Context Is Everything: Reimagining Edtech
for Early Learners
By Evo Popoff and Daimen Sagastume Joseph South, Chief Innovation Officer, of ISTE
Produced by Commissioned by
Foreword
By Joseph South, Chief Innovation Officer, ISTE
One of the most important conversations we can have, regardless of where we live, revolves around how young children should interact with technology. These formative years are critical, as young children are particularly susceptible to our influence, and we bear the responsibility for shaping their early experiences with technology. While some advocate for complete abstinence from technology for young children, this stance is often impractical and can deprive them of valuable and meaningful experiences. For example, for children who don’t live near their extended family, story time with grandparents may happen on a screen. For young students, computers or tablets are a useful part of their learning experience that expands their access to quality resources and sparks their curiosity.
Legitimate concerns about the impact of technology on the development of young children have made parents and educators apprehensive about the use of new and emerging technologies with early learners, even as they acknowledge potential benefits of these new tools. This inherent tension has been a consistent theme of conversations that have taken place in communities around the world over the past two decades about the role of technology in primary and elementary classrooms. This tension led the United States Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology (OET) to issue guiding principles for edtech and early learning when I was leading the Office, and it’s at the heart of this report. It is also what motivates my current work at the International Society for Technology
in Education (ISTE) and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) to help educators and families around the world make sense of edtech for early learners.
For example, ISTE recently released its Hands On AI Projects For the Classroom: A Guide for Elementary Educators to help educators bring core AI concepts into the classroom in relevant and safe ways for young learners. As noted in the report, given how seamlessly AI blends into the world of children between the ages of 4 and 10, it is all the more important they learn how to identify AI and use it effectively and responsibly.
ISTE is also developing—with support of General Motors—a STEM Early Learning Guide outlining both technology-free and technology-rich STEM activities in early childhood and primary classrooms. This guide will present a version of the ISTE Standards for early learners, along with lesson ideas for children as young as ages 3-9.
This guidance has never been so urgent. The evergrowing digitization of our world, the increasing acceptance of edtech usage coming out of the pandemic, and a new explosion of edtech tools developed with and by powerful AI engines, means that more edtech will be finding its way into the hands of young learners.
In introducing this report featuring advice from global experts in early learning and edtech, I’d like to highlight four foundational concepts that drive our work at ISTE.
1. Early learners (and their teachers) deserve educational technology designed specifically for their needs. Young children are developmentally very different from adults or even adolescents. In many cases, tools that have been designed for older learners simply aren’t effective for them, and in fact may open the potential for harm. Edtech developers need to apply all that we know from the science of learning and development to create better technology that supports young learners.
2. Early learners need relationship-centered technologies. There is no rule that says that edtech must require a child to stare at a screen in isolation for hours on end. Learners’ experiences are actively shaped by the design choices made by developers. We can make different design choices. For example, we can design apps to support co-learning with other children and adults in the room. We can design apps for brief engagements that seed deeper human conversations or that help us reflect on those conversations. As educators, parents, and caregivers, we can choose to seek out technology that enhances human connection.
3. We need technology that draws ALL learners into the learning community. Technology can help break down language, physical and geographical barriers, to help us bridge and celebrate cultural differences. If we aren’t thoughtful, we will create a world where some children reap the benefits of technology while others are increasingly left out of the advantages of a connected world. We need to prioritize technology that reaches all of us, reflects our shared values, and draws us together.
4. We need to make sure we unplug! It is also important that children have time away from technology, time with peers and adults that is not mediated by a machine, and time to explore the world around them first-hand. None of us should be in an “always on” mode, and children, in particular, need time for play unencumbered by digital tools.
The through line in our work and the findings of this report is this: when designed well, edtech can be a powerful tool for learning, providing all young children opportunities to explore, play, and communicate. This will only occur if we are intentional about our choices and base them on the science of learning and development.
In ISTE’s work with education systems across the globe, I have witnessed the potential power of edtech for young learners. While there is still much work to be done, edtech can help connect young learners in remote or under-resourced communities with learning opportunities they otherwise would not have been able to access. But, to benefit from those learning opportunities, the technologies young learners are using must be designed for them.
As noted in this report, that hasn’t always been the case. It can be challenging to develop edtech that addresses the dynamics of a primary or elementary classroom. But it is possible. This report, along with the guidance we are publishing at ISTE, will hopefully help drive the development of a new generation of edtech solutions that offer playful, inclusive and connected learning experiences to early learners worldwide.
About the Authors
Evo Popoff is a senior vice president at Whiteboard Advisors. Named State Policy Maker of the Year by the State Education Technology Directors Association, he previously served as chief innovation and intervention officer and assistant commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Education, where he oversaw the state’s education technology and school and district improvement efforts. Prior to joining the department, he led the development of education technology products and school improvement solutions in collaboration with district and state leaders and educators. Before beginning his career in education, Evo practiced law at McDermott, Will & Emery, where he worked on labor and employment, antitrust and general corporate issues. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Chicago and a Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School.
For more than 20 years, Whiteboard Advisors has collaborated with the most transformative organizations, individuals and investors in education. Our diverse team of educators, wonks and storytellers brings in-depth understanding of policy, technology and practice to bear on cutting edge research, powerful writing, and the design of communications and advocacy campaigns that challenge the status quo. Whether we’re working with startups or the most established organizations in education, we’re passionate about taking breakthrough ideas to scale.
