“itslearning gives us the capability to see those data gaps more clearly and to work together to do something about it."
Boston, MA (PRWEB) March 20, 2014
itslearning (http://www.itslearning.net), the digital learning platform of choice for a growing number of districts, has added new tools that enhance personalized learning, communication and development for administrators, teachers and students. Built through an ongoing partnership with Forsyth County Schools, these new features extend learning opportunities, maximize instructional time, and support critical thinking, standards mastery and content distribution through a recommendation engine.
“No one’s better at improving the functionality of a learning management system than school districts and teachers themselves,” said Mike Evans, Director of Information and Instructional Support Systems of Forsyth County Schools. He and the Forsyth technology team orchestrated a five-year public/private partnership with itslearning for the purpose of connecting the data silos often created by student information, assessment, and learning management systems. “itslearning gives us the capability to see those data gaps more clearly and to work together to do something about it,” Evans said.
The major addition to the itslearning learning management system is a revolutionary Standards Mastery and Recommendation Engine. Unique to itslearning, this engine offers immediate feedback, progress tracking and a recommendation platform that provides teachers with suggested resources and content tailored to the requirements and learning styles of individual students and standards. A standards mastery report records each student’s performance on assignments, activities and assessments, showing teachers which areas of the standards are not yet met or mastered. The system automatically recommends standards-aligned resources and content for those students who need further support, providing customized learning resources that enable teachers and administrators to better track individual student progress toward mastery.
In addition to helping students receive specific feedback from teachers and understand what expectations have been set for an assignment and how that assignment relates to standards, itslearning rubrics now can be shared among course creators. Additionally, the newly improved rubrics are searchable and can calculate grades based on the rubric settings.
Educators also can take advantage of innovative system tools that help them save time on everyday tasks:
- Gradebooks with automated scoring of assessments, SIS integration and instructional feedback.
- Enhanced attendance tracking with immediate student data imports from the SIS and integrated dashboard to help users quickly configure and monitor student attendance and seating charts.
- Content migration tools that enable districts and teachers to maximize their time with simple one-click integration of pre-existing content to the itslearning platform.
“Working as an integral part of the itslearning Product Design team has allowed us to provide input on our product requirements and ongoing needs of Forsyth County. itslearning is an important instructional delivery and collaboration tool across all levels of our district, and our partnership assures us that we have implemented the most robust learning management system available for educators and students alike,” said Evans.
The results of its partnership with Forsyth County Schools are already yielding solid benefits for itslearning. Other large districts have begun to take a serious interest in the new Standards Mastery and Recommendation Engine.
“We are constantly working in true partnership fashion with our customers to listen and learn what works in the classroom so that we improve our platform to ensure the most effective, efficient and rewarding tools are available for teacher and student success,” said Travis Willard, itslearning US, CEO. “These new tools and features will certainly benefit all members of the Forsyth district - from administrators to students, and support their everyday success - but it will also give future partners the benefits of what Forsyth has worked so tirelessly to create.”
About itslearning, Inc.
Established in 1999, itslearning is a cloud-based K-12 learning management system designed to make teaching easier, learning more engaging, and parent involvement more effective and efficient. Headquartered in Bergen, Norway, itslearning has offices in Boston, London, Birmingham, Berlin, Paris, Mulhouse, Malmo, and Enscheda. For more information, visit http://www.itslearning.net.
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