Learning App Utilization in Austrian Primary and Secondary Education

A mixed-methods online survey of Austrian primary and secondary school teachers reveals that a variety of learning apps are used across different subjects. The survey examines both the reasons for using these apps and the barriers to non-use, such as a lack of training resources or technical limitations. Additionally, it explores teachers' strategies for finding suitable apps, highlighting the importance of reviews, pedagogical quality, and alignment with the curriculum. The survey included 1,420 teachers, with 65.77% identifying as female, 19.01% as male, and 0.21% as diverse, while 1.34% did not provide an answer. Furthermore, 13.66% of respondents did not complete or display the survey. Participants came from a range of educational institutions, including primary schools (19.51%), lower secondary schools (23.73%), and upper secondary institutions such as AHS (15.85% in lower grades, 15.42% in upper grades) and vocational schools (17.54%). Special education and inclusive teaching were represented by 6.20% of respondents, while 2.46% came from polytechnic schools, and 6.83% from intermediate vocational schools. Regarding subject distribution, the highest participation came from mathematics teachers (34.30%), followed by German (32.46%) and English (26.62%). Other notable subjects included physical education (26.13%), music (19.79%), science subjects such as biology (10.49%), chemistry (5.42%), and physics (8.87%), as well as informatics (12.46%). Additionally, 10.07% of respondents teach geography, and 11.48% history and social studies. A smaller number of teachers represented specialized subjects such as psychology/philosophy (2.32%), ethics (1.27%), and Latin (1.62%). These findings provide valuable insights into how digital tools are integrated into Austrian classrooms and highlight differences in adoption based on school type, subject, and educator demographics. Methods The data of the Austrian primary and secondary school teachers were collected via an online survey using the tool LimeSurvey and took place from September 2022 until December 2023. The questionnaire (target group: all Austrian educators) was sent out to more than 400 schools from every federal state - accepted by the eduacational departments (Bildungsdirektion). It consisted of demographic questions, one open ended, and five closed-ended questions (Yes/No (y/n), multiple choice (MC), and single choice (SC): (1) Do you know what a learning app is? (y/n) (2) Do you use learning apps in your biology lessons? (y/n) (3) If yes, which learning apps do you use in your biology lessons? (4) Do you know the “Seal of Quality” for learning apps in Austria? (y/n) (5) How do you find a suitable learning app for your lessons? (MC) (6) Which one of the mentioned options is your preferred method for finding a new learning app? (SC) All the quantitative data were processed using descriptive statistics (via spreadsheet), and qualitative data was processed via MaxQda as recommended in similar studies and previously done by the authors. Additional qualitative data (name of apps), were collected in an Excel Sheet, manually checked, according to exclusion criteria, and entered into a list with several items, based on the evaluation grid of the certification process by the OeAD and BMBWF (e.g. data protection, advertising). The following elimination criteria were determined by the authors: (1) “ambiguity” (due to serious spelling mistakes; several similar-sounding apps); “wrong subject assignment”, “no learning app by definition”