The Learning Management System (LMS) is intended to expand HüW’s course offering to include self-study formats and, in the medium term, blended learning formats as well. The aim is to meet the demand from partner universities for up-to-date training and continuing professional development programmes for larger groups of people.

The choice fell on the ILIAS LMS. This decision was based on the following criteria:

• The LMS is well-established and widely accepted within the higher education sector. It is being further developed to meet the specific needs of colleges and universities.
• Easy access for all staff at higher education institutions in Lower Saxony is available via single sign-on through the Academic Cloud.
• ILIAS is an open-source system, which allows it to be adapted to specific requirements. Furthermore, there are no licensing costs.

The LMS at HüW is available as a central system to all staff at universities in Lower Saxony that are part of the HdN network. Access is planned via users’ own SSO accounts.

The PEChange Centre of Excellence will upload content to the LMS. To this end, it will draw on OERs and make use of self-study modules from the HdN network and universities in Lower Saxony. The PEChange Centre of Excellence is seeking further co-operations to generate content for the LMS. Content may also be purchased to fill any gaps.

Universities and organisations wishing to provide self-study content for the LMS can contact us at the following email address:

As is already the case with the existing HüW programme, the LMS will also address topics that are relevant across all universities. University-specific content and regulations cannot be covered.

The LMS will be linked to the HüW website. Users can access the service by logging in via the Academic Cloud’s SSO client.

There are no plans to integrate the LMS with university systems, and this is not part of the project. Universities can make content they have developed themselves available to all university staff in Lower Saxony via the LMS.

Ultimately, it is a question of licences as to what universities can use within their own systems. Content with the appropriate licences can be imported into their own systems.

No. The PEChange Centre of Excellence will cover the implementation costs, whilst HüW will bear the ongoing operating costs.

This will depend on the resources used. Existing OER resources will be free of charge, as will those made available by universities within the Lower Saxony University Network.

Any gaps in content that would need to be filled using commercial resources will be subject to a fee.

For blended-learning courses, in which self-study content is combined with contact hours, costs are incurred through the use of lecturers. These courses will therefore be subject to a fee, just as the previous HÜW courses were.

HüW is responsible for maintaining the LMS and for its editorial content.

Off-the-shelf LMSs are expensive. Furthermore, the content and functionality are usually not precisely tailored to the requirements of higher education institutions in Lower Saxony.

HüW is a strategic partner of the PEChange Centre of Excellence in the implementation phase; the system is to be based there in order to ensure its continued existence beyond the project-based duration of the PEChange Centre of Excellence.