TT Rockstars: Children spending too long on maths app that helps them learn times tables, MP says

TT Rockstars: Children spending too long on maths app that helps them learn times tables, MP says There is a growing concern about the "gamification" of certain educational products that have become widely available on app stores, which are not required to show they are safe for children's health Children are at risk of spending too long on maths app TT Rockstars, an MP has warned amid what one minister has described as a "wild west" of education tech products in schools across England. Education minister Paul Waugh said the Government is aiming to "certify" some of "EdTech" products to make sure they are "safe and effective" to use. Addressing MPs on the Science and Technology Committee, Mr Waugh raised concerns about the "gamification" being used by some educational technology platforms to increase screen use. He was responding to Emily Darlington, Labour MP for Milton Keynes Central, who told ministers about TT Rock Stars - a maths learning platform widely used by primary school pupils for practising times tables - which she described as a "gamification" app that rewards children for how long they spend on it. Mr Waugh replied: "We definitely have concerns with that gamification. Gamification isn't the way to learn. That's the propaganda they will give you, but it is all about driving their screen time and their screen use." He added: "That's precisely why, in all these EdTech products that we're looking at, we're making sure that it's not about gamification." It comes after more than 150 clinicians wrote to ministers last month warning of a "crisis" in children's physical and developmental health linked to screen-based learning. The letter said around £900 million a year is spent on EdTech in English schools, and no product is required to show that it is safe for children's physical health before a school buys it. Mr Waugh said: "We know there are so many products coming on the market that schools are going to be tempted by, but there is a danger of there being a wild west of these products." He added: "Safety certification (is) at the heart of what we're doing, so we can certify some of these products for schools so they know what they're using is both safe and effective." The minister said the Government is testing products with teachers, and is looking at secondary legislation to inform the Information Commissioner's Office to produce a new statutory code of practice for EdTech. Mr Waugh said: "We know that schools want to be certain that what they're buying from the tech companies is safe, but also whether it's going to make a real impact." Bruno Reddy, the founder of the company behind TT Rockstars, also said he was concerned about screen time among children and had started work with schools to bring in time limits. He told the BBC: "Every game in TTRS is deliberately short, and our characters remind children to take regular breaks. "The rule of thumb we give schools is: three minutes, four or five times a week. In September, a typical child played on three days, for about six minutes each time." Reddy continued that from November 24 "every school will have a curfew and a daily time limit switched on, and leaderboards switched off as default".