A Clever Way to Measure How Students Actually Use Edtech (and Whether It Works) | EdSurge

If you buy it, you better use it. That especially holds true for K-12 school officials who altogether spend more than $8.3 billion on education ...

"Getting a better glimpse into how much students actually use education software can offer clues to a mystery that has long dogged the edtech industry: Does technology actually help kids learn?

Like medicine, some edtech products recommend a certain level of usage before users can expect to see improvement. For example, DreamBox, an online math software, recommends that students in grades 6-8 use it for 60 to 90 minutes a week.

Yet inconsistencies in usage make it difficult to know whether a tool “worked” as intended...

If you buy it, you better use it. That especially holds true for K-12 school officials who altogether spend more than $8.3 billion on education ...

"Getting a better glimpse into how much students actually use education software can offer clues to a mystery that has long dogged the edtech industry: Does technology actually help kids learn?

Like medicine, some edtech products recommend a certain level of usage before users can expect to see improvement. For example, DreamBox, an online math software, recommends that students in grades 6-8 use it for 60 to 90 minutes a week.

Yet inconsistencies in usage make it difficult to know whether a tool “worked” as intended...