As we teeter further into 2026, the common question for leadership is no longer whether there is enough technology in place, because in most cases, there is.

The more pressing issue, however, is whether that technology is genuinely enabling teaching and learning, or contrastingly, quietly getting in the way.

Over the past decade, schools have expanded their digital estates at pace.

Learning platforms, curriculum tools, assessment systems and specialist apps have each promised clear benefits. When analysed individually, many deliver real value yet when looked at all together, they often create an unintended side effect: platform fatigue.

This fatigue is rarely visible in budget lines or inspection reports, but it shows up daily in classrooms with the strain landing on teachers rather than the systems designed to support them.

The hidden cost of the “login loop”

Every forgotten password, duplicated class list or failed sync represents a small interruption. On its own, it seems trivial. Over time, it adds up.

While estimates vary, research and sector surveys suggest that the cumulative time teachers spend managing access to digital tools each week logging in, resolving access issues and navigating between platforms is significant, particularly in environments where multiple systems operate in tandem.

Across a department, school or trust, this equates to hundreds of hours per term redirected away from teaching and learning; if you look at it metaphorically, it’s like pouring stock through a colander.

For leadership teams, this is not just an operational inconvenience.

It goes way beyond that with its implications for staff workload, wellbeing and retention. When digital systems consistently introduce friction, they contribute to the sense that technology is something to manage rather than something that meaningfully supports practice.

From tools to systems thinking

One of the challenges schools and trusts consistently face is that digital growth has often been incremental. New platforms are added to solve specific problems, but rarely removed. Over time, the digital estate becomes a patchwork rather than a system.

Addressing platform fatigue requires a shift in mindset: from accumulating tools to designing a coherent digital ecosystem. In fact, it could even be suggested that there are three key principles that are increasingly shaping effective strategies.

1. Radical simplification

Whilst the heading is quite the oxymoron, it’s very true.
Single Sign-On (SSO) has moved from a convenience to a necessity. When staff and students need multiple credentials to access core learning resources, cognitive load increases and time is lost before learning even begins.
A unified access point does more than streamline logins; it reduces friction, supports consistency, and helps keep attention on learning rather than navigation.

2. Data privacy by design

As data protection requirements grow more complex, managing compliance at the level of individual applications becomes unsustainable. Many schools and trusts now oversee dozens of platforms, each with different data-sharing agreements and permissions.
What is increasingly needed is oversight: a clear, central view of what data is being shared, with whom, and for what purpose. This allows leadership to move from reactive compliance to proactive governance.

3. Utilisation insight

Digital spend is often assessed at the point of purchase, not in ongoing use. As a result, many schools carry “ghost software”, where spookily, licensed tools renew annually but see little real engagement.
Understanding which platforms are actively used, by whom, and to what effect enables more informed decisions. It supports better value for money and ensures that digital investment aligns with actual classroom practice rather than good intentions.

From friction to flow

An effective digital strategy is not defined by the number of tools a school owns, but by how seamlessly those tools work together.

The goal is clear and it is simple: Flow

Fewer interruptions, clearer oversight, and systems that quietly support teaching rather than demand attention.

Platforms that focus on integration, access and visibility can play a role here. No, not as another layer to learn, but as infrastructure that reduces complexity.

When friction is removed from the digital environment, schools often find they gain back the resource that matters most: time.

As school leaders reflect on their digital strategies for the coming years, the challenge is less about innovation for its own sake and more about coherence, sustainability and impact.

Platform fatigue may be hidden, but its effects are not and addressing it is increasingly a leadership priority.

Building digital environments that work

For schools and trusts grappling with platform fatigue, the challenge is rarely a lack of tools, but a lack of coherence.

Skolon supports education leaders in simplifying access, strengthening governance and gaining clearer insight into how digital resources are actually used. By reducing friction across the digital estate, schools are better placed to ensure technology serves its original purpose: supporting teaching, not complicating it.

To learn more about how Skolon can help schools and trusts simplify access, strengthen digital governance and reduce platform fatigue, use the button below.

This is Skolon – we gather the best digital educational tools and make them work in the classroom.

Skolon is an independent platform for digital educational tools and learning resources, created for both teachers and students. With Skolon, accessing and using your digital educational tools is easy – security increases, administration decreases, and there’s more time for learning.

The digital educational tools come from both small and large providers, all of whom have one thing in common – they create digital educational tools that are beneficial for the school environment.