Daimen Sagastume is a senior director at Whiteboard Advisors where he specializes in advocacy and growth enablement across the K-12 education space. He comes to Whiteboard Advisors after five years at Emerson Collective, where he managed the education philanthropy investment portfolio, in addition to incubating a seed stage ed-tech company, Uppercase, which aims to democratize access to the best teaching knowledge in the world. Daimen is a graduate of Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology — an ode to his pre-med aspirations before discovering his deep passion for educational equity.
Seesaw is trusted and loved by 25 million educators, students, and families worldwide and is the only early Learning Experience Platform that offers a suite of award-winning tools, resources, and curriculum for teachers to deliver joyful, inclusive instruction. Through interactive lessons, digital portfolios, and two-way communication features, Seesaw keeps everyone in the learning loop by providing continuous visibility into the students’ learning experience to support and celebrate their learning.
Acknowledgments
We’re grateful to the education leaders who helped inform our perspective and contributed their insights to this paper:
Alissa Mwenelupembe, Managing Director, Early Learning, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Chair of Learning through Play, Vice President at the LEGO Foundation
Dyane Smokorowski, Coordinator of Digital Literacy, Wichita Public Schools
James Radburn, Computing and Digital Innovation Lead, The Rivers C. of E. Academy Trust
Joseph South, Chief Innovation Officer, International Society for Technology in Education
Kyla Haimovitz, Director of Education Technology, Digital Promise
Lisa Guernsey, Director, Learning Sciences Exchange, and Senior Fellow & Strategic Advisor, Education Policy Program, New America
Maggie Picket, Senior Technical Assistance Specialist, CAST
Margery Mayer, Former President of Education at Scholastic, Board Member, Cambium Learning, Metametrics and Teachers Pay Teachers
Matthew Ferrinda, Team Leader Digital Learning, Catholic Education Western Australia
Michael Horn, Co-Founder and Distinguished Fellow, Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation
Michael Preston, Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Michelle Kang, Chief Executive Officer, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Pana Asavavatana, KA-1 Technology and Design Coach, Taipei American School
Sara Trettin, Senior Policy Advisor, U.S. Department of Education
Sharon Shewbridge, Director of Instructional Technology, Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Susan Ward, Quality Improvement Officer (Digital Inclusion and Learning), Midlothian Council
Tara E. Courchaine Fox, Chief Research and Development Officer, CAST
Thomas C. Murray, Director of Innovation, Future Ready Schools
Ximena Dominguez, Executive Director of Learning Sciences and Early Learning Research, Digital Promise
Introduction
Walking into a primary school classroom can be a unique experience for adults who aren’t early childhood educators — or educators in general. Typically, there is a lot of activity: children engaging with books, blocks, learning materials, and each other as they explore and create representations of their world. A primary classroom can also be noisy. Conversations are enthusiastic and animated as students engage with one another or the teacher, and there isn’t an inch of wall that remains uncovered by a lively bulletin board or rich examples of student work. Amidst the bustle, there is culture and community being built and nurtured with deep and meaningful relationships on full display. In many primary school environments, students spend their whole day engaging with the same teacher and with a consistent group of their peers or classmates. In the best case scenario, the classroom becomes like a second home for them; offering a safe community and the feeling of belonging we know is necessary for learning.
This experience is in stark contrast to most adults’ ordinary day. Although most adults may remember certain aspects of being in school, their most recent memories of learning are likely from secondary school or university experiences, or through an employer, and are typically focused on task accomplishment and deliverables. In addition, their social interactions tend to be more structured with agendas, course syllabi, or management tools. And then there is technology — a lot of technology — from email and office tools to online courses that adults commonly use in their professional lives.
While technology can be found in primary classrooms, most often, it’s not as common as
in higher grades or the adult workplace. While the pandemic may have solidified some role for technology for primary students, as a society we have been largely hesitant to accept the idea of wide-scale use in classrooms for good reason — mostly that it’s still fairly new and remains untested on any kind of long term scope.
Looking past the bright colors and simplified user interface of most edtech tools in primary classrooms, there are stark similarities with the tools used for adolescent or adult learning. Most learning applications and platforms are largely focused on task completion, response to questions, and delivery of content to students. Too often, the primary objective is measuring student performance on tasks (correct answers) and reporting those outcomes to teachers, parents and administrators (and sometimes students).
When considering the many differences between adult learners and primary students, the fact that the technology they use isn’t equally varied — to reflect their unique experiences — is worth exploring. Notably, in a recent Seesaw survey of primary educators, over 70% of teachers reported that the edtech tools they use in the classroom don’t adequately meet early learners’ needs.
By unpacking the trajectory of edtech adoption over the past few decades, this paper will explore a vision for edtech for early learners grounded in the types of learning experiences that all stakeholders — families, educators, administrators, researchers and students — want to have. To accomplish this, the paper posits a number of questions:
Very well, it is tailored for their needs
Somewhat well, but more could be done
Not so well, it is often just a modified version of tools for older grades
Not well at all, early learners require a very different approach
• What do the developmental and learning sciences tell us about the types of learning experiences we want students between the ages of 4 and 10 to have?
• What are the affordances of technology — and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) — that can support (and not create barriers to) these learning experiences?
• What are the key attributes and design principles that should inform the ways edtech tools for primary students are developed, purchased and used?
This paper does not intend to imply that the tools being used in primary classrooms are not serving a purpose; to the contrary, there are many beloved edtech tools for primary students that drive positive student outcomes for which they were designed. Instead, through interviews with educators around the world, thought leaders, and researchers, this paper will attempt to answer these questions and, in the process, present a new way for educators, decision-makers and parents to think and talk about the core tenets in reimagining edtech for early learners. Additionally this paper explores the potential for existing and new tools to better support early learners by creating a vision for edtech in primary education — one that is unique and separate from the ways older learners and adults use edtech.
