The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D., has today announced free home access to the online edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica for all school-going children.

For the past three years, primary and post-primary schools have had access to the resource, and today’s roll-out is an expansion of this service.

Britannica Online School Edition is a unique and comprehensive resource designed for all levels of learning.

It has four age-specific learning areas which contain various engaging teaching and learning materials, all designed to build confidence and inspire continuous discovery.

Announcing the new development, Minister Quinn said, “I am committed to providing digital content to students that enhances their learning through the use of technology.  Our children and young people will now have access to Britannica Online in their own homes and this means that whatever their ability, they can learn at their own pace.

“Access is available to Britannica remotely via the scoilnet.ie website and will encourage students to continue the process of learning at home.”

Britannica Online has more than 129,000 articles with over 46,000 graphics, 4,000 videos, plus audio clips, interactive games and quizzes.  It is updated with new material daily.

With an average of 160,000 visits per month, scoilnet.ie provides a central resource to teachers, pupils and parents, offering access to a growing repository of advice and information.

Today’s announcement comes as the roll-out of high-speed broadband to second level schools continues, with a further 200 schools expected to be connected by September of 2013.

A public procurement process in summer 2012 resulted in a contract with Encyclopaedia Britannica for the provision of online digital reference content services.