2. Most purchased licenses don’t get used. License use varies by app, but the study found that a median of 30 percent of licenses are used by learners.
3. The number of purchased licenses doesn’t predict the number of intensive users. Intensive use means a learner uses the app or program for at least 10 hours between assignments, and 97.6 percent of licenses analyzed in the study were never used intensively. The number of licenses purchased did not predict the number of intensive users.
4. Many schools don’t give students enough time with the apps to really improve outcomes. Lower usage likely contributes to lower-than-expected benefits for students, meaning some apps do hold more potential than educators realize.
In analyzing apps for math tests, researchers found that for 21 apps, the more time a student used one of them, the more their math test performance improved from a first assessment to a second. And for 24 math apps, the more days the student used the app, the more their math test performance improved between assessments, though the researchers note that these findings are correlational rather than causal.
Some of the most effective apps, in terms of days used, include ALEKS, Wikipedia, LearnZillion, DreamBox, Seesaw, Starfall, and Mission US. In terms of time spent using the app, the most effective apps include Kids Discover Online, Seesaw, DreamBox, Starfall, and LearnZillion. Many of the top 10 apps in the impact per days used ranking also appear in the top 10 for the impact per time spent ranking.
When it comes to English and language arts apps, the more time students used 10 specific apps, the more their ELA test performance improved from the first assessment to the second. Likewise, the more days students used one of 11 apps, the more their ELA performance improved.
Top apps in terms of days used include Varsity Tutors, LearnZillion, Wikipedia, BrainingCamp, and Google Classroom. In terms of time spent, top apps include LearnZillion, TED-Ed, and Brainingcamp.
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