How We Got Here: Edtech in K-12 and Early Learning
The last decade has witnessed an explosion in the development of edtech tools for K-12 classrooms. Given the number of tools created — and the investment in those tools — it seems reasonable to ask: why do most primary teachers believe the tools they use don’t meet the needs of students in their classrooms?
First, as noted by Michelle Kang, Chief Executive Officer for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and Kyla Haimovitz, Director of Education Technology, of Digital Promise: it’s difficult to develop good software tools for young learners. Collecting feedback from end users is a critical step in successful product design, a task that can be very challenging when your end user is an unpredictable 6 year old. Edtech developers often build assumptions about their end users — their prior knowledge, facility with technology, or literacy levels — into their solutions. But, making assumptions about young learners can be problematic: while some children may have had extensive experience with technology, others have never touched a device. Similarly, a developer can’t assume that every child is literate, as many are in fact still learning how to read.
Moreover, developing tools that take into account not only the end user — the 6 year old using the app — but their families and educators, who are critical to their successful early learning experiences, adds further complexity to an already difficult process. “The challenge in developing effective tools for young learners is common for dynamic systems with multiple key stakeholders, like early education,
where the end user — the student or teacher — is only one participant in a community of peers, parents and administrators,” noted Michael Horn, Co-Founder and Distinguished Fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation. “Human-centered design can work well for tools that focus on a single end-user, but developers need to adopt different approaches that incorporate human-relationships and communities for dynamic use cases like primary classrooms.”
Second, historically, there has been a reluctance, particularly among parents and educators, to use technology with young learners. For the better part of the past decade, parents and educators have voiced concerns about too much screen time and that technology interferes with social interactions; while researchers worry about its developmental impact on children.
These attitudes shifted somewhat during the pandemic as parents and teachers, in particular, began to appreciate the potential value of edtech when used appropriately for all children— including those in early grades. As noted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), “increased exposure to digital technologies [by parents] during lockdown facilitated new or different ways of engaging with digital resources that were perceived to support children’s learning and development.”
Along with the challenges in developing tools for this age, the reluctant acceptance of edtech for early learners may explain, in part, why, to date, educators haven’t developed an effective way to
think or talk about edtech for primary students— and why they feel the tools they do have don’t fully meet their needs.
One final possible explanation rests in the role that tools— initially designed for adult learners— have played in K-12 education. Education technology is not new. From the advent of the chalk board and mass production of the modern pencil in the late 1800s and early 1900’s, to the emergence of the World Wide Web in the 1990s, the tools we use in classrooms continue to evolve. While the technologies may change, most tools follow a relatively consistent trajectory: originating as resources for adults before eventually finding use in the classroom. As Horn noted, “there is a track record of higher education imposing its technology on K-12 systems that don’t apply to all students, particularly younger learners.”
In the early days of software development, a number of applications such as PLATO and Logo were developed, largely by researchers at universities, to support instruction in K-12 classrooms. However, device upgrades and the development of the internet introduced wider-scale adoption of new tools that were initially developed for use in higher education and adult learning.
“When we were launching our district’s online programming in 2009 and 2010, we looked at learning management platforms — at that time Blackboard was the main option — that were initially developed for higher education,” noted Thomas Murray, Director of Innovation at Future Ready Schools. “While we decided the [learning management system] platform could work for our secondary students, the tools simply weren’t appropriate for kids in our elementary schools and weren’t designed for the types of active, engaged learning we wanted to see in those classrooms,” he continued.
Over the last decade learning management systems (in particular) have evolved to claim a larger market share in K-12 education and have become nearly ubiquitous. “There is a strong desire among K-12 administrators to simplify and streamline — to find a single platform to meet the needs of every learner at every grade level,” Murray continued. “Learning management systems have adapted from their adult education roots to attempt to become all things for all learners in K-12 education, but it isn’t clear that you can do that while still meeting the very different instructional needs of learners at different grade levels.”
Susan Ward, is a Quality Improvement Officer (Digital Inclusion and Learning) for Midlothian Council, one of 32 council areas in Scotland. She weighed in on the common practice of early learners using tech that lack’s age appropriate features. “The cookie-cutter approach of bringing down tech platforms and workflows designed for adults into the early years simply doesn’t work. The technology has to fit and enhance the learning experiences appropriate for each age group.”
With the challenges of — and reluctance to — developing edtech for young learners, it is not surprising that many primary teachers find the tools they use are insufficient for their needs.
With these ideas in mind, there is no better place to begin than with the central question for any educator, administrator or family member: what are the learning experiences that are vital for children to have in the early years? This question must be addressed in order to begin to explore the ways in which technologies—both existing and emerging—can support and enhance these critical learning experiences.
Learning Science and Early Learners
Learning Science is a research practice or body of knowledge that supports or influences certain instructional approaches as best practices. As with most things, the idea of best practices looks different depending on what developmental stage students are in.
Consider the hypothetical primary classroom from the introduction. It’s loud, boisterous and bustling with activity. While most adults might look at this scene and see chaos, a developmental scientist will see a robust and rich learning environment. Learning at any age is a social activity —relationships matter — and adults and children alike learn better through active, handson experiences. But, as noted by Joseph South, Chief Innovation Officer at ISTE, “while we can pretend relationships and active learning are not important for older learners, we can’t get away with that with younger children — they will reject it and just won’t learn.”
