By Laura Outhwaite

Educational maths apps are increasingly popular with children, parents, and teachers alike. But technology alone will not equal effective learning. In this blog, we talk through three important things to consider when using educational maths apps with young children.

Children’s language abilities

Recent research with the onebillion maths apps has shown that young children can use these apps independently and show significant learning gains in early mathematics. However, it is also important to consider the child’s language proficiency in the language of instruction offered within these types of maths apps. Intervention research shows young bilingual children who used the onebillion maths apps made significant gains in mathematical achievement, compared to a business as usual control group. But those with stronger proficiencies in the language of instruction made significantly more progress than those with lower language proficiencies. Likewise, review evidence suggests educational apps are better suited for children over 4 years compared to younger children under 3 years, which may in part be related to children’s developing language skills. Overall, this highlights the importance of considering the individual child’s language abilities- can they effectively understand and access the learning content in this app-based format?

Parents and children using apps together

Other maths apps, such as Bedtime Math app, has also shown positive benefits for young children and their parents. These types of apps actively encourage parents and children to use the app together. In Bedtime Math, parents and children read a short bedtime story, which then includes a related maths-based problem, which they can discuss and solve together. Research in the USA found significant benefits to children’s maths outcomes, particularly for children whose parents reported feeling anxious towards maths.

How do I choose a high-quality app?

With over half a million educational maths apps available on the Apple Store, it is not surprising that it can sometimes feel overwhelming for parents and teachers, hoping to find high-quality apps to use with their child. Currently, there are some websites providing advice and guidance based on anecdotal evidence. However, more evidence-based guidelines focus on literacy apps. We are currently developing evidence-based solutions for maths apps, through our Nuffield-funded project ‘Can Maths Apps Add Value to Learning?’

Where can I find out more information?

Contact Dr Laura Outhwaite l.outhwaite@ucl.ac.uk