K-12 Students Each Accessed 143 Unique Digital Tools During the '21/'22 School Year While Educators Interacted with 148, New LearnPlatform Report Shows

While Google continues to lead the most accessed resources, the latest Edtech Top 40 Report™ finds the use of tech tools continues to rise among teachers and students from the fall semester. 

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LearnPlatform, renowned for its innovative edtech effectiveness system, today published the EdTech Top 40 - Fall 2022 Report, the latest report on the usage of digital solutions, tools and resources in K-12 districts, schools and classrooms within the United States during the 2021-2022 school year, including more than 3.2 million students and teachers. Besides a ranking of the digital tools with the most student and teacher interactions, the report also provides insights on trends and categorical rankings.

Since first releasing data on the average use of edtech tools by individual teachers and students in the 2021 Mid-Year Report, the latest findings show that these numbers have nearly doubled when looking at the full school year. Teachers accessed an average of 148 unique tools over the course of the school year, while students accessed an average of 143 unique tools during the same time period. Districts on average are accessing 1,417 tools per month on average, which is holding relatively steady for this school year compared to the previous year.

"These numbers should prompt district leaders to ask not just what edtech is being used in their schools or how often it's getting used, but also whether it is safe, equitable, and positively impacting learning" said Karl Rectanus, CEO and Founder of LearnPlatform. "With tech-enabled learning here to stay, understanding which tools are both effective and safe will not only improve teaching and learning, but help budget decisions as districts face a fiscal cliff as stimulus dollars are spent, too."

From year to year, the top 40 edtech solutions have remained fairly consistent, with only a handful of new products joining the list each year. This year, the number one listing, Google Suite, rolled up what had previously been separate listings for Google Docs, Slides, Drive, Forms, Sheets and Drawings, making room for other products to join this year's list.

The seven products joining the list are Gimkit at #27, Schoology at #30, BrainPOP at #31, Grammarly at #34, Canva at #37, PhET Interactive Math and Science Simulations at #38, and Math Playground at #40. Blooket, new to the list in 2020-21, rose 28 spots to crack the top 10 at #8, making it the fastest rising product on the list this year. 

Kahoot! was once again the most-accessed non-Google product on the list, ranking third overall. As in previous "EdTech Top 40" reports, Google products continue to dominate the top five positions in the most frequently used education technology tools, even with the shift to reporting on Google Suite.

The report also took a closer look at products performing specific functions to provide a deeper look at the most used education technology tools within key segments. This year, LearnPlatform analyzed the most accessed products in the following categories: Classroom Engagement and Instruction, Learning Management Systems, Courseware Platforms, Supplemental Platforms and Study Tools. 

The data used to calculate both the rankings and usage numbers is collected using LearnPlatform's Inventory Dashboard between August 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022. The Inventory Dashboard, which safely and quickly integrates with browsers and mobile device management systems, is freely available to any U.S. education organization to provide visibility to the edtech tools used by students and educators across an organization. The data encompasses more than 56 billion data points, including usage data from 3,267,499 individual students and educators combined.

Analysis, tools and reports are compliant with all federal and state student data privacy laws, including FERPA, COPPA, CIPA and PPRA. The EdTech Top 40 is based solely on quantitative analysis.

"Our reports are designed to be informative and illustrative of the current state of technology use in our districts, schools and classrooms" Rectanus said. "The data confirms that education technologies are abundant, diverse and widely used in our education systems. This is an essential, but insufficient, first step to informing decisions about teaching and learning. Once we understand which tools are used, asking the deeper questions about which ones are supporting better outcomes for our students and teachers is critical, and now required by the Every Student Students Act."

LearnPlatform™, the edtech infrastructure for modern learning environments, is the fastest-growing source of safe, trustworthy evidence and insights in U.S. education. School districts, state agencies, solution providers and their partners use LearnPlatform's technology and research services to quickly and cost-effectively grow, show and use evidence to improve instruction, outcomes and their budgets, all in compliance with federal requirements. Based in Raleigh, N.C., the for-benefit research organization is committed to expanding equitable access for all students and teachers to the learning technology that works best for them. For more information, visit learnplatform.com.

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SOURCE LearnPlatform