EdTech Top 40: It’s all about unique tools and interoperability

This year’s EdTechTop 40 shows districts, teachers and students continuing to experiment with a wider range of digital tools.

The 2024 list, from LearnPlatform by Instructure, features many familiar names—such as Canva, Google Classroom and YouTube—and five new entrants: PBS, Panorama Education, Scratch, Adobe and Grammarly.

“As districts continue to explore different tools to enhance learning, the obstacles they now face aren’t just about picking the best tool, but picking safe, effective and interoperable tools that work together to build a highly effective learning ecosystem,” said Melissa Loble, Instructure’s chief academic officer.

‘Talking Out of School’ podcast: What’s top of mind for 15 superintendents, according to an edtech CEO

“Districts need trusted guidance and transparent information to empower them to make efficient and effective decisions that will improve teaching and learning,” Loble adds.

The EdTechTop 40 covers nearly 4 million student and teacher interactions and finds schools using 8% more digital tools than they did in the prior academic year. Districts accessed an average of 2,739 distinct edtech tools during the school year, with an average of 1,436 per month.

The list comprises learning management systems, supplemental platforms, courseware platforms, study tools, classroom response and assessment tools, and sites and resources.

“On the one hand, we know districts are actively looking for opportunities to consolidate their edtech, but with the explosion of new AI-enabled tools, there has been a lot of experimentation,” notes Shiren Vijiasingam, Instructure’s chief product officer. “We expect scrutiny on how these tools are helping the teaching and learning process.”

The top three reasons educators are using technology are to boost student engagement, personalize learning and save time. When it comes to accountability, just under a third of the tools on the 2024 Edtech Top 40 have met one of the Every Student Succeeds Act’s four tiers of evidence.

Here is the EdTech Top 40 (in alphabetical order):

1. ABCya!
2. Adobe*
3. Blooket
4. Canva
5. Canvas LMS
6. ClassLink
7. Clever
8. Code.Org
9. Cool Math Games
10. Desmos
11. EdPuzzle
12. Encyclopedia Britannica
13. Epic!
14. Gimkit
15. GoGuardian
16. Google Classroom
17. Google Workspace for Education
18. Grammarly*
19. History.com
20. i-Ready
21. IXL Learning
22. Kahoot!
23. Kami
24. Khan Academy
25. Math Playground
26. Nearpod
27. NYTimes.com
28. Panorama Education*
29. PBS*
30. PhET Interactive
31. Prodigy
32. Quizizz
33. Quizlet
34. Scholastic
35. Scratch*
36. Securly Filter
37. Study.com
38. Weebly
39. Wikipedia
40. YouTube

*Indicates the product is new to Edtech Top 40