ILU – ILIAS Learning Environment
ILU stands for ILIAS learning environment and is the central learning management system of TH Cologne. ILU offers numerous functions for learning support and interactive learning, communication, and collaboration. Faculty or institution-internal digital teaching expert teams (DLE teams) advise and support the technical and didactic development of digital teaching in ILU and form the interface to Campus IT (CIT) and the Center for Academic Development (ZLE), which bundles and processes the needs collected in the faculties and institutions for digital teaching and thus also for ILU.
In a nutshell: What is ILU?
FACTS
Link: https://ilu.th-koeln.de
Login: with campusID
Licence: GPL (freeware)
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
– Laptop, smartphone, or tablet
– Internet connection
– Browser (no app yet)
ILU is TH Cologne’s Learning Management System (LMS) based on the open source software ILIAS. Implement didactic scenarios for entire courses and modules, use ILU to provide materials clearly, organize group work, communicate with your students, or obtain feedback. ILU helps to manage the many activities related to teaching and learning. The many functions are reflected in the acronym ILIAS, which stands for Integrated Learning, Information, and Work Cooperation System.
Data Protection & Accessibility
TH Cologne provides ILIAS as freeware compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The current ILIAS version only partially fulfills the requirements of the European Directive 2016/2102 on the accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies. The directive is aimed at the member states of the European Union. Thus, in North Rhine-Westphalia, the requirements of the directive were laid down in Section 10 of the Disability Equality Act (BGG NRW) and the Accessible Information Technology Ordinance (BITV NRW). Further information on accessibility in ILU can be found under “Accessibility Control Concept” in the footer of ILU, including a detailed list of non-accessible content and information on using ILU in an accessible way.
The ILIAS community is working on a new ILIAS version that meets the EU accessibility requirements and will then also be introduced at TH Cologne. The community has also created an OER Digital Accessibility Toolbox to help you implement and make your content accessible on ILU.
Special Case of Exams in ILIAS
There is a separate ILIAS installation for exams. Workflows were implemented here that – technically separate from teaching – enable digital testing on-site (ILU.EP) and remotely (ILU.EA). ILU does not include the performance of exams with legal consequences. Tests to accompany learning without legal consequences can take the form of self-tests and practice exams. You can find suitable exam formats and video instructions for creating digital exams here.
Range of Features
- Feedback & Evaluation: surveys, live polls, voting, tests, learning level
- Interaction & Communication: news, forums, chat
- Cooperation & Collaboration: Etherpad, blog, wiki
- Teaching Methods: learning sequences, sessions, learning modules
- Organization & Transference: booking pool, bibliography, contents page, glossary
- Media: files, audio, video, podcasts
Uses
Step by Step
ILU offers you a wide range of options for implementing or supporting various teaching scenarios. Self-directed learning and blended learning can be carried out individually and from any location with the help of the platform.
Parallel to current changes in digital teaching and learning, the functions in the ILIAS learning environment are constantly being further developed by the ILIAS community in cooperation with the universities. If you would like to learn about new functions or have specific questions, you can contact the respective DLE team at the individual faculties and institutions of TH Cologne.
Learn how to set up your first course and fill it with elements in this video (German).
Log in to ILU in your browser at https://ilu.th-koeln.de/.
Content for non-registered users can be found in the general access area. If you want to use ILIAS to its full potential, you will need a campusID. To apply for a campusID, please get in touch with the relevant contact person for the campus ID at your institution. The DLE team at your institution or faculty can then create a course or workspace for you to try out and get started.
All ILU functions are described in detail in the context-sensitive ILIAS online help. It can be opened in ILU by clicking on the question mark at the top right (see image). Use this primarily for detailed technical questions within ILU.
On the TH internal ILU help page, you will find an overview of the functions ILU offers you for your teaching and how you can use them. This page also bundles OER for the technical and didactic use of ILU from the ILIAS community.
In the ILIAS community, many technical and also didactic instructions and application scenarios for ILIAS have already been developed and made available as OER. Here you will find an overview of various ILIAS support toolboxes from other universities.
If you would like to redesign your course didactically or implement major technical changes and need individual advice, please contact your faculty or institution’s internal DLE team.
Useful Tips
Would you like information on the further development of ILU within the TH and beyond the university on ILIAS? The DLE teams are networked in the so-called Community of Experts (CoE) and regularly exchange information. Get in touch with your faculty’s internal DLE team.
The EZ DLE was founded in the summer of 2023 to network, bundle, and jointly promote modern, digital, and systematically coordinated teaching development within the faculties of individual committed players in a community. In the future, the Community of Experts (CoE) founded as part of the EZ DLE will take these processes into account for the first time in university-wide organizational development and institutionalize them as a structure so that as many university lecturers as possible can benefit from the experience gained in the individual faculties and institutions.
Any questions?
Feel free to contact us by mail to lehrpfade@th-koeln.de!
