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As more attention is placed on designing digital educational games to align with schools 0 academic aims (e.g., Common Core), questions arise regarding how professional development (PD) may support teachers 0 using games for instruction and how such integration might impact students 0 achievement. This study seeks to (a) understand how teachers use PD resources (e.g., technology personnel and game-use workshops) for integration; (b) determine how teachers integrate games into their instruction; and (c) examine how those teaching practices are associated with student achievement. This mixed method study used survey and interview responses from elementary school teachers (n = 863) with access to PD resources for implementing a math game intervention and standardized math-test scores from their second-through sixth-grade students (n = 10,715). Findings showed few teachers sought PD assistance for integration, but many desired such support. Some reported using integrative practices (i.e., referencing game and using game-generated progress reports) to identify struggling students, whereas several found integration challenging. Teachers 0 reordering of game objectives to align with lessons and viewing of game-based PD videos were associated with increased student math achievement in our OLSanalysis. However, this result was no longer statistically significant within a school fixed-effects model, suggesting school differences may influence how strongly teachers 0 practices are associated with student achievement.

Guiding hints and challenge can help scaffold learners to progress beyond what they would achieve independently. The interactive and adaptive capabilities of mobile devices allow educational applications (apps) to support learning through scaffolding designs. However, little research has tested the effects of scaffolding features in apps on young children’s learning. Using a 3 × 2 between‐subjects design, this study experimentally tests how three types of app feedback (nonverbal sounds, verbal encouragement, or scaffolded verbal hints) and two types of leveling (gradual vs. random‐ordered challenge) influence 4–5‐year‐old children’s learning of novel words (N = 240). Results showed that scaffolded feedback was especially useful when provided at the beginning of app play (p < .01), and scaffolded leveling through gradual increases in difficulty supported faster and more accurate responses than random order challenge (p < .001). What is already known about this topic Researchers have worked to apply what we know about traditional in‐person teaching with young learners and how that might translate to digital platforms. Parent and teacher scaffolding has been shown to successfully help young children learn. Guidance through increased difficulty and explanatory feedback can help learners gradually build their skills and reflect more deeply on the content they are learning. What this paper adds This study adds to the newly growing collection of experiments testing the design features of educational pre‐school apps. Findings show that scaffolding through educational app feedback and leveling can support young children learning. Results also show that the impact of scaffolding can depend on when the guidance is presented during app play – at the very beginning of play versus later on. Implications for practice and/or policy Findings can help educators and other consumers identify which types of apps are better for scaffolding young children’s learning. Suggestions are provided to support educational app developers in designing products that are truly effective. Findings suggest that combinations of app designs may differently impact young children’s learning, providing next step testing conditions for educational app designs.

Preschool-aged learners process information differently from older individuals, making it critical to design digital educational games that are tailored to capitalize on young children's learning capabilities. This in-depth literature synthesis connects features of digital educational game design - including visuals, feedback, scaffolding challenge, rewards, and physical interactions to how young children learn. Preschoolers' interests and abilities (e.g., limited attention-span, early reading skills, etc.) are different than older users. As such, developmental science should be used to guide the design of educational games from aesthetic decisions that capture preschoolers' initial interest (e.g., meaningful characters) to carefully select end-of-game rewards (e.g., leveling up). This article connects learning and developmental science research to the design of digital educational games, offering insights into how best to design games for young users and how to select developmentally appropriate games for children.

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