Surprise! One company dominates the top 40 tech tools schools are using

Want to know what ed-tech tools teachers and students at other school districts are getting the most use out of?

While we’re not trying to spark an ed-tech arms race, the findings of a just-released top 40 list can help superintendents and their teams get a handle on the instructional technology being used in their classrooms. The rankings can also inform budgeting decisions as leaders plan to spend COVID relief and other funds on instructional technology.

Here’s the key finding: The average K-12 student accessed 74 different ed-tech tools in the first half of the 2021-22 school year while the average teacher used 86, according to the Top 40 report released Tuesday by LearnPlatform, a system that helps educators research, select and evaluate ed-tech tools.

The average district utilized 1,403 ed-tech tools per month, which is about the same as in 2020-21, according to the company’s analysis, which measured usage of more than 8,000 products by over two million K-12 students and 225,000 teachers.

“Now is the time to lean into the evidence of what’s working,” says Karl Rectanus, CEO and co-founder of LearnPlatform. “If we have an understanding, we increase equity, improve outcomes, get better ROI and a lower chance of cybersecurity risks while retaining more teachers.”

When it comes to specific products, Google continues to dominate—taking eight of the top 10 spots—while classroom engagement tools grew sharply in popularity.

Google Docs, Google Slides, and YouTube (owned by Google) remained in the top three spots they held in last year’s poll, with Google Drive and Google Forms ranked fourth and fifth. The top non-Google tools in the top 10 are the game-based learning platform, Kahoot!, at No. 6 and Clever, recently acquired by Kahoot!, at No. 7.

With most students back in person most of the time, the virtual meeting platforms Zoom and Google Meet—which provided lifelines to learners and educators during the worst of the pandemic—dropped precipitously to No. 20 and 21.

On the other hand, tools designed to boost student engagement occupied the most slots in the top 40. Blooket, a game-based review and trivia platform, climbed the most in the rankings, moving up 21 places to No. 15. Edpuzzle, a tool for making interactive videos, jumped eight positions to No. 25.

“Teachers and students are using technology to interact and engage together, not just to do search or research,” Rectanus says.

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Learning management systems are also growing in popularity. List newcomer Schoology, which ranked 22nd, is the third LMS in the top 40. Other additions to the list are i-Ready (32), Grammarly (39), and McGraw-Hill Education (40).

When educators know what tools they’re going to use, that certainty helps increase teacher retention. Familiarity with the platforms also improves cybersecurity as teachers and students are less likely to click on dangerous links. The list should also remind leaders of the importance of ensuring that students and teachers have the support and training they need to use these tools, Rectanus says.

“Technology wasn’t just a function of hybrid and remote learning or some sort of blip on the screen,” he says. “Learning is now tech-enabled and being realistic about what that means is really important.”