When we look at the science of early learning, there are a few things that stand out in comparison to the way older students learn. Indeed, the findings from learning and developmental science provide clear guidance that can inform the types of learning experiences that enable learners to thrive in primary school and beyond:
Joy and Playful Learning
The research on the importance of joy in early learning and its impact on student academics is clear: “School enjoyment as young as age 6 is positively associated with later academic achievement.” Equally important, research also demonstrates that play is critical for supporting overall student well-being. And, as explained in research compiled by the LEGO Foundation, exposing children to joyful experiences is critical to unlocking the benefits of playful learning. So, play and active learning should be key components of students’ primary school experience as a way to promote “self-regulation and language competence’’ while also supporting learning in general.
In order to reimagine what playful learning can be, it’s helpful to think about “play” on a spectrum, as shown in Figure 1” At the heart of this idea, unsurprisingly, is context: who is involved? Who is directing the play? What (if any) learning objective is present? All of these questions help guide knowledgeable educators to think more strategically about leveraging how children naturally learn.
Adapted from Zosh et al. 2018
Free Play (Self-Directed Play)
Initiated by: Child
Directed by: Child
Guided Play Games
Explicit learning goal: No Yes Yes*
*Here, we refer to “serious games” as outlined in Hassinger-Das et al. 2017, in which the game has a learning goal.
Playful learning is not only about engaging kids or having fun; playful learning provides students with active, hands-on opportunities to learn, whether the outcome is an intentional, explicit learning objective or one students discover on their own. These experiences should also be fun and engaging, and when done right, should foster a student’s lifelong joy of learning.
Self Directed vs. Isolated Learning
Developing a child’s independence and empowering them to become self-directed learners is a critical goal of early education. Students in primary classrooms should be encouraged to explore the world around them and engage in productive struggle to develop independence and their own self-conception as learners.
However, encouraging self-directed learning at this age does not mean parking a child in front of a computer for them to navigate an online course or playlist, which is often how self-direction can look for older learners. For one, younger learners need more scaffolding by a teacher or guardian than older students — underscoring the importance of
relationships and learning communities for young learners. Ward expanded on this with her thoughts about the ways in which children are accustomed to using tech. “Many young learners come to school with significant technical proficiency due to increased screen time during the pandemic. However, their associations with screens often revolve around one-on-one use for entertainment, like watching videos or playing games. Educators need to provide different associations and explicitly guide children towards using technology for learning, collaboration, and communication.”
At this age, children learn with and from everyone: their teachers, their peers in their classroom and their families at home. This also speaks to the importance of the home-school connection, particularly in the primary grades. The Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal offers this insight as well: “it’s well established that parental involvement is correlated with school achievement of both children and adolescents. In particular, primary school children gain greater academic, language, and social skills when parents are involved.”
Figure 1: Play Spectrum Showing Three Types of Playful Learning Situations (NAEYC )
Creativity and Divergent Thinking
Learning at any age should aspire to include the “four C’s”: critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication. More specifically, primary classrooms should help foster the divergent thinking that is critical for creativity and that children typically begin to lose as they age. This isn’t surprising given the urgency placed on grades and test scores, and on getting the “right answer” in many traditional school settings.
As noted in several interviews for this paper, for primary students, it’s far less important to get the “right answer” than it is for them to explore and engage in productive struggle. Moreover, skills like creativity and curiosity are among the most coveted skills in today’s job market and are likely to remain as employers seek employees who are able to adapt to a rapidly changing world of work. The ability to think about a problem with creativity, and from multiple perspectives, begins with having the space to develop these skills. Asking early learners to focus on task completion or on providing the right answer — whether using technology or not — can stifle divergent thinking, as well as the four C’s described above.
While these pillars of early learning are important at all levels, they look quite different for what most older learners need in their environment to optimize learning. These differences also translate to the instructional materials and educational technology deployed at different grade levels. Teachers wouldn’t hand a high school science textbook to a primary student even if reading levels were adjusted for a 6 year old. Likewise, high school teachers don’t need to give detailed daily explanations to parents about what their students are learning.
Pana Asavavatana, KA-1 Technology and Design Coach at the Taipei American School works with primary teachers and students, and offers a perspective on the importance of expanding beyond a one-size-fits-all solution with early learners, focusing instead on instilling transferable digital skills. “In the early grades, it really is about building digital fluency across platforms and spaces, understanding what’s the same, what’s different, and developing skills and strategies to be able to figure it out on their own. Are we teaching students those transferable strategies so that they can be fluent, regardless of the platform? Or are we just teaching them about the app?”
The Affordances of New and Emerging Technology
If early learning experiences should be connected, joyous, inclusive, and focused on establishing meaningful relationships, it is reasonable to ask what role technology technology has — or should have — in primary classrooms.
Over the last three decades, technological advances including the internet, mobile technology, big data and analytics, and most recently, artificial intelligence, have completely transformed the world. While these technologies have inevitably impacted K-12 education, educators and families have not always embraced their presence in the classroom. According to Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Chair of Learning through Play and Vice President at the LEGO Foundation, “there is a growing divide that exists in K-12 education. We see this with current discussions around artificial intelligence, between those who believe that new technologies are problematic and should not be used or have limited use in classrooms, and those who believe these technologies will revolutionize education.”
One reason for this, at best, begrudging acceptance of technology in education, may come from attitudes about screen time; particularly when it comes to young learners. But another possible reason may be that edtech has not fully delivered on its potential. As Michael Preston, Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, noted “for years, proponents of edtech have made claims about the transformational potential of technology in K-12 education, but for the most part, that promise has yet to be realized.” As Preston and others note, the fault does not lie with
the technology itself, but in how edtech tools have been designed and developed.
