to that of high schools. He also criticized the company for having an arrogant attitude in the wake of a system upgrade ran the weekend before the start of the spring semester in 2007. This caused major problems the first week of the semester. As of autumn 2017, NTNU is changing from itslearning to Blackboard as their management system.