CHOOSING THE RIGHT EDTECH : WHAT SCHOOLS, EDUCATORS, AND PARENTS SHOULD LOOK FOR IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
- KidVestors
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Education technology, commonly called EdTech, includes the digital tools, platforms, applications and online resources used to support teaching and learning. It can help educators personalize instruction, monitor student progress, provide timely feedback and give students access to learning opportunities that might not otherwise be available.
However, as technology becomes more present in children’s lives, parents and educators are asking necessary questions about screen time, privacy, student well-being and whether digital products are actually helping students learn.
On August 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education released new guidance encouraging states, school districts, educators, families and EdTech providers to evaluate technology based on its instructional purpose and demonstrated educational value, not simply the number of minutes a student spends looking at a screen.
The guidance makes an important distinction: educational screen time and recreational screen time are not the same. The question is not whether students should ever use technology. The better question is whether the technology improves learning and student outcomes.
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What the New Department of Education Educational Technology Guidance Says
The Department’s guidance acknowledges legitimate concerns about excessive recreational screen use while cautioning schools against treating every digital experience as equal. A student passively scrolling through social media is having a fundamentally different experience from a student completing a budgeting simulation, receiving feedback on an assessment or practicing how to build an investment portfolio.
According to the Department, technology should remain “a tool in service of learning,” rather than becoming the goal itself.
Schools and districts are encouraged to evaluate EdTech according to its ability to:
Address a clearly defined learning need
Strengthen instruction and support effective teaching
Expand access to educational opportunities
Provide meaningful assessment and feedback
Accommodate different learning needs
Protect student privacy and data
Demonstrate measurable learning outcomes
Minimize unnecessary screen exposure
The guidance also emphasizes evidence and continuous improvement. EdTech companies should be transparent about their products’ capabilities and limitations, offer practical implementation support and continuously improve their platforms using student outcomes, educator experiences and parent feedback.
Whenever feasible, the Department encourages providers to publish rigorous independent evaluations, including randomized controlled trials. Schools should consider this evidence alongside local outcome data, accessibility, usability, cost, privacy, interoperability and implementation support when making purchasing or renewal decisions.
Ultimately, the guidance asks schools to move beyond adoption and usage statistics. A tool should not be considered successful simply because students logged in or spent a certain number of minutes using it. What matters is what they learned.
How KidVestors Is Already Approaching Educational Technology Responsibly
At KidVestors, we have always believed that technology should support learning, not replace thoughtful instruction.
KidVestors combines standards-aligned financial education with videos, written lessons, assessments and interactive simulations. Our curriculum aligns with national financial education standards, including those developed by the Jump$tart Coalition and the Council for Economic Education.
We also incorporate social-emotional learning into financial education. Money decisions are not purely mathematical. They involve patience, confidence, self-control, decision-making, goal-setting and the ability to understand consequences. Students need opportunities to develop these skills alongside practical knowledge about budgeting, credit, investing, real estate and entrepreneurship.
KidVestors is intentionally designed to make educational screen time feel engaging and recreational without turning it into passive entertainment. Students may be using a stock market simulator, making decisions in a budgeting game or building a business plan. The experience can feel fun, but every activity is connected to a learning objective.
That distinction reflects the Department’s central message: the amount of screen time alone does not tell us whether that time is valuable.
What Learning Problem Does Financial EdTech Solve?
KidVestors addresses a specific learning problem: too many students enter adulthood without the knowledge or experience necessary to make informed financial decisions.
Financial literacy is not only a personal issue. It is an economic issue. When people do not understand credit, debt, taxes, insurance, investing and long-term financial planning, the consequences can affect families, communities and the broader economy.
The United States is beginning to recognize the urgency of this issue. This is why 30 states now guarantee or are implementing a standalone personal finance course requirement.
This need is not limited to the United States. Financial literacy has become a policy priority across many countries as financial products and digital financial services become increasingly complex. The OECD reports that, across the countries assessed in PISA 2022, 18% of students did not demonstrate basic financial literacy proficiency.
Technology can help address this learning gap by expanding access to consistent, age-appropriate instruction and giving students opportunities to apply what they learn.
When Should Financial Education Technology Be Used?
Financial education should be used throughout a student’s education, not only when graduation is approaching.
Finances affect everyone, regardless of career, income, background or education level. Every student will eventually make decisions involving spending, saving, taxes, credit, housing, insurance and employment. Many will also encounter investing, student loans, entrepreneurship or retirement planning.
That makes financial literacy more than an elective life skill. It deserves to be taken seriously as a core area of learning.
EdTech can support this instruction during dedicated personal finance courses, economics classes, advisory periods, after-school programs, homeschool lessons or interdisciplinary units. It should be used when the technology adds meaningful practice, feedback, accessibility or real-world application that would be difficult to reproduce with a worksheet alone.
Who Should Use It?
Financial education is for every student.
Students from higher-income families need financial knowledge, just as students from lower-income families do. Students planning to attend college need it, but so do students entering the workforce, joining the military, learning a trade or starting a business.
Instruction should also begin before students are responsible for major financial decisions. Waiting until high school or college can mean waiting until students have already developed habits and beliefs about money.
KidVestors uses a grade-level building-block approach beginning in elementary school. Concepts grow in complexity as students mature, allowing younger learners to develop a foundation before moving into subjects such as credit, taxes, investing, real estate and entrepreneurship.
How Long Should Financial Education Technology Be Used?
Financial literacy should be taught with the consistency and progression expected of other core subjects.
A one-time workshop, assembly or seminar may introduce students to a topic, but it is unlikely to produce lasting knowledge or meaningful behavior change by itself. Students need repeated exposure, guided practice, assessment and opportunities to apply concepts in different situations.
That is why KidVestors believes financial education should begin in elementary school and continue through middle and high school. A third grader may begin with needs, wants and basic budgeting. A middle school student can explore banking, credit and investing. A high school student can work through taxes, financial aid, entrepreneurship and long-term wealth-building.
Each stage prepares students for the next.
What Evidence Shows That KidVestors Improves Student Learning?
Responsible EdTech should be willing to measure and publicly report its results.
Our 2025 financial literacy report examined a cohort of 157 students who completed both pre- and post-assessments. Their average score increased from 61.0% before instruction to 80.3% afterward, representing a 19.3-percentage-point improvement and a 32% relative gain.
The improvement was statistically significant, with a large effect size, indicating that the difference was meaningful and unlikely to be explained by chance alone. Results also became less variable, suggesting that students with different starting knowledge levels moved toward more consistent outcomes.
These findings are based on KidVestors’ internal pre- and post-assessment data rather than an independent randomized controlled trial. We view them as meaningful evidence of student learning while recognizing the Department’s call for continued evaluation, transparent reporting and increasingly rigorous independent research.
Educational Technology Should Be Judged by What Students Learn
The Department of Education’s new guidance on responsible classroom technology offers a practical framework for parents, educators and school leaders. Digital does not automatically mean educational, but screen-based learning is not automatically harmful either.
The purpose, quality and outcome of the experience matter.
When EdTech addresses a real learning problem, aligns with instructional standards, engages students meaningfully and demonstrates measurable progress, it can turn screen time into valuable learning time. For financial education, that means giving students the knowledge, practice and confidence to make better decisions long after they leave the classroom.
Ready to see what KidVestors can do?
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