More than 70 percent of the 180 most popular literacy applications referenced no research in their design¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 2 studies · 1 associational r1, 1 theoretical r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2017 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2022: baselines and conditions change
Evidence quality · No study behind this claim is a peer-reviewed article with a DOI: it rests on a source with no registered publication record (a web page, book or unpublished report). It is kept because a design page cites it; treat it as a lead to check, not an established finding.

Subclaims¶

q2 i? A 2015 market scan found over 70 percent of the 180 most popular literacy apps made no reference to research or learning expertise in their design. → Research and the Promise of Personalized Learning 2015

q2 i? Research mentions are rare among top literacy apps: only 24 percent of app store descriptions mentioned research. → Simone 2017

Evidence¶

Research and the Promise of Personalized Learning 2015¶

Research and the Promise of Personalized Learning. (2015). Digital Promise Global, Making Learning Personal for All series. https://global.digitalpromise.org

q2 · i? · theoretical · r2

The white paper reports a 2015 market scan and analysis of children's literacy apps by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and New America (Vaala, Ly, and Levine), finding "more than 70 percent of the 180 most popular literacy applications made no reference to research." No effect size is printed.

"A 2015 report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and New America found that more than 70 percent of the 180 most popular literacy applications made no reference to research or learning expertise in the design of the products."

Simone 2017¶

Simone, C. M., & Gross, K. (2017). Using Research in Ed-Tech: How ed-tech companies use research to make better products. Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.dspacedirect.org/items/82489735-de61-4d86-bf04-5ebdfbb15f10

q2 · i? · associational · r1

The report cites, without reproducing the study's design, a 2015 Joan Ganz Cooney Center finding that "only 24 percent of top literacy apps mentioned research" in store descriptions. The report offers this as motivation; the underlying study is not described here.

"In a 2015 study by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, for instance, only 24 percent of top literacy apps mentioned research in their app store descriptions."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• No readily accessible sources of rigorous evidence exist for most ed-tech products — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Mobile language learning apps are used mainly for vocabulary learning among surveyed app users — related

• Few literacy apps disclose educational-quality benchmarks: expert involvement (20-36%), guiding curriculum (29%), or research testing (24%) — related
• Only 17% of expert-awarded literacy apps also appear among app stores' Top 50 educational lists, so parents searching different sources encounter largely different apps — related
• Dinosaurs was the most popular chatbot topic, especially among first graders, with sneakers and shoes second — related
• Most surveyed ed tech developers report their products are informed by research, but purchasers struggle to evaluate that research — related