In discussing the evolution of technology and learning over the past 20 years, Sara Dewitt, Senior Vice President of PBS Kids Digital noted that “technology—when used properly—holds the potential to remove barriers between kids and their learning experiences. There is an incredible opportunity presented by emerging speech technologies, based on artificial intelligence, to support early learners by empowering them and putting them in control of their own learning.” Just as the mouse and touch screens removed barriers between young children and learning opportunities through technology, new technologies may open up new learning experiences that further empower young learners.
As controversial as some of the newer AI tools have been in the context of a school setting, and as many educators are concerned about the way these tools will damage learning processes, there are an equal number of educators pointing out the opposite: that there is a place for AI as a tool among other tools in the classroom. Thomsen, who is working with Sal Khan (of Khan Academies) on principals to address AI in education, similarly confirms that early work they have done with generative artificial intelligence systems — such as ChatGPT — indicates that it can actually support creativity in students and teachers. According to Thomsen, “AI has the potential to support divergent thinking and problem-based learning, making difficult [teacher] prep easier. It could provide adaptive scaffolds for open-ended student exploration.”
Yet despite its potential, many school administrators are being thoughtful in how they integrate these technologies into schools — especially in the early years. Matthew Ferrinda, Team Leader Digital Learning at Catholic Education Western Australia, offers his perspective on the way they are currently engaging with AI. “We are taking a cautious approach to implementing AI in education, focusing on assessing its impact on students. Currently, our emphasis is on exploring how teachers can leverage generative AI to assist with tasks such as productivity, workload management, lesson design, and assessment feedback.”
Both Ferrinda and Ward share the cautious but hopeful outlook on using AI in education. Ward understands the possibilities that a best
case scenario could offer while recognizing the scaffolding needed to help it remain well intentioned and human-first. “AI has the potential to support creativity and problembased learning,” she added. “But we also stress the importance of developing students’ skills in using AI effectively and critically. We need to educate young people about the human role in AI and ensure they remain in control of the technology, rather than simply accepting its outputs at face value.”
Ultimately, the question isn’t whether technology should be a part of primary classrooms, but rather, how we design learning experiences and tools that make the best (and most developmentally appropriate use) of technology to support teachers and student learning.
Reimagining Edtech for Early Learners
“ We need a shift in mindset when developing tools for young children. It’s essential to consider the actual use case and how technology supports it. This perspective results in a different approach to tech design, focusing on active learning experiences rather than sheer engagement metrics.
Ximena Dominguez Executive Director of Learning Sciences and Early Learning Research, Digital Promise
The idea that early learners are different in their needs isn’t groundbreaking. We know it inherently when it comes to traditional learning content — publishers create specific content, curricula and textbooks for early learners, middle school students and high school students. But edtech often takes a one-size-fits-all approach, frequently offering watered down tools that fail to meet the distinct learning needs of primary students, and the unique teaching needs of primary educators. As Joseph South, the Chief Innovation Officer at ISTE, notes, “this is perhaps one of the greatest crimes we commit with edtech in K-12 education: repurposing technologies for uses and, perhaps more importantly, for end users they were not initially designed for or intended to support.”
Selecting edtech tools for early learners — and developing those tools in the first place — is about much more than semantics, pictographic passwords and simplified and/or more colorful user
interfaces. As Dyane Smokorowski, Coordinator of Digital Literacy for Wichita Public Schools suggests, “when most people talk about edtech for early learners, it’s all about the bells and whistles — but they always forget that there’s a philosophical shift required in the ways edtech is deployed and used for younger children.” With this context in mind, the following three key principles provide a starting point to guide the development of edtech tools and their evaluation and selection by primary educators and district leaders.
But edtech often takes a onesize-fits-all approach, offering watered down tools that fail to meet elementary students’ distinct learning needs and elementary educators’ teaching needs.
Principle 1: The Importance of Joyful Learning
Play promotes joyful learning that fosters self-regulation, language, cognitive and social competencies as well as content knowledge across disciplines. Play is essential for all children, birth through age 8 — NAEYC
Over the past two decades with the urgency and legislation surrounding test scores and school funding, many school programs have gone in the opposite direction of play. Children are sitting for longer, and having less movement and outdoor activity. In many places — often where students are more at risk of experiencing learning gaps — teacher and student expectations are sky high, with little margin for error.
Asavavatana agrees with this notion, lamenting the idea that early learners need time for play and to try things repeatedly to gain problem-solving skills on their own. “In an ideal world, I would like to see students have more space for independent problem solving. It takes so much time for young learners to develop that skill set. They need to be able to face a problem and fail a couple times, but that takes a lot of time with little ones. Our school day doesn’t naturally allow for that kind of openended learning opportunity, as we are driven by the structure of a schedule, which determines how time is utilized and how long we spend on various subject areas or concepts.”
So how can we reimagine edtech tools to support learning through play while ensuring students’ balance their time learning online with how they learn offline?
+ Playful Pedagogy: When considering early childhood pedagogy, Ximena Dominguez, Executive Director of Learning Sciences and Early Learning Research at Digital Promise, offers an important perspective: “It doesn’t
have to be a dichotomy. It doesn’t have to be either playful or educational. It can be both. But designing edtech that is both engaging and consequential for learning requires a coordinated effort to bring together various perspectives and areas of expertise into the design process, including the expertise of practitioners,” underscoring the critical role of educators in facilitating those experiences for young learners.
