Kids’ reading apps failing to deliver educational value

Flinders University

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Many mobile apps claiming to support early reading skills in children fail to deliver actual educational benefit, with positive app store reviews seemingly driven by aesthetics and functionality, a new Flinders University analysis has found.

Experts are now calling for greater regulation and more robust certification of the educational quality of available mobile apps.

Led by Dr Lisa Furlong from Flinders’ College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the first-of-its-kind study had an expert panel of speech pathologists appraise 309 mobile apps claiming to support the development of phonics and phonological awareness skills; foundational skills critical to early reading development.

Almost 1 in 5 apps were found to be of poor quality, with expert reviewers only recommending 85 of the 309 apps appraised, for their potential to support development of foundational reading skills.

“More than 9,000 apps are currently available for children across the Apple and Google Play stores that claim to assist children in developing early reading skills, including phonics,” says Dr Furlong, a practising speech pathologist and researcher, also with the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

“Many apps are aesthetically pleasing and entertaining, but our study showed the majority lack the educational rigour required to teach phonics and phonological awareness effectively.

“In today’s world, with increasing use of mobile devices, parents often turn to mobile apps as a way to support their child’s reading development; we should ensure that what is out there will actually benefit children’s learning.”

The study, published in the Early Childhood Education Journal, also found no significant correlation between consumer and expert star ratings.

Apps that scored highly with consumers were those with high engagement, aesthetics, or functionality, rather than those with the potential to support children’s reading.

“This research highlights a major gap between consumer perception and educational quality,” says Dr Furlong.

“Parents and educators often rely on star ratings and user reviews when selecting mobile apps, but our findings show these metrics are not reliable indicators of educational value.”

Among the most concerning findings were widespread instructional flaws. Most apps failed to provide explicit teaching, didn’t provide a structured and sequenced approach to teaching letter-sound associations, nor were they able to provide corrective feedback.

Many apps included incorrect modelling of the target skills, mispronunciations of letter sounds and inappropriate word choices for reading tasks.

The researchers say there needs to be greater regulation of app stores and the introduction of a robust certification process to help educators, speech-language pathologists, and families identify apps that align with evidence-based methods of early reading instruction.

“App stores are largely unregulated when it comes to educational claims,” says Dr Furlong. “Clearer labelling and disclosures are essential to ensure that children are engaging with tools that genuinely support their learning.

“Between June 2021 and September 2024, only six new high-quality apps were released that met expert standards. This is a strikingly low number given the volume of apps entering the market. Despite increased advocacy around the science of reading, app developers are not responding with tools that reflect best practice.

“We urgently need more investment in high-quality, evidence-informed educational apps and ongoing collaboration between educators, researchers, and developers to create tools that truly enhance early literacy.”

The paper ‘Finding the needle in the haystack: A quality appraisal of mobile applications for foundational literacy skills’ by Lisa Furlong, Tanya Serry, Shane Erickson, Meryl Lefort, Megan Gath, Meg E Morris is published in the Early Childhood Education Journal. DOI: 10.1007/s10643-025-02066-8. This research was funded by a Flinders University Impact Seed Funding Grant for Early Career Researchers, awarded to Dr Lisa Furlong.

Top 10 best performing apps, according to the research:               

1. Hairy Letters
2. Initial Code
3. Chimp Fu Syllables
4. PocketPhonics Stories
5. PLD 2P Read 1d
6. Phonological Awareness Lab
7. Partners in Rhyme for Schools
8. Phoneme Farm: Kids Reading App
9. Letter Sounds 2: Digraphs, Trigraphs and Endings
10. Letter Sounds 1: Phonics Graphemes for Beginners

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Journal

Early Childhood Education Journal

DOI

10.1007/s10643-025-02066-8 

Method of Research

Content analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Finding the needle in the haystack: A quality appraisal of mobile applications for foundational literacy skills

Article Publication Date

24-Nov-2025

 

Nobel Prize-awarded material that puncture and kill bacteria

Chalmers University of Technology

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image: 

The moment of death for the bacteria. A scanning electron microscopy image of the MOF structure puncturing the bacteria. The image was taken in Myfab's cleanroom at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, within the study Mechano-Bactericidal Surfaces Achieved by Epitaxial Growth of Metal-Organic Frameworks. Parts of the photo have been colored.

