New study examines availability, variety of apps for mobile devices by Laura Devaney

As mobile learning devices crop up in classrooms from coast to coast, the market for educational apps appears to be thriving, with educational apps for pre-schoolers and toddlers experiencing a huge jump over the past two years, according to a new report.

Photo: eSchool News

“iLearn II: An Analysis of the Education Category of Apple’s App Store,” conducted by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, analyzed the “Education” category in Apple’s App Store in an effort to understand the educational apps market and possible emerging opportunities within that app category.

iLearn II: An Analysis of the Education Category of Apple’s App Store

The report reveals that mobile app revenue is predicted to generate $38 billion by 2015, and Apple’s App Store has paid out more than $2.5 billion to developers. There are currently more than 500,000 apps available on iTunes and more than 300,000 available on Android, although this report examines only Apple’s App Store.

The study included 109 publishers within the sample of 196 apps, and was conducted in July 2011. The report updates a 2009 Cooney Center analysis on the same topic.

When broken down by age category, the mention of apps intended school use is lowest for toddlers and pre-school students and is highest among middle school students.

While both devices follow similar age trends, data revealed that apps for toddlers and pre-school students are more prominent as iPad apps than as iPhone apps. Apps for elementary students peaked among iPhone apps.

The report includes several important recommendations:

• Address the “app gap”
• Create standards for products marketed as educational
• Project children from digital-age commercialism
• Consider emerging market dynamics in an update to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
• Enable sustainability and profitability
• Set a research agenda

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Source: eSchool News