Read the interview with a Czech EdTech start-up

The Levebee app succeeded in the first Accelerator of the European Digital Education Hub.

Czech EdTech start-up Levebee (Včelka in Czech) has succeeded in the first round of the Accelerator programme within the European Digital Education Hub (EDEH) Community of Practice. The Hub, which celebrates its second anniversary this year, offers a space for collaboration and sharing of knowledge and examples of practice among teachers, educators, researchers, policy makers and other experts in the field of digitalization in education. It offers a large number of online and offline activities, sharing of experiences and inspirational materials. The Accelerator aims to help digital education projects to test and scale up their products. Read an interview with representatives of Levebee about what their participation in the programme has brought them, how they developed during and after the Accelerator, what the differences are in schools in Europe and what they would recommend to other similar start-ups. 

The Levebee app was selected as one of the successful EdTech start-ups from Europe in the first ever Accelerator. Can you give us a closer look at the app? What does it offer and who is it for? 

The Včelka app helps all children to learn the Czech language, reading, maths and foreign languages, including those with learning or attention disabilities, different mother tongues and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Včelka is widely used not only as part of regular teaching in primary and kindergarten schools but also by schools abroad and for home teaching.

The application is based on pedagogical principles supported by proven scientific studies, the use of which also brings success in regular teaching regardless of the application. Thanks to this, Včelka can effectively help children who are lost in Czech language, reading, mathematics or foreign languages for various reasons. You can read the full research and detailed information about the pedagogical principles on our website in the "Backed by research" section (in Czech).

Currently, more than 500 schools have subscribed to Včelka and over 300,000 pupils have used the app. The international version of the app, Levebee, focuses on maths education in more than 15 countries and we have had great feedback on it, which is a great motivation for us to develop it further and we are happy that our work is having real results.

How did you hear about the European Digital Learning Hub and why did you decide to apply for the Accelerator? 

In 2022, we were ranked among the top 8 EdTech start-ups in the IMPACT EdTech project out of 278 applicants. In this Accelerator we gained experience with pilot projects in Poland, Slovakia and Romania. After the project, we were recommended to participate in the EDEH Accelerator, where we qualified among 7 selected EdTech startups from Europe. We were happy to take the opportunity to pilot the app in another country as part of the Accelerator, as with each pilot our app continues to develop and can help more children.

What has this six-month programme offered and enabled you to do? 

A nice start to the programme was a several-day workshop in Estonia, where we and the other teams had the opportunity to move from the online world to face-to-face meetings and networking. Thanks to this, among other things, we tried out the use of Levebee in our first online school in collaboration with another selected startup. We also met an online education specialist who helped us to present the app in Lithuania.

Throughout the duration of the Accelerator, mentors were available to us and we worked together to develop our product. This allowed the team members to see the company as a whole and focus on developing the product together. Last but not least, we also had the opportunity to organize pilot testing in two Croatian schools.

What do you consider to be the biggest benefit of the Accelerator after its completion and a year later? 

We see the biggest benefit of participating in the Accelerator as piloting our foreign version of the app - Levebee. This took place in two Croatian primary schools for 2 months. We had the opportunity to test the app in real conditions and get direct feedback from teachers, pupils and parents. Each of the teachers involved tested the app in a slightly different environment and their feedback was much more valuable.

All of this also provided us with a solid foundation for adding a new feature, which is the math skills diagnostic. This was newly added in 2023, first to the Czech version of the app, with the aim of making it also available in Croatian. The aim of the diagnostics is to find out at what specific level the skills of individual pupils are. This also means discovering whether they have any gaps in their knowledge that may prevent them from correctly understanding the material they are learning. Therefore, it was necessary to adapt the content of the application as much as possible to the needs of the pupils in order to make the assignment as comprehensible as possible for them.

Based on the testing, we gradually improved the comprehensibility of the Croatian translation of the instructions for children and found minor differences in the curriculum for Croatian first graders compared to the Czech ones. After the completion of the test, we received very useful positive feedback, which we took into account, among other things, in the diagnosis of mathematical skills. We also plan to use the information obtained for further presentation on the Croatian market. 

