Researchers argue Google’s “Teacher Approved” app badge for kids is misleading and lacks transparency about who approves the apps

Researchers Chris Zomer of Deakin University and Niels Kerssens of Utrecht University write in The Conversation that Google's “Teacher Approved” badge on Google Play, which covers apps with more than 500 million downloads including YouTube Kids, creates a misleading impression of educational value because the program does not require apps to actually be educational and does not clearly disclose who the approving “teachers and specialists” are. The researchers found that some Teacher Approved apps are categorized by their own developers as entertainment rather than education, and that Google's developer guidelines state an app “doesn't have to be educational” as long as it is “enriching.” Google did not respond to questions about the location, compensation, or qualifications of the teachers and specialists involved in the program.