Unlike how other instructional materials are adopted by schools, educational software operates in secrecy - it remains essentially a black box to educators, parents, and students. There is no mechanism for independent reviews/audits of content or code, no insight into the instructional approach, checks for factual accuracy, or evaluations of potential bias.

The money quote (for me): “That sounds like a low bar [that their apps did not harm students’ educational results],” Ms. Woolley-Wilson said. “But with the history of education technology, it is not.”