Evidence on educational technology
The scientific evidence supports six broad conclusions, which frame the recommendations below.
- Time spent, enjoyment, participation, and completion rates are often mistaken for learning.
- The real test of learning happens after the app is closed. Students may perform well within a tool but fail to retain or apply what they learned elsewhere.
- Features designed to capture attention can pull attention away from learning.
- The amount of time spent on screens is not as important as the activity it is replacing.
- Many claims about improving critical thinking, intelligence, and brain power are not supported by evidence.
- AI may improve performance while reducing learning. Students can produce better work while developing less independent knowledge and skill.
What is educational technology (“EdTech”)?
By EdTech, we mean digital tools, platforms, devices, apps, and systems used to support learning and teaching of educational content in the settings where young people learn, including classrooms, homes, tutoring programs, libraries, and after-school settings. Purely recreational technology use, personal smartphone policy, and social media use outside of learning contexts are addressed in other APA health advisories and are not covered here.
Types of EdTech addressed in this report
- Built for learning: EdTech tools designed for education: intelligent tutoring systems (digital tutors that adapt to how a student learns), AI-enabled learning technologies, adaptive software, structured digital curricula, educational games, early-learning apps, and instructional videos. Example: a reading app for phonics practice. This layer is the main subject of our evidence-based recommendations for children and adolescents.
- General-purpose EdTech tools used for learning: Technology not built for learning but used in educational settings: AI chatbots, word processors, productivity suites, and search engines, as well as the video and social media platforms students may use, or be assigned to use, for schoolwork. Example: Microsoft or Google Suite, etc. Here we offer general guidance on context of use.
- Educational infrastructure: The systems around the EdTech tools: 1:1 device programs, learning management systems, school networks, and internet filters/device management software. Example: a school district’s laptop program. This is the implementation context that shapes what the first two categories actually do.
Why this report, why now?
Educational technology (“EdTech”) tools are frequently promoted for their potential to help children and adolescents (ages 5–18) learn, practice skills, and receive support, both at school and at home. Yet a central question remains: can we trust these EdTech tools to fulfill that promise? This report is written for those deciding whether and how to use educational technology tools in K–12 environments: educators choosing EdTech tools, families weighing the adoption of apps, school leaders reviewing purchases, developers designing EdTech tools, and policymakers setting rules.
Research to date shows that EdTech tools are not inherently beneficial or harmful to learners. The effects depend on what an EdTech tool asks the learner to do, how adults integrate it, and the age and needs of the child, and what it replaces. Those conditions are the subject of this report’s recommendations. EdTech tools are changing quickly, vary widely in quality, and are often marketed with claims that run ahead of the evidence. To ensure these EdTech tools effectively serve young people, decisions must be firmly grounded in rigorous scientific evidence rather than marketing promises.
Expert recommendations
Recommendation 1:
Identify the learning goals and outcomes when using an EdTech tool because success in an app does not guarantee broader learning.
Recommendation 2:
Judge EdTech tools by learning outcomes, not only engagement, enjoyment, or interest because engagement is not learning, and the ultimate test is what learners can do after they leave the tool.
Recommendation 3:
Move beyond a focus on only screen time and evaluate what technology is replacing.
Recommendation 4:
Choose tools built on research-based learning strategies because learning science matters more than technological innovation alone.
Recommendation 5:
Choose simple designs and prevent multitasking because technologies designed to capture attention can interfere with learning.
Recommendation 6:
Approach GenAI tools in the context of education with extra caution and age-appropriate guardrails because improved performance may come at the expense of independent learnings.
Recommendation 7:
Make adult involvement a significant part of EdTech implementation because technology is most effective when learning is supported by human relationships.
Recommendation 8:
Build tools and policies for access, flexibility, and different learner needs because average results can hide who is benefiting, who is being left behind, and who may be harmed.
Recommendation 9:
Protect data and privacy so learner data advances education rather than other interests.
Recommendation 10:
Invest in implementation supports and research that can keep pace with technology because technology adoption alone rarely improves learning.
Authors
- Nicole Barnes, PhD, American Psychological Association
- Debshila Basu Mallick, PhD, SafeInsights-OpenStax, Rice University
- Corbin L. Evans, JD, American Psychological Association
- Don Grant, PhD, Newport Healthcare
- Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, PhD, Temple University, Brookings Institution
- Ghowash Irshad, Candidate, PhD Clinical Psychology, Montclair State University
- H. Chad Lane, PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- Richard E. Mayer, PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara
- Barbara Means, PhD, Digital Promise
- Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, PhD, University of Delaware
- Ludmila Nunes, PhD, American Psychological Association
- Zachary A. Pardos, PhD, University of California, Berkeley
- Jenny Radesky, MD, University of Michigan Medical School
- Kirk Vanacore, PhD, Department of Information Science, Cornell University
- Daniel T. Willingham, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
Why psychology?
Educational technology is about more than just technology. It’s about how students learn, think, develop, and interact with the world around them. Psychological science brings decades of evidence about learning, attention, memory, motivation, development, and relationships to help determine which technologies support learning, for whom, and under what conditions.