But the idea behind playful learning can be off putting for some. When we speak about joyful learning, it’s not meant to only highlight whether or not a learning experience is engaging or “fun.” On this topic, Margery Mayer, Education Consultant and pioneer in the development of research-based educational technology, provided an insightful point. “Joyful learning is about more than just fun and games. While edtech can provide engaging experiences for kids, real learning happens when they’re able to take concepts from the digital world and apply them through handson, tangible activities. Simply piecing together a puzzle on a device does not necessarily equate to retained knowledge.
But if that digital experience is thoughtfully connected to real-world, creative play and exploration, it becomes a launchpad for deeper understanding and skills.”
Asavavatana also spoke on this, adding that part of year end learning assessment should
include noting whether children can decide how to best express or demonstrate their learning. “A well rounded experience for students is created when they can assess various tools and make choices around what might work to accomplish documentation or show learning in a way that they want to — and to understand there are many ways to do it. We need to expose them to various ways to express their learning, to problem solve, and make connections, so their thinking is fluid.”
Ferrinda expanded on the importance of looking for real-world learning as well, and not just what primary learners can do inside of an app. “We look for edtech tools that have real fundamentals, such as the ability to use camera and audio to capture evidence of student learning outside of the device. The focus should be on complementing what students have done in the real world, rather than forcing them to recreate something digitally.”
Playful pedagogy requires balancing digital and analog experiences thoughtfully. As Dominguez noted, joy and learning are not mutually exclusive — with intentional design, edtech can promote both. Mayer provides a good example of how to thoughtfully connect digital play to hands-on learning. The key is coordination between stakeholders to create playful learning experiences that are developmentally appropriate and lead to meaningful educational outcomes.
+ Online and off-line learning: Primary school students typically aren’t developmentally ready to spend a lot of time learning on screens. Digital tools in the primary grades can and should be designed and used differently than they might be for older students. In the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) report titled, Future of Education and Skills 2030, student agency is discussed as being, “rooted in the principle that students have the ability and the will to positively influence their own lives and the world around them. [Student agency} is thus defined as the capacity to set a goal, reflect and act responsibly to effect change.”
Supporting this concept, though not recognized in every language globally, can and should be at the heart of the design and use of an early learning edtech platform. Although there are different types of student agency, one that stands out as important for early learning is creative agency: which “allows students to add new value to the world by using their imagination and ability to innovate, whether for artistic, practical or scientific purposes” (Leadbeater, 2017).
So in reimagining these tools to be built with intention for primary elementary students, it’s critical to strike the balance between learning offline and learning online. James Radburn, Computing and Digital Innovation Lead at The Rivers CofE Multi Academy Trust, had this to say about this delicate balance: “There is a concern that technology might replace or limit talk and interaction in the classroom. We can mitigate this by using technology to instigate conversations, such as using AR to explore Roman shields or mosques, or apps that encourage children to draw and talk about their creations.”
Instead of seeing digital tools for primary students as solely a one-to-one student experience or a means of communication with parents, they can instead be used in myriad other ways to help build and foster both creative agency in early learning as well as interaction within a wider community that
supports each student. In fact, the OECD also uses the term “co-agency” to describe the power of this concept. “In education systems that encourage student agency, learning involves not only instruction and evaluation but also co-construction. Co-agency is when teachers and students become co-creators in the teaching-and-learning process.” This research highlights the importance of the investment of all stakeholders—students, teachers, parents and the whole community— in helping the student realize their full potential. According to this research, early learning environments are most effective when they are built on the principles of this idea. As such, early learning edtech platforms need to not only provide parents with information, but actively engage and include them in the learning process.
This holistic approach to early learning, which emphasizes co-agency and community involvement, also necessitates a thoughtful consideration of how digital tools are implemented in the classroom. How will the tool be used? By the student? By the teacher? To practice a skill? Or for recording to document and communicate progress? The balance of on-line to off-line learning is different for early learners than it is for older students—so much so that at the earlier grades the online tools must serve to complement offline learning. This often means a greater role for an educator with the workflow and the use of tools whose structure truly informs this functionality. An example of this might be the classroom teacher using technology to capture artifacts of learning in order to document strengths and challenges as students are more self-directed.
Using tech tools in early learning environments doesn’t necessarily mean student use — teachers can also use tools to help streamline their own processes (documentation, communication etc.). And when students are online using these tools, we work to ensure that the purpose of the tools aligns with the learning experiences we want them to have.
Key Questions for Decision Makers
• Does the tool allow for open-ended play, creativity, and studentdirected learning?
• Does the online learning connect meaningfully to physical classroom activities?
• Does the online component inspire curiosity and questioning that leads to offline inquiry?
• Do the offline activities allow for experimentation, tinkering, and hands-on application of online concepts?
Principle 2: Connected Learning: The Parent, Student, Family Partnership in Early Learning
“The tech use, the learning management system, should be about the student demonstrating, communicating, collaborating; so they can share what they are doing.”
Dr. Sharon Shewsbridge Director of Instructional Technology | Virginia Beach City Public Schools
To understand early learning experiences is to understand the crucial partnership between school and families. Recognizing the unique role of parents as partners in early childhood education, where they are considered the child’s first and best teachers, aids in all stakeholders working together towards one goal. In fact, there is detailed research confirming that a strong school-home connection can have a significant impact on learning and academic success. Additionally, we know that responsible and positive family engagement with schools improves student achievement, reduces absenteeism and strengthens parents’ confidence in their child’s education.
