Schools aren’t using the apps they are paying for, study finds

Schools across the country are paying for online learning apps at a growing rate. But many of those technology tools remain unused or underused, according to a new study co-authored by Ryan Baker, a Penn GSE Associate Professor and Director of the Penn Center for Learning Analytics.

Among the key findings of the study, released by K-12 data management company BrightBytes:

• A median of 30 percent of licenses are used.
• A median of 97.6 percent of licenses are never used intensively.
• The median cost-per-license, excluding free apps, is $6.79.
• Many times, there is a difference between the most purchased apps and the most intensively used apps.
• A few apps have found footing in the classroom. Carnegie Learning digitalAce and Sherpath are top apps for both minutes and days of usage, and five additional apps are on both top ten lists. 

“Schools will buy these licenses, and then they never really get touched,” Baker recently told EdSurge.

Read highlights of the BrightBytes study and download recommendations for how schools can better use tech here.