Uitgeverij VAN IN is an educational publisher based in Belgium. The company is currently a subsidiary of Finnish media and publishing conglomerate Sanoma, as part of the Sanoma Learning Group. VAN IN has been active since 1833. The company develops and publishes educational materials for the Belgian market in the French and Flemish languages. Materials are available for a variety of levels, ranging from nursery school to higher education, adult learning, and also home study. VAN IN currently uses ReadSpeaker’s text-to-speech technology in two of its products: Bingel and diddit.
Bingel is the number one online learning platform in Belgium for basic education (elementary school). Bingel is available at home as well at school, and is available for students from year one through year six of their academic careers. Students create an avatar that they then take through different learning activities, reinforcing what they have learned. Questions and feedback are speech-enabled using ReadSpeaker, enhancing the learning experience as well as assisting struggling readers or those with dyslexia.
Diddit is the newest digital learning environment to be launched by VAN IN. Launching for the 2015-2016 academic year, diddit offers adaptive lessons for the different levels and tempos of students within one class. Within the digital learning environment, diddit offers course material, practice exercises and assignments for students, all of which can then be reviewed by the instructor. Students can complete course materials at their own pace, an important part of blended learning. VAN IN has enhanced the interactivity of diddit by adding audio functionality with synchronized highlighting. In addition, those with reading difficulties or concentration difficulties can also benefit from the audio.
ReadSpeaker and VAN IN have been collaborating since summer of 2014, and the success of the ReadSpeaker text-to-speech functionality has been tremendous. During peak academic periods, ReadSpeaker is activated more than 350,000 times per month, a number that is only expected to increase as VAN IN adds text-to-speech functionality to more of its academic offerings.
ReadSpeaker offers great text-to-speech functionality that seems to be the best and most natural voices available on the market. Integration of ReadSpeaker is very easy but if needed there is a dedicated support team available for all your questions.
Make online learning environment engaging via different channels.
Implement ReadSpeaker’s text-to-speech technology on learning environments diddit and Bingel.
Audio-enhanced learning via games and other online content.
Enhanced interactivity of online learning environment.