Case-Study: IU Internationale Hochschule

Development of a learning platform for Germany's largest university.

The platform delivers a digital alternative for physical study materials to over 130,000 students.

Service
Software Development
Months
48+
Developers
04

About IU International University

IU International University (IU) is a private, state-recognized university with 38 locations in Germany. Since 2021, IU has become the largest university in Germany with currently over 130,000 students. In addition to dual and hybrid degree programs, IU offers a wide range of online study programs. For a maximally flexible and personalized study experience, IU places a strong focus on the development of digital learning solutions.

Vue
Nuxt
NestJS
Kafka
AWS
Docker
TypeScript

Das Projekt

Challenge

IU needed a central web-based learning platform as a single-page application that guides students through their studies. The consultation and implementation included the contextual display of course scripts, learning tasks, and interactive elements such as notes, highlights, and bookmarks. The challenge was to design and implement an application to generate statically rendered course scripts from proprietary XML files.

Solution

We started by developing a prototype, which allowed us to validate the feasibility of the project within a few days. We then advanced the prototype into a fully-fledged web app, which — as an alternative to physical study materials — is now regularly used by over 130,000 students. The application integrates seamlessly into a complex microservice landscape and communicates with other services via Kafka events.

Additionally, by developing our own cross-platform MicroApp framework, we supported the development of mobile apps for iOS and Android. Thanks to the framework, we were able to develop central features of the application using web technologies and use them across platforms.

Highly reliable, customer-oriented, and straightforward in implementation. Bitsides' extensive expertise in creating responsive web applications greatly supports us in providing digital learning tools and content. The results are 'best in class.'

Q. StierstorferDirector Product @IU

Impact

Thanks to the new learning app, over 130,000 students can read and search their course scripts digitally, take notes, and test their knowledge with practice tasks.

Our cross-platform framework also enables IU to develop individual features across platforms, significantly reducing development costs and time.

Competitive Advantage
The provision of digital learning content is a relevant factor for IU in the competition with other universities.
Digital Learning
For the first time, IU students can read their course scripts digitally, take notes, and test their knowledge with practice tasks.
Increased Development Speed
Our cross-platform framework increases development speed across all platforms.

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