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Credit: Credit Chalmers University of Technology | Zhejian Cao

Bacteria that multiply on surfaces are a major headache in healthcare when they gain a foothold on, for example, implants or in catheters. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have found a new weapon to fight these hotbeds of bacterial growth – one that does not rely on antibiotics or toxic metals. The key lies in a completely new application of this year's Nobel Prize-winning material: metal-organic frameworks. These materials can physically impale, puncture and kill bacteria before they have time to attach to the surface.

Because once bacteria attach to a surface, they start to multiply while encasing themselves in what is known as a biofilm – a viscous, slimy coating that protects the bacteria and makes them difficult to kill. Biofilms thrive particularly well in humid environments and can pose serious challenges in healthcare. For example, bacteria can attach to medical devices such as catheters, hip replacements and dental implants, and lead to hospital-acquired infections (HAI), also known as nosocomial infections – a widespread problem worldwide that causes great suffering and high healthcare costs, and an increased risk of the development of antibiotic resistance.

Biofilms can also form on ship hulls, where they can lead to troublesome algal biofouling and barnacle growth, slowing down the ship while increasing its fuel consumption. Furthermore, antifouling paints containing toxic biocides are often used on ship hulls to combat this problem, with an associated risk of harmful substances leaching into the marine environment. Biofilms in industrial piping systems are also a widespread problem that can cause corrosion, clog the systems, reduce their efficiency, and increase energy consumption for example.

New way to use metal-organic frameworks

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have now found a new way to attack biofilms by coating surfaces with nanostructures – metal-organic frameworks – that kill bacteria mechanically. The recently published study was carried out in a collaboration between two teams of researchers at the University: Professor Ivan Mijakovic’s and Professor Lars Öhrström’s.

“Our study shows that these nanostructures can act like tiny spikes that physically injure the bacteria, quite simply puncturing them so that they die. It’s a completely new way of using such metal-organic frameworks,” says the study’s lead author Zhejian Cao, PhD in Materials Engineering and researcher at Chalmers.

The coating is constructed in a way that allows it to be applied to a variety of surfaces and integrated into other materials. A major advantage of the method is that it prevents or reduces biofilm formation without the need to use antibiotics or toxic metals.

“It fights a major global problem, as it eliminates the risk that controlling bacteria will lead to antibiotic resistance,” says Zhejian Cao.

A challenge to find the right distance between the nanotips

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a new class of materials with exceptional properties where metal ions are interlinked into three-dimensional structures with large cavities and channels in the material. The researchers behind the development of this class of materials were awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and the hope is that these materials can be used for everything from biogas storage and carbon capture to catalysis and water extraction from desert air.

The Chalmers researchers explored a completely different function for MOFs in their study.

“There have been previous attempts to use metal-organic frameworks for antibacterial purposes, but in those cases the bacteria were killed by toxic metal ions or antimicrobial agents released by the MOFs. Instead, we have grown one MOF on top of another, which results in the formation of sharp nanotips that can puncture and kill the bacteria when they approach,” says Zhejian Cao.

The nanotips were created by controlling the crystalline growth in the material, and a major challenge was finding the right distance between the nanotips to maximize their effect.

“If the distance between the nanotips is too large, bacteria can slip through and attach to the surface. If the distance is too small, however, the mechanical stress exerted by the nanotips on the bacterial cell capsule may be reduced so that the bacteria survive – the same principle that allows you to lie on a bed of nails without getting hurt,” says Zhejian Cao.

Possible to achieve large-scale production

Lars Öhrström is a co-author of the study and has worked with metal-organic frameworks for 30 years. He emphasises that there are numerous practical advantages to using MOF coatings for controlling bacteria on surfaces compared to other solutions.

