Educational publishers make digital licenses available for distance learning

Educational publishers Boom Voortgezet Onderwijs and Staal & Roeland offer digital learning licenses, so that students who sit at home right now, still have access to education. This in collaboration with Drillster, provider of the adaptive learning application of the same name. Halfway through March, it became clear that all schools in the Netherlands were going to close due to the coronavirus Covid-19. At that time, it was almost immediately decided with all educational publishers and schoolbook suppliers in the Netherlands, to make digital education available free of charge to all schools that did not have digital licenses yet. This triggered a chain reaction in which all parties involved showed their best side. As a result, almost all schools can now – in addition to the books – also offer educational material online.

Working learning goals from home

For all schools that purchase teaching materials from Boom Voortgezet Onderwijs and Staal & Roeland, this means that they can work with Drillster immediately. Drillster is an adaptive online learning application with which students can do so-called ‘drills’. The app works assessment-based and helps students to quickly and effectively gain and retain knowledge. Drills can be practiced on a desktop, tablet or phone. This gives students access to their learning materials from anywhere. By providing schools with a Drillster Pro account, teachers can define learning goals and monitor the progress of their students. 

Marcel van de Wege, ICT Education Coordinator and mathematics teacher at Walcheren Christian Schools (CSW): “It’s a restless time for the student. Especially with regard to exams. More than ever the importance of education with digital learning materials is evident. At a number of schools, including CSW, pupils have their own device and the majority of teaching material is offered online. Therefore, the current switch as a result of the crisis is not too big. Fortunately, for other schools, the teaching material is now also made available digitally, so that they too can offer distance learning quickly. In this way, we will all ensure that education continues as much as possible”.

Donald Staal, director and co-owner at Staal & Roeland: “I am pleased that we were able to set this up so quickly. We did not hesitate for a moment and immediately made our resources available. Because every student has to be able to continue. In addition to books, many schools already work with digital tools, such as videos and licenses for digital learning tools. Some did not yet have licenses for digital support. We are now helping those schools. Hopefully, they will now see the added value of digital tools in education. Nobody could see this coming, but digital education is now proving to be the way to provide students with an education”.

“I think it’s great that, together with our educational partners, we can offer help to all the students who can’t go to their schools,” says Marco van Sterkenburg, CEO at Drillster. “There has been an incredibly rapid change to enable distance learning. By our partners, but also by the schools. Teachers throughout the country are committed to bringing education into the living room. Because in these times, in particular, it is important that the children have something to hold on to. It’s good that we facilitate this together as much as possible so that any backlog is kept to a minimum”.