A Textbook Case Of Blending Print And Digital Math Education

When educational publisher Boom Uitgevers decided to add digital resources to their much-respected math textbooks, they needed a solution that supported their focus on theory and critical thinking. “Our textbooks are known for their clarity of presentation,” says Boom mathematics publisher, Wilfred Frieswijk. “If you open our textbooks you won’t find a lot of pretty pictures but you will learn to think about mathematics.” When they began the process of integrating digital offerings with their secondary math textbooks, Boom voortgezet onderwijs chose Algebrakit. According to Frieswijk, “We share a similar vision for math education: that students need to learn to think about math concepts before they can answer math questions.” Algebrakit’s ability to offer randomized exercises and provide formative feedback complements Boom’s print-based instruction.

Boom has a distinctive approach to digital instruction. Rather than just copying print-based content in their digital platform, they support print-based instruction through the strategic use of interactive digital exercises. Implementation of the Algebrakit math engine is simple and straightforward. ICT staff create exercises in the Algebrakit authoring environment, and then the exercises are added to Boom’s platform using simple shortcodes. Students and teachers never know they are using an Algebrakit component since interactive elements are integrated seamlessly with other content.

The ease with which Boom has been able to integrate Algebrakit’s powerful functionality inside their existing publishing platform has resulted in considerable savings in R&D as well as fast tracking of new features. To learn more about Boom Uitgevers, visit their website here (Dutch).