“These coatings can be produced at much lower temperatures than, for example, the graphene arrays previously developed at Chalmers. This facilitates large-scale production and makes it possible to apply the coatings to temperature-sensitive materials such as the plastics used in medical implants. In addition, the organic polymers in metal-organic frameworks can be created from recycled plastics, having the potential to contribute to a circular economy,” says Lars Öhrström.

More about the research

The article Mechano-Bactericidal Surfaces Achieved by Epitaxial Growth of Metal-Organic Frameworks has been published in the scientific journal Advanced Science. The authors are Zhejian Cao, Santosh Pandit, Françoise M. Amombo Noa, Jian Zhang, Wengeng Gao, Shadi Rahimi, Lars Öhrström and Ivan Mijakovic, all of whom are active at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden.

The study was conducted in Professor Lars Öhrström’s research group at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and in Professor Ivan Mijakovic’s group at the Department of Life Sciences.

The research was funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation as part of the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE), and by NordForsk, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Independent Research Fund Denmark, the Swedish Research Council, and Chalmers’ Nano, Materials, and Health Areas of Advance.

A scanning electron microscopy image of the MOF-on-MOF surface with sharp nanotips killing the bacteria. The image was taken in Myfab's cleanroom at Chalmers University of Technology. Parts of the photo have been colored.

A scanning electron microscopy image of the MOF-on-MOF surface with sharp nanotips killing the bacteria. The image was taken in Myfab's cleanroom at Chalmers University of Technology. 

Credit

Chalmers University of Technology | Zhejian Cao

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Journal

Advanced Science

DOI

10.1002/advs.202505976 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Mechano-Bactericidal Surfaces Achieved by Epitaxial Growth of Metal–Organic Frameworks

 

More efficient aircraft engines: Graz University of Technology reveals optimization potential

Using an AI-supported model developed in-house, an interdisciplinary team at TU Graz has sought new methods to enhance the efficiency of aircraft engines

Graz University of Technology

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image: 

Computer simulation of the flow in an engine.

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Credit: ITTM - TU Graz

With its “Flightpath 2050” strategy, the European Commission has outlined a framework for the aviation industry that aims to reduce emissions as well as fuel and energy consumption. Among other things, this requires more efficient engines. In the ARIADNE project, an interdisciplinary team at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has created the basis for achieving the desired efficiency gains more quickly. To this end, the researchers have combined years of flow data on intermediate turbine ducts with AI and machine learning and developed a model that much more quickly and efficiently tests the impact of changes to a wide range of geometry parameters on efficiency.

Intermediate turbine ducts offer a lot of optimisation potential

“Intermediate turbine ducts are an essential component of aircraft engines,” says project manager Wolfgang Sanz from the Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery and Machine Dynamics at TU Graz. “They guide the flow between the high-pressure and low-pressure turbines, which run at different speeds. However, these intermediate ducts are quite heavy, which is why they need to be as short, small and light as possible while still achieving high levels of efficiency. There is still a lot of potential for optimisation here.”

Based on its own research in collaboration with renowned aircraft engine manufacturers, the institute has built up an extensive database of measurement data and flow simulations. In order to utilize this reservoir of information to optimise components and entire engines, Wolfgang Sanz and doctoral student Marian Staggl collaborated with Franz Wotawa’s research group at the Institute of Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence at TU Graz as well as two corporate partners. Together, they pursued three different AI-supported approaches.

Success with reduced order modelling

Reduced order models proved to be the most successful. These models search for similarities in the data and use only the most significant common features for simulation. This leads to an enormous acceleration of the calculations, which run several orders of magnitude faster than a complete flow simulation. Although these models can entail certain losses in accuracy, they allow to predict trends and to identify optimisation potential by linking them with the simulation. Another advantage of the independently developed model was the ability to quickly recognise changes in efficiency when a parameter, such as the length of the transition duct, changes.

In contrast, surrogate models had certain limitations, as they are mainly based on interpolation of existing data. Outside the validated flow data range, the results were inaccurate because the database was too small. PINNs (Physics Informed Neural Networks), which attempt to integrate physical differential equations into a neural network, were also investigated as part of the project. However, further developments are still required before they can be used in practice.

