Funding uncertainty, budget constraints, and a move toward paring down inventories of educational technology are top of mind for many district officials looking to manage costs and screen their districts’ tools for quality.
Despite those downward pressures on ed-tech adoption, the number of tech tools in use in school systems continues to increase, contrary to what some industry officials predicted would happen amid fiscal concerns and an oversaturation of technology.
The overall growth in the usage of digital products across school districts was reported in the annual EdTech Top 40 report, now in its eighth year and released this week by ed-tech company Instructure. This year’s report was released at the ISTE+ASCD convention in San Antonio, a major gathering of classroom educators, district administrators, and ed-tech companies, many of whom seek to pitch the K-12 audience on their products.
The report highlights the 40 most-used education tools in districts – both by students and teachers – across the country during the 2024-25 school year. Data includes a breakdown of annual and monthly averages, as well as numbers categorized by the tool’s purpose, such as the top-accessed learning management systems, supplemental platforms, and study tools.
The company said the findings were collected using the LearnPlatform browser extension and include more than 64 billion interactions across upwards of 10,000 ed-tech products.
A Breakdown of the Numbers
Many of the ed-tech companies in the top 40 list are returning participants from last year’s ranking, including ClassLink, Kahoot, and Quizlet. New organizations to top the charts include ChatGPT, Microsoft 365, McGraw Hill and PowerSchool.
According to the report, districts accessed an average of 2,982 distinct ed-tech tools annually and 1,574 tools monthly. It marks the second consecutive year of about 8% year-over-year growth.
The number of unique ed-tech tools accessed individually by both students and teachers – whose usage was measured separately -- throughout the year also showed a slight increase. Students used an average of 48 different tools, three more than the previous year. Educators used an average of 50 products, just one more than last school year.
The fact that the number of products in play has stayed fairly level could mean teachers have “found the resources that [they believe] to be tried and true,” said Tracy Weeks, senior director of education policy and strategy for Instructure. “They know what they’re going to use – that one resource they can run to – and now it’s just a matter of potentially finding those supplements.”
Since the surge of ed-tech adoption during pandemic-era remote learning, many tools have gone digital. Instructure officials speculated that last year’s growth was in part driven by continued efforts to use ed-tech in the service of academic recovery, as well as increased interest in artificial intelligence-powered tools.
Though this year’s number continues to trend upward, districts are becoming more selective, doubling down on the tools they know work in driving student outcomes and in supporting instruction and impact, Weeks said.
With the annual average of district tech tool usage nearing 3,000, that number includes tools that are paid for, as well as those that are free, she said. While teachers are still accessing these no-cost resources, vendors can probably still expect to see districts continue to tighten the reins on what they pay for over the next year in terms of what is most effective and efficient.
Teachers have “found the resources that [they believe] to be tried and true. They know what they're going to use – that one resource they can run to – and now it's just a matter of potentially finding those supplements.”
Tracy Weeks, senior director of education policy and strategy, Instructure
“Districts are still looking for products that have outside research [behind them] to show their effectiveness in the classroom,” Weeks said. “We expect a lot of districts to hold true to the [tools] they already have, but if they’re going to try a completely new resource that’s paid, they’re going to want to see how that’s going to move the goalpost for the kids.”
The Instructure report indicates which of the top 40 platforms have achieved some level of ESSA evidence. While 32% of the tools on last year’s list meet this standard, that number increased to 45% this year.
Demonstrating efficacy with data-driven results will play a bigger role in purchasing decisions more than ever, Weeks said.
While gathering research can take years and a slow build-up of users, companies can begin by meeting ESSA’s lowest level of evidence, she said.
“A Level Four says that you have a logic model and a plan,” she said. “That’s pretty low stakes, so there’s no reason why even some of the newer or smaller companies couldn’t have at least that piece of it.”
Earlier this year, the CEO of ISTE+ASCD, Richard Culatta, announced that the organization will be increasing its focus on vetted research – for the first time giving show floor preference to vendors at the annual convention that can provide a measure of evidence for their products.
Going forward, evidence will be a way to build trust with customers, Weeks said, and as a factor in vendors’ long-term growth and success in the market.