Measures Matter: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Educational Apps on Preschool to Grade 3 Children’s Literacy and Math Skills

Abstract

Thousands of educational apps are available to students, teachers, and parents, yet research on their effectiveness is limited. This meta-analysis synthesized findings from 36 intervention studies and 285 effect sizes evaluating the effectiveness of educational apps for preschool to Grade 3 children and the moderating role of methodological, participant, and intervention characteristics. Using random effects meta-regression with robust variance estimation, we summarized the overall impact of educational apps and examined potential moderator effects. First, results from rigorous experimental and quasi-experimental studies yielded a mean weighted effect size of +0.31 standard deviations on overall achievement and comparable effects in both math and literacy. Second, the positive overall effect masks substantial variability in app effectiveness, as meta-regression analyses revealed three significant moderators of treatment effects. Treatment effects were larger for studies involving preschool rather than K–3 students, for studies using researcher-developed rather than standardized outcomes, and for studies measuring constrained rather than unconstrained skills.

Teaching Preschoolers Theory of Mind Skills With Mobile Games

“…Only one recent study, that we are aware of, has examined ToM in relation to interactive gameplay in preschoolers, not as a dependent variable, but rather as a moderator between gameplay and prosocial behaviors (Shoshani et al, 2022). Although many educational apps marketed for preschoolers do not use optimal pedagogical approaches and are not rooted in developmental science (Callaghan and Reich, 2018;Meyer et al, 2021;Nikolayev et al, 2021), a growing body of literature demonstrates that digital apps that employ developmentally appropriate content and design elements have the potential to teach preschool children (ages 3-5) a wide variety of skills (Hirsh-Pasek et al, 2015;Herodotou, 2018;Flynn et al, 2019;Griffith et al, 2020;Kim et al, 2021;Papadakis, 2021b;Callaghan and Reich, 2022) including language (Teepe et al, 2017;Neumann, 2018;Dore et al, 2019;Kirsch, 2021), computational thinking (Papadakis, 2022), and executive function skills (Huber et al, 2018).…”

Assessing the effectiveness of a game‐based phonics intervention for first and second grade English language learners in India: A randomized controlled trial

“…A recent meta-analysis examining the effects of educational apps across 36 intervention studies emphasized that 'measures matter' (Kim et al, 2021). Researchers found larger treatment effects in studies which used researcher-developed versus standardized measures and in studies which measure constrained skills (e.g., letter-sound knowledge) versus unconstrained skills (e.g., word reading/vocabulary).…”

Teaching mathematics with mobile devices and the Realistic Mathematical Education (RME) approach in kindergarten

“…Since 2011 smart mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are recognized as among the six new emerging technologies that may significantly impact teaching and learning in the educational sector (Johnson et al, 2011). There are multiple advantages concerning using these devices in the learning process, including stimulus, motivation, ease of use, availability, connectivity, among others (Kim et al, 2021). Smart mobile devices could become the new means of providing educational content to students (Furenes et al, 2021).…”