Early learners need to be engaged in the type of playful, joyful learning we know helps them to thrive. It’s also true that primary grades teachers want to be able to share that joyful learning with families in order to help them understand their children’s progress. Here is a place where edtech tools are evolving to be an authentic connection between school and home. Platforms that are built for primary students should inherently be built for this connected dynamic. As Dominguez confirms, when we think about what edtech tools should look like for early learners, context is everything. “When co-designing edtech for young learners, we must consider more than just the students themselves. The adults supporting children’s interactions with
edtech — families and educators — are a critical part of the children’s ecosystem. Powerful edtech tools are those that provide children with unique learning opportunities and serve as catalysts for rich dialog with peers and adults.” Digital tools can also offer a window into what students are learning and working on each day — whether that’s by student curated portfolios, private teacher messages with links or videos to show work, or whole class announcements.
Connected learning is about more than parents receiving information about what happened with their student in class. “Parents want to be part of the conversations about their child’s learning,” explained Maggie Picket, Senior Technical Assistance Specialist, at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), “they have known their child since birth and understand the barriers that may cause a breakdown in their learning experience as well as the things that excite them.” Given the importance of the family connection at this age, Picket stresses the importance of streamlining communications between schools and parents by “providing one location or system where these conversations can take place, rather than multiple apps or platforms where things can get lost.”
“Technology plays a crucial role in facilitating communication and engagement between school and home,” Radburn added. “Parents
often struggle to get information about their child’s day at school, and edtech tools can help bridge this gap by allowing students to share their learning experiences. It’s also important to educate parents about the positive uses of technology in learning and involve them in developing their child’s digital skills.”
Ward also weighed in on this idea. “We like to use edtech to share learning, celebrate achievements, and provide parents with insights into their child’s day. The goal is to create meaningful connections between home and school, allowing parents to engage with their child’s learning experiences.”
Key Questions for Decision Makers
• Does the tool facilitate communication and collaboration between students, teachers, and families?
• Can parents easily view student work samples and provide feedback?
• Are there options for teachers to share announcements, updates, and resources with families?
• Can the tool generate student portfolios or progress reports for parent-teacher conferences?
“
A partnership really makes sense in those early years when there are usually fewer teachers. And if we can create tools to help facilitate that part of the partnership, it makes it even better for both the educator, who’s doing the work during the day, and for the parent who goes home; it’s carrying it over. If something new was learned, then they can take the learning home and help build on it. In the end, most parents want to do whatever they can to help their children learn.”
Michelle Kang, CEO of National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Principle 3: Inclusivity and Divergent Learning
“An inclusive learning experience also has to take into account parents, home environment and what is meaningful and interesting to children; the full spectrum of their learning experience.”
Bo Stjerne Thomsen, Chair of Learning through Play, Vice President | LEGO Foundation
Children in early grades (like most grades) do not necessarily develop at the same rate, and also have a wide range of developmental needs and backgrounds. They are working toward the same set of goals but will not achieve mastery or proficiency at the same rate as the children around them. As Picket describes “inclusivity in education goes beyond just considering IEPs or special needs. Especially at a young age, we can’t assume what children bring into the classroom. We often see decisions made for district-wide systems, but a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. Each child’s background and needs are different.” As such, the edtech used for early learning must ensure that
learning experiences are inclusive and truly meeting students where they are.
According to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework developed by CAST, inclusive learning environments proactively build in flexibility to accommodate learner variability. For young students, this could involve presenting information through visual, auditory and tactile modalities, or by using hands-on games, manipulatives and experiential learning to empower children to engage with content through their preferred channels. “ The ideal edtech tool for primary students,” Ferrinda suggests, “would seamlessly assist them in enhancing their learning. Technology to scaffold, communicate and enable creativity. It should integrate smoothly into the learning experience without causing disruptions,
acting as an accompaniment that works well and does what the learner needs it to do.”
Edtech can provide equitable opportunities for students to participate in learning. In the primary grades, early support of students with special needs can ensure they are set up for future success. Tools that can accommodate English language learners, learners with an individualized educational plan, learners with dyslexia, learners who are sensory impaired, and autistic learners empower teachers to effectively support all students without experiencing tech fatigue. Because assumptions cannot be made about learners’ abilities, tools must be designed to remove barriers that may get in the way of a student and their learning. “I look at how visually busy an edtech tool is,” Asavavatana notes, “ as that impacts how quickly students can process the stimuli. Less visual clutter and animation is better, as it can distract from the learning goals.” She continued. “I also value icon consistency across platforms, such as using a plus sign to mean ‘add,’ which helps students navigate using prior knowledge. Flexibility in how a tool can be used is important, rather than just progressing through game-like levels.”
As Picket concludes, “[in early learning] the concept of inclusivity is foundational. It’s crucial for creating a joyful and connected learning environment. Inclusivity isn’t just about adapting to different abilities — it’s about meeting each child where they are in their educational journey.”
Key Questions for Decision Makers
• Does the tool follow universal design for learning principles?
• Are there multiple ways for students to engage with content and demonstrate knowledge?
• Can support features like text-tospeech, translations, and visual aids be toggled on/off as needed?
• Does the tool provide options for support and accessibility based on individual needs?
