Researchers at the Digital Futures for Children Centre, a collaboration between the London School of Economics and the 5Rights Foundation, have warned that evidence about educational technology is heavily skewed towards academic attainment and gives insufficient attention to children’s wellbeing, motivation, confidence and broader development.
Large review finds gaps in the evidence
The review examined 56 research reviews, covering more than 2,100 studies from around the world. While it found that educational technology can support learning when used well, the authors say the research base treats children as a single, homogeneous group and largely overlooks how edtech affects diverse learners.
Only four of the reviews specifically considered children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and authors found almost no work exploring differences by gender, socio-economic background or other characteristics. The reviewers conclude that there is limited evidence on whether educational technology benefits all children equally.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| Research reviews examined | 56 |
| Studies covered | 2,100+ |
| Reviews on SEND | 4 |
Calls for policy action and better procurement
Colette Collin-Walsh, Head of UK Affairs at the 5Rights Foundation, contrasted the standards applied to school meals with how digital products are introduced into classrooms, arguing that technologies should be held to comparable standards of safety and benefit for children.
“School canteens aren’t allowed to serve food unless it is proven to be safe and beneficial to children’s healthy development, yet we’ve been introducing digital products into classrooms without holding them to the same standard.”
Both the 5Rights Foundation and the LSE researchers call on governments to provide clearer guidance for teachers and to use public procurement to reward products that are safe, effective and designed with children’s rights in mind. They also urge research that better reflects the realities of classrooms and considers privacy and rights alongside attainment.
Evidence concentrated on attainment
Professor Sonia Livingstone of the LSE said much of the evidence on edtech has focused on whether it improves academic outcomes. The review’s authors note that while attainment is important, it should not be the sole metric used to judge technology in schools.
“That’s an important question, but it isn’t the only one.”
The report arrives amid wider public debate about children’s digital lives. To date, much of the policy conversation has concerned smartphones and social media; the researchers argue that the digital tools and platforms used in schools deserve at least as much scrutiny.
Implications for schools, teachers and parents
For teachers and school leaders, the review highlights a practical dilemma: many products marketed for classrooms come with claims about raising attainment but offer little evidence about impacts on wellbeing, attention, privacy or differential effects for vulnerable groups. The authors recommend that schools seek clearer evidence of both effectiveness and safety when choosing digital products.
- Policymakers should develop procurement standards that favour safe, effective, rights-respecting edtech.
- Future research must examine impacts on wellbeing, privacy and equity, not only attainment.
- Teachers need clearer guidance to select and implement digital tools that support all pupils.
The review does not argue for rejecting technology in education. Rather, it calls for a more balanced evidence base and for public policy to ensure that digital products introduced into classrooms are evaluated against the same benchmarks of safety, benefit and inclusivity expected in other aspects of school life.
As digital technologies become more embedded in education, the report makes clear that decisions about procurement, guidance for educators and future research priorities will shape whether edtech supports opportunity or risks entrenching inequalities and undermining children’s wider development.