Extension to three-dimensional simulations

The research team is already planning the next steps, as the reduced order model has so far only modelled the intermediate turbine ducts in two dimensions. The extensive database on turbine ducts and the reduced order model created in the project will be made available online to other research groups, allowing them to work on a three-dimensional simulation model similar to the team at TU Graz. For Wolfgang Sanz, however, working with machine learning has already opened up new approaches. “From the results of the machine learning approaches, we were able to recognise dependencies and trends that we would never have thought of otherwise.”

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DOI

10.1115/GT2025-152854 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Interaction Between the TVF-LPT Hub Cavity With the Mainflow

 

Europe’s hidden HIV crisis: Half of all people living with HIV in Europe are diagnosed late, threatening to undermine the fight against AIDS

Europe is failing to test and treat HIV early, with over half of all diagnoses in 2024 being made too late for optimal treatment, according to new data from ECDC and WHO/Europe.

Digital event for World Aids Day 1 December 2025

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

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Europe is failing to test and treat HIV early, with over half (54%) of all diagnoses in 2024 being made too late for optimal treatment. New data released today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe warns that this critical testing failure, combined with a growing number of undiagnosed cases, is severely jeopardising the 2030 goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.

According to the annual HIV/AIDS surveillance report, 105 922 HIV diagnoses were made in the WHO European Region in 2024, covering 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia. While overall reported numbers show a slight decrease compared to 2023, the available data suggest that testing and diagnosis gaps remain. The high proportion of late diagnoses means that many people are not accessing life-saving antiretroviral treatment and healthcare early enough, which increases the risk of developing AIDS, the risk of death and onward HIV transmission.

In the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), 24 164 HIV diagnoses were reported, representing a rate of 5.3 per 100 000 people. Key findings from the 2024 data show that 48% of HIV diagnoses in the EU/EEA are late. Sex between men remains the most common mode of transmission in the EU/EEA (48%), but diagnoses attributed to heterosexual transmission are rising, accounting for nearly 46% of the HIV diagnoses reported.

Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner, ECDC Director, said: "In the EU/EEA, nearly half of all diagnoses are made late. We must urgently innovate our testing strategies, embrace community-based testing and self-testing, and ensure rapid linkage to care. We can only end AIDS if people know their status."

Across the WHO European Region 54% of diagnoses were late, this proportion was highest among people infected through heterosexual transmission (especially men) and people who inject drugs. Nearly one in three HIV diagnoses in 2024 were among people born outside the country where they were diagnosed. In the EU/EEA, migrants accounted for more than half of new diagnoses, highlighting the need for tailored, accessible, and culturally competent prevention and testing services.

Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said: "Our data paints a mixed picture. Since 2020, HIV testing across the European Region has rebounded, resulting in a higher volume of reported tests and a corresponding rise in HIV diagnoses in 11 countries in 2024.  In 2024 alone, 105,922 people were diagnosed with HIV, with an overall 2.68 million diagnoses reported since 1980s. However, the number of people living with undiagnosed HIV is growing, a silent crisis that’s fueling transmission. We are not doing enough to remove the deadly barriers of stigma and discrimination that prevent people from seeking out a simple test. An early diagnosis is not a privilege but a gateway to a long, healthy life and the key to stopping HIV in its tracks."

ECDC and WHO/Europe are calling for urgent efforts to routinise, normalise and scale up testing, including wider access to self-testing and community-based options, which can reach people who do not access facility-based healthcare services. The 2030 goal to end AIDS as a public health threat is within reach, but only if the European region acts now to eliminate the testing gap.

Digital event for World Aids Day

On World AIDS Day, 1 December 2025 at 15:30, ECDC invites you to the online event 'World AIDS Day 2025: Redefining the Journey'. Save the date, check the agenda, and register now: World AIDS Day 2025 Digital Event. During the event, the latest data on HIV/AIDS from ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe will be discussed. Join us as we explore how to close gaps in care, reduce stigma, and redefine what success looks like.