IT-Kartellet case: CBS

"IT-Kartellet? The keyword is agility. They are building an airplane - while we are in the air. "

Every year, CBS educates over 21,000 students who follow 7,500 courses and are taught by 600 teachers. The learning management system must match the young people's IT habits, offer digital exams and handle all administration in a huge educational institution. IT-Kartellet has made this happen, in close collaboration with CBS’s own IT department.

Martin Tong is Program Manager for Study and Learning and Project Manager for Digital Exams in the IT department at CBS. He tells:

‟Agility. That's the only right word to use. With IT-Kartellet, we get the resources in immediately, and the results shortly after. For example, we meet with Henrik in front of a whiteboard, discuss some ideas, ask him to do "something in that direction". Soon we will have running mock-ups, get just one user group in so that functionality and processes are tested, evaluate continuously, and adapt what does not work optimally - and then we have a really good product. Quickly. 

For me, IT-Kartellet is a team that I haul in when I need it. There are not many who can Moodle - and not at the level they deliver. Moodle is a huge open-source learning platform - and it requires a lot from the universities to keep up. There, IT-Kartellet helps us. With being at the forefront of the beat and keeping very high quality. 

Our scalable expert resource. Always value for money

I work in a world where in the past people often allocated large sums from the budgets and then eventually had to state that they did not get value for money and the budget was otherwise used up. Instead, we now have scalability and agility: a solid, valuable core that we are constantly building on and coming up with quickly. Tailored in the best sense of the word. If I have some money on the budget and development wishes in Moodle, I see what I can get from IT-Kartellet. They have been a part of the CBS collaboration for so many years that there is a very high degree of trust. I know what I get out of it.

And I'm not even bound. The collaboration is so strongly founded that we at CBS can always go in and say that now we want much more ourselves. Nevertheless, IT-Kartellet is still our regular resource - expertise that can be called in for tasks where they are particularly strong. I can definitely recommend them to others.

50,000 digital exam submissions… and an end plagiarism

An example is the digital exam submission, which was actually "only" a pilot project back in 2012. We wanted to offer it, and we took on the task together to see how we could solve it. It exceeded all expectations, even though it was tailor-made from scratch. We can now easily handle students located all over the world, and the students do not have to team up with 3 copies and upload them. CBS Learn connects administration, assessors, and students. It makes it possible to upload materials, keep track of dates and deadlines, provide a receipt for submission, and show the status of the exam from submission to final assessment. In addition, the submissions are nicely sorted for the assessors, who typically do not miss the boxes of papers. It is an option, and not something mandatory - so it is almost scary how many people have chosen to use it. Over 50,000 submissions I actually think have gone quite well from a pilot project. As a side benefit, plagiarism has virtually disappeared. The students know that it is extremely easy to check for plagiarism with digital submission ...” 

IT-Kartellet has done this for CBS

- CBS Learn, the flagship project, developed and implemented in close collaboration with CBS, based on Moodle, PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Apache, Linux Redhat, PostGresSQL, Oracle Web Services, and Shell Scripts. Facilitates the exchange of all teaching materials and is used by +36,000

- Project room module for optional group work or self-study. Supports all learning, not just file-sharing portal.

- Examples of functionality:

• Automatic nightly emails that keep everyone updated about course-relevant new material, messages, etc.
• Blocks that provide course overview and archive
• Immediate notification to support the sending of emergency messages
• Etherpad solution - real-time online editor, with the ability for multiple users to simultaneously edit documents

- calendar.cbs.dk: an easily accessible and automatically updated personal form for students and teachers - with a high update frequency and data quality. Works via iPhone, Android, Windows Phone as well as Outlook and Google calendar, etc. For example, you can see which teams you are registered for, when and where there is teaching, changes, and cancellations in the forms.

- Operation and maintenance

- Workshops and training

- Course admin, which handles teachers' affiliation with courses and subjects

- CBS API - a specially developed PHP-based application that integrates four main systems: the study administration system, the HR system, Courseadmin, and the e-learning system

- IT-Kartellet is today part of CBS ITK project, which is responsible for the further development of the learning platform and the spread of technical tools in the organization. As support and advisory unit for the Portfolio Management at CBS, the IT-Kartellet has helped to prepare 30 project proposals and project prioritization.

About CBS

Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen Business School, was established in 1917 and became an integral part of the Danish education system in 1965. Today, CBS is one of Denmark's 8 universities and has 20,000 students and approx. 1500 employees - researchers, Ph.D. students, and administrative staff.

About IT-Kartellet

We are fearless digital craftspeople, who believe in informal, simple, and positive co-creation that impacts our clients.