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Cited by 1,049

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 27 of the 27 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Putting Education in “Educational” Apps: Lessons From the Science of Learning

Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy, Zosh, Jennifer M., Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick, Gray, James H., Robb, Michael B., Kaufman, Jordy·2015·Psychological Science in the Public Interest

Abstract

Children are in the midst of a vast, unplanned experiment, surrounded by digital technologies that were not available but 5 years ago. At the apex of this boom is the introduction of applications (“apps”) for tablets and smartphones. However, there is simply not the time, money, or resources available to evaluate each app as it enters the market. Thus, “educational” apps—the number of which, as of January 2015, stood at 80,000 in Apple’s App Store (Apple, 2015)—are largely unregulated and untested. This article offers a way to define the potential educational impact of current and future apps. We build upon decades of work on the Science of Learning, which has examined how children learn best. From this work, we abstract a set of principles for two ultimate goals. First, we aim to guide researchers, educators, and designers in evidence-based app development. Second, by creating an evidence-based guide, we hope to set a new standard for evaluating and selecting the most effective existing children’s apps. In short, we will show how the design and use of educational apps aligns with known processes of children’s learning and development and offer a framework that can be used by parents and designers alike. Apps designed to promote active, engaged, meaningful, and socially interactive learning—four “pillars” of learning—within the context of a supported learning goal are considered educational.

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Metadata

Authors
Hirsh-Pasek, K., Zosh, J. M., Golinkoff, R. M., Gray, J. H., Robb, M. B., & Kaufman, J.
Venue
Psychological Science in the Public Interest
Published
2015-04-20
Volume
16
Issue
1
Pages
3-34
ISSN
  • 1539-6053 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-1006
OpenAlex
W2137006329
Cited by
1,049
References
27
FWCI
362.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Putting Education in “Educational” Apps: Lessons From the Science of Learning. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1177/1529100615569721
The paper
Hirsh-Pasek, K., Zosh, J. M., Golinkoff, R. M., Gray, J. H., Robb, M. B., & Kaufman, J. (2015). Putting Education in “Educational” Apps: Lessons From the Science of Learning. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100615569721

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Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.