“The future of Flemish education is not digital”

More and more teachers see the added value of digital learning resources, but textbooks remain at least as important.

Flemish teachers do not plan to replace all textbooks with digital learning materials in the future. This is demonstrated by a survey of European teachers conducted by Sanoma, the parent company of educational publisher Van En.

In Flanders, 68 percent of teachers use digital learning resources in the classroom (almost) every day. For textbooks, this figure is 87 percent. Almost three quarters are very satisfied with the quality of the learning materials provided to them, including the publishers. Remarkably, primary school teachers rate this more positively than their colleagues in secondary education.

“We don’t know exactly why this is,” says Vicki Adriaenssen, CEO of Van En Publishing. “I think what plays a role is that primary school teachers have to teach all subjects. As a result, they may have more confidence in the teaching materials and rely more on them. On the other hand, many secondary school teachers have a lot of experience in their subject. As a result, they are more likely to evaluate teaching materials based on how well they can handle them.”

Flemish teachers seem slightly more positive about digital learning resources than textbooks. Are they being used more and more?

Vicki Adriansen: Not at all. Today, almost every Flemish student in the classroom has a laptop or other digital device, but this has not been used in lessons for a few years now. This may be because many teachers have not yet seen the added value of this or because digital learning resources are not adequately tailored to their lessons and students. Last year we launched DigiMax, a digital-focused math method for grade 5. This has shown that teachers are already open to the digital method when they see in practice that their students benefit from it. This development will only accelerate in the coming years.

What is actually the added value of all these digital learning resources?

Adriansen: They offer particularly many possibilities in terms of differentiation. This is of course a huge plus at a time when the quality of education is under pressure, there is a huge shortage of teachers, and classrooms are increasingly diverse. It has become almost impossible for teachers to provide personalized education for students with different needs, levels and learning styles. That is why we are doing our best to use digital learning resources that can help them with this. It therefore comes as no surprise to me that the vast majority of teachers in our survey believe that digital differentiation will be the norm in five years’ time.

But they still don’t plan to fully transition to digital learning resources?

Adriansen: I find this reassuring. A few years ago, it seemed as if the future of education would be entirely digital. We were sick in that bed, too. In the meantime, it has become clear that the future will be hybrid: most teachers want to work with a combination of books and digital learning resources. Not only because they have found that this approach works better, but also because scientific research shows that students remember some things better if they write by hand. That’s why today we only offer materials that have a digital and paper component.

The result is that parents not only have to buy textbooks, but in many cases also have to pay a contribution for the purchase and maintenance of a laptop and the use of software.

Adriansen: This is why we believe that the Flemish government should fully finance the teaching materials in secondary education, as it does in primary education. Today, secondary schools receive operating funds from the government, but these are usually not enough to cover all the teaching materials. This is why parents have to pay a large part of this amount themselves.

Parents also often complain that they have to buy textbooks that are rarely used in class. Do you understand that?

Adriansen: This often happens because teachers don’t know what to do with it. That’s why we run training courses where they learn how to make the best use of our learning resources. In addition, we invest a lot in research to improve the materials we provide and we constantly ask teachers for feedback. When we hear from them that they don’t use half of the book, we look at how to make the next edition even more compact. Our goal is to provide high-quality materials at affordable prices, but of course we always meet the needs of teachers. What we make is what they ask for.