Selected Research on EdTech Evidence

Cannanure, V. K., Wolf, S., Jasinska, K., Brown, T., & Ogan, A. (2025, November). Enabling a virtual community of practice facilitated by a chatbot for rural teachers. In Proceedings of the 5th Biennial African Human Computer Interaction Conference (pp. 311-320).

Outhwaite, L. A., Aunio, P., Leung, J. K. Y., & Van Herwegen, J. (2024). Measuring mathematical skills in early childhood: A systematic review of the psychometric properties of early maths assessments and screeners. Educational Psychology Review, 36(4), 110.

Qadoumi, S., Brice, H., Wortsman, B., Capani, A., Rashad, R., Jafarian, M., ... & Jasińska, K. (2025). Socioemotional well-being and literacy in Syrian refugee children: Long-term outcomes post-resettlement. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 99, 101826.

Avornyo, E. A., Appiah, R., Aurino, E., & Wolf, S. (2025). “You give everything the child requires to attend school”: Exploring caregiver involvement in children’s education in Ghana. Open Research Europe, 5, 283.

Huang, R., Tlili, A., Liu, D., Xu, L., Guerriero, S., Van Herwegen, J., & Kucirkova, N. (2025). What is the Science of Learning? a comprehensive review and analysis of the existing definitions. Smart Learning Environments, 12(1), 1-19.

Bus, A., Kucirkova, N., Ten Braak, D., & Ciesielska, M. (2025). Which Interactive Features in Children’s Digital Picture Books Promote Reading Comprehension? A Meta-Analysis. Early Education and Development, 1-20.

Kucirkova, N. I., Cherner, T., Dubé, A. K., Pasquarella, A., Pitchford, N., & Ross, H. (2025). Commentary: Suggestions for guidance by academics who collaborate with digital companies–a commentary on Bourgaize et al.(2025). Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 30(3), 292-295.

Kucirkova, N., Uppstad, P. H., Holeton, R., Lin, D., Clark-Wilson, A., & Chigeda, A. (2025). Evaluating educational technology: Consolidating across multiple impact indicators and rating systems. Computers & Education, 105467.

Kucirkova, N. I. (2025). Academia–industry partnerships in edtech: bridging the gaps in engaged research. Research for All, 9(1).

Mifsud, C. L., Bonello, C., & Kucirkova, N. I. (2025). Exploring the multifaceted roles of social robots in early childhood literacy lessons: Insights from a Maltese classroom. International Journal of Social Robotics, 17(7), 1235-1249.

Kucirkova, N., Schewe, O., Campbell, J., Lindroos Cermakova, A., & Pitchford, N. (2025). Developing evidence indicators for evaluating K12 EdTech: towards a consensus on educational impact. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1-11.

Pitchford, N. J., Chigeda, A., & Hubber, P. J. (2019). Interactive apps prevent gender discrepancies in early‐grade mathematics in a low‐income country in sub‐Sahara Africa. Developmental Science, 22(5), e12864.

Pitchford, N. J. (2015). Development of early mathematical skills with a tablet intervention: a randomized control trial in Malawi. Frontiers in psychology, 6, 124709.

Bruner, L., & Kucirkova, N. I. (2025). Representation in best-selling preschool storybook apps in the United States. Journal of Children and Media, 19(1), 213-232.

Kucirkova, N., Brod, G., & Gaab, N. (2023). Applying the science of learning to EdTech evidence evaluations using the EdTech Evidence Evaluation Routine (EVER). npj Science of Learning, 8(1), 35.

Radesky, J., Hiniker, A., McLaren, C., Akgun, E., Schaller, A., Weeks, H. M., ... & Gearhardt, A. N. (2022). Prevalence and characteristics of manipulative design in mobile applications used by children. JAMA Network Open, 5(6), e2217641-e2217641.

Kucirkova, N., & Falloon, G. (Eds.). (2016). Apps, technology and younger learners: International evidence for teaching. Taylor & Francis.

Alrawashdeh, G. S., Fyffe, S., Azevedo, R. F., & Castillo, N. M. (2024). Exploring the impact of personalized and adaptive learning technologies on reading literacy: A global meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 42, 100587.

Meyer, M., Zosh, J. M., McLaren, C., Robb, M., McCaffery, H., Golinkoff, R. M., ... & Radesky, J. (2021). How educational are “educational” apps for young children? App store content analysis using the Four Pillars of Learning framework. Journal of Children and Media, 15(4), 526-548.

