Thoughtful Parenting: Educating in a techno world
Posted on May 07, 2015 by Michelle Raz, One of Thousands of ADD ADHD Coaches on Noomii.
Apps can harness ADHD clients in their interest in technology and balance their usage with creative, useful and educational advantages.
As I was passing a carload of teenagers leaving the high school, I heard a lot of moaning and groaning. It caught my attention. Back to school means structure and routines for students.
But it comes as a relief for a lot of thankful parents, who view the summer months as days filled with unstructured time and endless worry of how to keep their students occupied in healthy, constructive ways.
It is a time when many parents vow to make changes to their teenager’s daily schedule, such as limiting time spent on gaming, iPads and use of cellphones.
Often, it is met with confrontational pleas of negotiations, promising to use the devices as rewards for work completed, crucial communication necessities and gateways to educational opportunities.
My own children have used these tactics with me, so I decided to research educational benefits and began realizing the vast educational opportunities for apps on iPads and other smartphones.
Since my work involves helping teens and college students plan, organize and strategize academic goals, I was up for the challenge.
I have found and implemented many excellent apps that students use in their busy and technologically driven world. The source of so many parents’ frustration can be fostered into a very valuable tool for students. A positive result can be a more efficient way to get work done. Once students see a value in the app, I have witnessed gratitude, ambition and success in feeling in control of their academics.
So, you may be able to work with your student to turn their reaction into a pro-action.
Here are some very useful apps for middle school, high school and college students.
• Online Google Planner: This app highlights everything from a dentist appointment to nightly homework. Capture whiteboard assignments, upcoming events, lists on evernotes/notepads attaching it to the planner nightly.
• iStudiez: This is a great app for Apple products. Help students break down the steps needed to get larger projects completed (key to my academic coaching).
• Mind Mapping Popplet: This creative app lets you get your ideas down visually, then allows for linking the ideas together to help with writing papers. I have used mind mapping in various forms and find that it is a good resource for students with ADHD. Mindjet is another app that I have used on Windows platforms.
• Voice-to-text app Dragon: So many students that are verbally fluent and can get onstage and knock out the audience with a beautiful speech find putting their words on paper a nightmare. This app lets students speak their thoughts to text and can jump-start a very well-written paper.
These apps can be a great start to discovering how students can harness their interest in technology and balance their usage with creative, useful and educational advantages.
Michelle R. Raz, M.A. Ed., is a professional executive function coach and educational consultant in Steamboat Springs and nationally. She is a member of CHADD and ACO. Learn more on her website at www.coachingacademics.com.