Do you notice differences in schools and in the use of Levebee in Czechia and in other countries, or is the situation similar? 

We definitely see differences in each country and it depends on many different factors. First of all, there are the financial and technical possibilities, whether schools can afford to buy online tools and use them effectively as part of regular teaching. In this respect, we see big differences between Sweden and Romania, for example, where Swedish schools have more financial resources for digital and other tools than Romania. Related to this is the willingness of parents to contribute to their children's school supplies, tools and aids. There are big differences between Scandinavia, for example, where parents contribute minimally to the purchase of aids because they expect the school to take care of the purchase, and Romania, on the other hand, where a large part of the cost of education is paid by the parents of the pupils.

Another difference is the availability of internet access in schools and whether and how many digital devices are available in schools compared to Czechia. In Croatia, for example, thanks to various grants, schools are equipped with more devices and fast internet connections, while in Germany, surprisingly, hardware and the quality of the internet connection is still a big issue. The situation in Czechia is not ideal, but many schools have at least a limited number of digital devices. Also, the aforementioned maths diagnostics, for example, is becoming a widely used feature, as it can help teachers ease the start of the new school year and help them tailor teaching to the needs of pupils.

The Levebee app is therefore tailored so that it can be used for individual teaching on a laptop, tablet or mobile phone, as well as for group teaching on an interactive whiteboard or for multiple pupils on one device. 

We also see it as important that the school has the possibility to decide whether and what kind of equipment to purchase. In Czechia, each school can decide and budget for online tools on its own, but in Scandinavia or Croatia this decision is central. 

Do you also take advantage of other opportunities offered by the EDEH, for example in sharing experiences and examples of practice with other participating members?

Yes, we participate in online and offline projects organized by the EDEH. For example, we attended a workshop in Brussels that focused on helping refugees from Ukraine and education in crisis situations. There, the Levebee was able to show that it is also adapted for this purpose thanks to its bilingual instructions and that it can effectively help in such situations. 

Another great opportunity is the membership in the MS Teams Community of Practice of the Centre, which brings together education specialists, teachers and EdTech experts in joint projects. Here we see, among other things, great opportunities to reach out to teachers from all over Europe for further pilot projects.

What are your plans for the future at the European level?

We plan to expand Levebee ideally to all countries in Europe and beyond. In this way we would like to help all children on their educational journey and remove major obstacles that could complicate their future life, not only in the upper grades but also at work. Levebee can also be a great help for families living abroad, homeschooling and for children of digital nomads. 

We know from experience how effective programs and initiatives like EDEH can be, which is why we plan to continue to participate in them.

What would you recommend to similar organizations and EdTech start-ups that want to succeed at the European level?

We would definitely recommend to be aware of and understand the differences in education and curricula in each country. Especially in Europe, which is very diverse just for cultural differences, different languages and curricula in schools. For each new language version of the Levebee app, we always look for an expert, i.e. an active math teacher, who helps us to address these differences and adjust the content of the app to make it as helpful as possible for students and teachers in that geographical area. 

We see the biggest benefit in entering a new market in Europe in pilot projects in different schools. This is because it often happens that after the pilot testing, the school recommends us to another organization and we get further positive feedback that we can use in our presentation in the new market. We are currently looking for other European pilot schools in this way and welcome new collaborations and opportunities.

We would also recommend considering the right timing of the pilots, as for example summer holidays can have a very negative impact on the effectiveness of the pilot. Conversely, a month after the start of the school year is in our experience a great time to start piloting in a new school. And, of course, patience is a must. While any quality assistance is a great asset to schools, they must be given a chance to fit into the busy schedules of teachers and students. 

Finally, as already mentioned, initiatives like the EDEH Accelerator are a great opportunity for start-ups to grow and find new opportunities, so participation in them can only be recommended.

 

If you are interested in the Accelerator or other activities of the Centre, do not hesitate to become a member of the Community as well. Anyone with interest in digitalization in education can take part.