K-12 schools spend between $140 and $450 dollars per student on educational technology applications each year. With 87% of America's teachers spending over an hour, and some more than 5 hours, using education technologies each day in the classroom, learning technologies have become a large part of both school budgets and classroom instructional time. Yet, educational applications are not always well vetted in the Google Play or Apple stores, where any app can be labeled as “educational,” even when it may not be. Thus, it can be a daunting task to comb through thousands of applications to figure out which ones may be the most useful for particular student needs. The good news is that there are some helpful resources that teachers and administrators can use to evaluate the quality of education applications from different lenses.

#1 Diversity and Bias

All applications have some bias, depending on who developed it and how it was developed. Two helpful resources to aid educators in evaluating bias in an app are Kidmap and the Discriminatory Design framework by Dr. Ruha Benjamin. Kidmap helps educators determine how well an application represents diversity and who was involved in the creation of the application. It has an extensive checklist that encourages teachers to review an app from a wide variety of diversity lenses such as content, access, accessibility, app creator backgrounds and the types of platforms the application can work on. The Discriminatory Design framework is not created for just education, but can easily be applied to educational technologies. The framework focuses on four elements of discriminatory design around areas of race and bias and takes the educator through each one to see if it applies to the application.

#2 Learning Sciences

How do students learn? What is the science behind learning and best practices? When reviewing an app, educators want to make sure the app is created with child development and the science of learning in mind. The 4 Pillars of Learning framework is a useful lens that offers an evidence-based perspective on how students learn best through media and what constitutes a high-quality education application. Another framework that focuses on younger children and learning through media is the Three C’s Framework. This framework focuses on considering the content, context and child when reviewing an app. It includes a rating scale and scoring system, making it easy for educators or caregivers to review an application.

#3 Safety and Security

As we learn more about data privacy and breaches of privacy, schools are becoming more careful about the type and volume of student data an application collects and who the data is being shared with. A 2022 report found that the overwhelming majority of all apps used in schools share children’s personal information with third parties, frequently without the knowledge or consent of the users or the schools. This is a concerning statistic, making it imperative for educators to choose applications that support strong privacy and security measures. There are multiple places where educators can go to quickly get data privacy information about an application. CommonSense is one example that has an extensive archive of deep reviews of each application’s privacy features and includes a simple color-coded rating, making it easy to assess how much data is being shared or protected.

#4 Valid and Reliable Research Studies

Most educational applications have had very few independent studies done on them that meet the highest standards for validity and reliability. Yet, schools want to know if a tool will positively impact their student’s learning outcomes. The best place to go to find out if there are any valid or reliable studies related to the application is through the Evidence for ESSA website. This website, developed by the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, archives valid and reliable research studies associated with educational apps and curricula. Educators can search for the name of the application to see if there have been any studies that meet the ESSA standards, and if there are, view an easy-to-read summary of the results.

#5 The ISTE Seal

As many states have adopted the ISTE standards for the use of technology in teaching and learning, it is helpful to know which tools meet those requirements. A helpful resource for this is the ISTE seal of alignment, which is awarded to applications that meet the criteria outlined in the ISTE Standards. The criteria includes being tested for quality and usability, accessibility and data privacy. The education applications that have been awarded the seal are found here. ISTE’s EdTech Index also provides validations based on Five Edtech Quality Indicators.

Once schools have decided on a tool, it is imperative that they pilot it before purchasing or rolling it out school-wide. There are some wonderful resources to help with piloting educational applications. Digital Promise has an ED Tech Pilot Framework that is easy for schools to follow and use. The E2iCoach from Mathematica is another resource that will take schools or a teacher through the process of piloting and assessing a digital tool.

It can be useful for schools to employ a variety of lenses when considering the applications they will be purchasing. The above resources can help school systems and educators think critically about their choices while streamlining the decision-making process.

Liz Kolb is a clinical professor at the University of Michigan in teacher education and learning technologies. She has written several books, including Cell Phones in the Classroom and Learning First, Technology Second. Kolb has been a featured and keynote speaker at conferences throughout the U.S. and Canada. She is the creator of the Triple E Framework for effective teaching with digital technologies, which can be found at tripleeframework.com.