Kucirkova, N. (2019). Children’s agency by design: Design parameters for personalization in story-making apps. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 21, 112-120.

Kucirkova, N. (2017). An integrative framework for studying, designing and conceptualising interactivity in children's digital books. British Educational Research Journal, 43(6), 1168-1185.

Kucirkova, N. (2022). Children’s agency and reading with story-apps: considerations of design, behavioural and social dimensions. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 19(1), 66-90.

Kucirkova, N. (2018). A taxonomy and research framework for personalization in children’s literacy apps. Educational Media International, 55(3), 255-272.

Furenes, M. I., Kucirkova, N., & Bus, A. G. (2021). A comparison of children’s reading on paper versus screen: A meta-analysis. Review of educational research, 91(4), 483-517.

Outhwaite, L. A., Faulder, M., Gulliford, A., & Pitchford, N. J. (2019). Raising early achievement in math with interactive apps: A randomized control trial. Journal of educational psychology, 111(2), 284.

FitzGerald, E., Kucirkova, N., Jones, A., Cross, S., Ferguson, R., Herodotou, C., ... & Scanlon, E. (2018). Dimensions of personalisation in technology‐enhanced learning: A framework and implications for design. British Journal of Educational Technology, 49(1), 165-181.

Outhwaite, L. A., Aunio, P., Leung, J. K. Y., & Van Herwegen, J. (2024). Measuring Mathematical Skills in Early Childhood: a Systematic Review of the Psychometric Properties of Early Maths Assessments and Screeners. Educational Psychology Review, 36(4), 110.

Kucirkova, N., Gerard, L., & Linn, M. C. (2021). Designing personalised instruction: A research and design framework. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(5), 1839-1861.

Pitchford, N. J., Papini, C., Outhwaite, L. A., & Gulliford, A. (2016). Fine motor skills predict maths ability better than they predict reading ability in the early primary school years. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 783.

Kucirkova, N. (2017). i RPD—A framework for guiding design‐based research for i P ad apps. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(2), 598-610.

Kucirkova, N., & Flewitt, R. (2020). The future-gazing potential of digital personalization in young children’s reading: views from education professionals and app designers. Early Child Development and Care, 190(2), 135-149.

FitzGerald, E., Jones, A., Kucirkova, N., & Scanlon, E. (2018). A literature synthesis of personalised technology-enhanced learning: what works and why. Research in Learning Technology, 26.

Kucirkova, N., Messer, D., Sheehy, K., & Panadero, C. F. (2014). Children's engagement with educational iPad apps: Insights from a Spanish classroom. Computers & Education, 71, 175-184.

Kucirkova, N., Littleton, K., & Cremin, T. (2017). Young children’s reading for pleasure with digital books: six key facets of engagement. Cambridge Journal of Education, 47(1), 67-84.

Kucirkova, N., & Littleton, K. (2017). Developing personalised education for personal mobile technologies with the pluralisation agenda. Oxford Review of Education, 43(3), 276-288.

Huibers, T., Landoni, M., Pera, M. S., Fails, J. A., Murgia, E., & Kucirkova, N. (2021, March). What does good look like? report on the 3 rd International and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Children & Recommender and Information Retrieval Systems (KidRec) at IDC 2019. In ACM SIGIR Forum (Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 76-81). New York, NY, USA: ACM.

Messer, D., Thomas, L., Holliman, A., & Kucirkova, N. (2018). Evaluating the effectiveness of an educational programming intervention on children’s mathematics skills, spatial awareness and working memory. Education and Information Technologies, 23, 2879-2888.

Kucirkova, N., Toda, Y., & Flewitt, R. (2021). Young children’s use of personalized technologies: Insights from teachers and digital software designers in Japan. Technology, Knowledge and Learning, 26, 535-554.

Kucirkova, N., & Hiniker, A. (2023). Parents’ ontological beliefs regarding the use of conversational agents at home: resisting the neoliberal discourse. Learning, Media and Technology, 1-16.

Outhwaite, L. A., Gulliford, A., & Pitchford, N. J. (2017). Closing the gap: Efficacy of a tablet intervention to support the development of early mathematical skills in UK primary school children. Computers & Education, 108, 43-58.