Social media–style design is already in the classroom, new research finds

As Parliament debates banning children from social media, new research reveals that many of the same harmful design features are already embedded in the technology children use every day at school, raising concerns for children’s privacy, wellbeing and exposure to commercial exploitation in the classroom.

London, Friday 13 February 2026 – As Parliament debates banning children from social media, new research reveals that many of the same harmful design features are already embedded in the technology children use every day at school, raising concerns for children’s privacy, wellbeing and exposure to commercial exploitation in the classroom.

Early findings, from the Digital Futures for Children Centre – a joint research centre of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the 5Rights Foundation – show that education technologies (EdTech) used in UK schools increasingly replicate social media design patterns, including gamification, public rankings, behaviour tracking and targeted advertising.

Researchers heard directly from over 450 children across 11 primary and secondary schools in all four nations of the UK, as well as 20 teachers about how EdTech shapes their everyday school experience. It examines how EdTech is used in classrooms and for homework, how it shapes children’s learning, and how children themselves experience these technologies.

The interim findings, part of the Centre’s Better EdTech Futures for Children project, will be discussed at the LSE on Thursday (12 February). They build on the current national debate about the role of technology in children’s lives, helping to ground that conversation – and the decisions now being made by government and Parliament – in real evidence and children’s lived experience.

Key findings:

• Social media-style gamification drives harmful comparison
  Many EdTech apps use gamified, social-media-like features such as points, badges, avatars, and skins, count down timers, leaderboards and public behaviour scores. Rather than motivating, children said these rankings – often displayed prominently to the whole class or even across the school – left them feeling stressed, anxious, and afraid of being labelled as “bad” in front of others.
• Exposure to advertising and paid features in classroom technologies
  Children described being bombarded with adverts when using “free” services, such as video-sharing and educational apps. Pupils reported these interruptions broke their focus mid-task and were unrelated to their learning. In some cases, children were expected to manage app subscriptions, premium features, or trial periods themselves, often without fully understanding the costs or consequences. Children’s accounts highlight how commercial logics are being woven into everyday classroom technologies, blurring the boundary between learning spaces and commercial digital environments.
• Surveillance and data practices: What parents are rarely told
  Children described being routinely monitored on school devices through software that can take screenshots, track activity, block websites, and automatically flag content. While these tools are often presented as keeping children safe, pupils said they are rarely told what data is being collected and when, how long it is stored, or who can access it. Parents may assume this monitoring is limited and temporary, but children’s accounts suggest it is constant, invisible, and largely unexplained.

Lead researcher, Dr Sandra El-Gemayel said: “Children have powerful insights into education technology – what helps, what hinders, and what must change. They want EdTech that is inclusive, safe and free from commercial exploitation. They want homework that challenges their thinking, sparks curiosity, and deepens understanding – not systems that box them in, prioritizing points and rewards over true learning. If we want education to transform meaningfully, we must listen to children, take their voices seriously, and design EdTech that respects their rights while fostering high-quality learning for all.”

Professor Sonia Livingstone, Director of the Digital Futures for Children Centre, said: “Our research raises questions about children’s right to education in a digital age. EdTech is meant to support learning, but learning what, and how, and at what cost to children’s privacy and wellbeing – these are crucial questions.”

Commenting on the wider implications, Colette Collins-Walsh, Head of UK Affairs at 5Rights Foundation said: “The worst excesses of the attention economy are now in the classroom. Children are being subjected to the same manipulative and commercial design practices that have caused them harm on social media. Only this time through tools their own schools and governments have told them to use. If Parliament is serious about protecting children online, it cannot ignore what is happening on the screens in front of them at school.”

The research also examines broader questions about children’s learning and rights, including the impact of gamification on educational outcomes, the accessibility of EdTech for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and the role of AI and generative AI in shaping children’s agency and relationships with teachers and parents.

The interim findings of this research will be presented an event at the LSE on EdTech at the Crossroads of Pedagogy vs Profit, discussing what age-appropriate, rights-respecting EdTech should look like in practice, and what this means for policy, regulation and school decision-making.