OTHER TOOLS: everyday technologies

Everyday Technologies

Many commonly-used digital technologies can be employed in a creative fashion to support, practice, and teach executive-functioning skills. For example, television can be helpful for children in learning organization, planning, and social-thinking skills. Educational programming that is watched together by a parent and child can lead to thoughtful discussions regarding problem solving recognition, reflection, and opportunities for learning executive skills. While LearningWorks for Kids strongly encourages parents to set limits on the amount and type of television that their children watch, we believe that there are opportunities to use television viewing in a productive and educational fashion.

One of the most suitable digital technologies for enhancing executive-functioning skills is video-based technologies such as video cameras and video recorders. These tools are particularly useful for enhancing social-thinking skills, as they allow children to observe their own behaviors and those of others. In addition, these tools may also be helpful in providing visual reminders that serve to support working-memory skills in home and school settings.

Other common technologies, such as DVDs, cell phones, and music players, can all be useful in assisting children with executive dysfunctions. LearningWorks for Kids guides and playbooks provide strategies that assist children in identifying their use of executive skills (detect) and help parents then to get their children to think about their use of executive functions with the technologies (reflect) and in the real world (connect).

Specific technologies that are useful for supporting, practicing, and developing executive-functioning skills include:

Television programming
DVDs
Cell phones
iPods and other music players
Text messaging
Digital cameras
Video cameras