Janet Barry, Aurora University
In this article, a student struggling with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is given interventions via the iPad, which focus on specific areas of concentration: sequencing, remembering details, drawing inferences, and identifying cause and effect. The results of the study show significant gains in the students learning-- that being a year's worth of growth in just six weeks. The study analyzes what areas were specifically beneficial to the student that contributed to his gains and whether or not these contributions are possible without use of the iPad and whether or not another ICT (information and communication technology) device would suffice.
To date, there is minimal research that has been conducted on effectiveness of technology for students with ADHD. At the time this article was published (June of 2012), there were only two research studies conducted and neither of them were relevent to reading success. Most research referencing ADHD success found that a combination of medication and behavioral treatment along with school interventions were more successful than other combinations. Strictly pulling students out for interventions without any additional form of assistance proved unsuccessful (21).
Although the uses of iPads in lesson plans for educational purposes can often perform the same tasks as a human being, there are added benefits that contribute to student growth, that perhaps a human being cannot. For example, McClanahan and company points out that CAIs (computer-aided instruction) allows for individualized instruction, and promotes improved work performance in areas such as "presentation of learning tasks in multiple modalities, the capability of chunking tasks into more manageable pieces, and repeated trials with immediate feedback. Additionally, [it] offers one-on-one tailored instruction that is self-paced, often along with the novelty of game formatting, which prmotes engagement and attention. All [such] characteristics directly address the core symptoms of ADHD". Surprisingly, even the use of a Kindle--or an iPad-- as opposed to a paperback book has shown an increase in student comprehension due to the ability to adjust font sizes, write notes using a keypad, and having the availability of an audio-enhanced dictionary (21).
An action-research project conducted by Kristin Williams involved a fifth grade boy named Josh, who suffered from ADHD, to partake in the use of an iPad during an intervention period for six weeks. After obtaining the approval for iPad usage for this student from the school principal, Williams spent time identifying areas for which Josh will need improvement, and then downloaded several applications on the iPad that would help aide in his practice for these particular skills. With the suggestion of Susan Tate, an instructor, she divided the intervention time into two parts: first a traditional activity, then time with the iPad playing an educational game. With this, she found that Josh was more responsive with the second part of the lesson, than with the first.
In addition to the many benefits the iPad provides with student usage, there is one major contributor that has yet to be mentioned, that being: metacognitive stimatulation. For example, while Josh had been reading a story off the iPad via eBook, he decided to record himself aloud while he read. Then, after hearing himself, he realized that he read too fast and that sometimes what he said didn't even make sense to him. So, he would go back a second time, and read slower and therefore, develop a deeper understanding of what he had read. After 20-minute sessions two times a week, Josh showed a year's worth of gain in reading. [Josh's] success "reveals [that] a child who will learn and can learn, [so long as] the appropriate tools and instruction" are provided" (26).
Certainly, this research is interesting from the standpoint of the significant learning gains that took place in this study; however, more research should be conducted in an effort to ensure the accuracy of such an experiment. The article points out that, "[We] also need to examine ust as carefully how devices such as the iPad do or do not positively impact the exceptional student population that is at a disadvantage for learning int he traditional school setting" (27). The push for technology in the classroom is undeniable, as technology is expanding, there are more tools available that can do things that can positively impact student learning, however, it is important to look at such results from both ends in order to obtain a clearer understanding.
Work Cited:
McClanahan, B., Williams, K., Kennedy, E., & Tate, S. (2012). A Breakthrough for Josh: How Use of an iPad Facilitated Reading Improvement. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 56(4), 20-28. doi:10.1007/s11528-012-0572-6