Looking Ahead: Hold Fast to the Means — Not Just the Ends
Edtech, as we know it, is a relatively new industry. The importance of the first part of this term “ed,” representing the word education, cannot be understated. Especially when it comes to early education. Dominguez reminds us of this: “inclusivity should be a crucial goal for edtech, extending beyond early childhood. To be more inclusive, technology should leverage children’s and families’ experiences, context, and stories. This requires centering families in the design process and creating clear roadmaps for tech development.” Put differently, tool development must take into account the end user — students, teachers, and families — and what’s relevant and meaningful to them.
Learning at this early stage of life is inherently joyful. It’s when we interfere with the natural way that children learn that it can become stale and stagnant. When the question of reimagining edtech for early learners is raised, the loudest voices should be insisting that teachers don’t need tools to replace what they are doing; they need tools to make what they are doing more meaningful, more connected and more inclusive for the children that already infuse joy and play into everything they do.
The edtech industry at large must lean more on the “ed” and less on the “tech,” measuring success by the connection, joy, and inclusivity their tools provide, rather than the number of downloads an app has. True learning at this stage can be harder to measure, but is worth far more than a download represents.
Additional Resources
“Guiding Principles for Use of Technology with Early Learners” | U.S. Department of Education
Technology and Young Children: Preschoolers and Kindergartners | NAEYC
Technology and Young Children: School-Age Children | NAEYC
“Using Technology to Enhance Early Childhood Education” | Edutopia
“Incorporating Technology into Instruction in Early Childhood Classrooms: a Systematic Review” | Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders
“The Evolution of Technology in K-12 Classrooms: 1659 to Today ” | EdTech
“Field Guide to Learning Management Systems” | American Society for Training & Development
“Twenty Years of Edtech” | EDUCAUSE Review
“The Evolution of Edtech—Will Your Company Make the Grade? ” | Forbes
“Applying the science of learning to EdTech evidence evaluations using the EdTech Evidence Evaluation Routine (EVER)” | NPJ Science of Learning
Student Agency for 2030 | OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030
Endnotes
1 Kucirkova, Natalia, Garvin Brod and Nadine Gaab. “Applying the science of learning to EdTech evidence evaluations using the EdTech Evidence Evaluation Routine (EVER).” NPJ Science of Learning, 2023. https:// www.nature.com/articles/s41539-023-00186-7
2 Lewis, Kate L, Steven J Howard, Irina Verenikina and Lisa K Kervin. “Parent perspectives on young children’s changing digital practices: Insights from Covid-19.” Journal of Early Childhood Research, March 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9813658
3 “The Science of Learning.” Deans for Impact. https:// www.deansforimpact.org/tools-and-resources/thescience-of-learning
4 “The Science of Early Learning: How Young Children Develop Agency, Numeracy, and Literacy.” Deans of Learning, 2019. https://www.deansforimpact.org/files/ assets/thescienceofearlylearning.pdf
5 Morris, Tim T., Danny Dorling, Neil M. Davies & George Davey Smith. “Associations between school enjoyment at age 6 and later educational achievement: evidence from a UK cohort study.” NPJ Science of Learning, 2021. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41539-021-00092-w
6 “Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children.” UNICEF, 2022. https://www.unicef-irc.org/ritec
7 “Learning Through Play: What the Science Says.” Learning Through Play. https://learningthroughplay. com/explore-the-research/the-scientific-case-forlearning-through-play
8 Maxwell, Kelly, Sharon Ritchie, Sue Bredekamp, and Tracy Zimmerman. “Using Developmental Science to Transform Children’s Early School Experiences.” Issues in PreK–3rd Education, 2009. https://firstschool. fpg.unc.edu/sites/firstschool.fpg.unc.edu/files/ UsingDevelopmentalScience.pdf
9 Zosh, Jennifer M., Caroline Gaudreau, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek. “The Power of Playful Learning in the Early Childhood Setting.” NAEYC, 2022. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/ summer2022/power-playful-learning
10 “The Science of Early Learning: How Young Children Develop Agency, Numeracy, and Literacy.” Deans of Learning, 2019. https://www.deansforimpact.org/files/ assets/thescienceofearlylearning.pdf
11 Đurišić, Maša and Mila Bunijevac. “Parental Involvement as a Important Factor for Successful Education.” CEPS Journal, 2017. https://files.eric.ed.gov/ fulltext/EJ1156936.pdf
12 Zimmerman, Eli. “The 4 C’s of Learning in a Connected Classroom.” EdTech, July 17, 2018. https:// edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2018/07/4-cslearning-connected-classroom
13 “RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms.” RSA, Oct. 14, 2010. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
14 “Future of Jobs Report 2023.” World Economic Forum, 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_ Jobs_2023.pdf
15 Popoff, Evo. “Can Speech Recognition Help Children Learn to Read?” SoapBox, 2022. https:// www.soapboxlabs.com/blog/announcing-our-newwhitepaper-can-speech-recognition-help-children-learnto-read/
16 “Principles of Child Development and Learning and Implications That Inform Practice.” NAEYC, https:// www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/ principles
17 “Student Agency for 2030.” OECD. https://www.oecd. org/education/2030-project/teaching-and-learning/ learning/student-agency/Student_Agency_for_2030_ concept_note.pdf
18 Topor, David R., Susan P. Keane, Terri L. Shelton and Susan D. Calkins. “Parent Involvement and Student Academic Performance: A Multiple Mediational Analysis.” Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 2010. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC3020099/
19 “The Influence of Parent Education and Family Income on Child Achievement: The Indirect Role of Parental Expectations and the Home Environment.” APA PsycArticles. https://psycnet.apa.org/ record/2005-06518-016
20 “Why Act Early if You’re Concerned about Development.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 6, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/ actearly/whyActEarly.html