Should Children with ADHD Play Minecraft? The Pros and Cons of Technology Use for Children with ADHD

CHADD Annual International Conference on ADHD

Randy Kulman, Ph.D.

President, Learning Works for Kids

Gary Stoner, Ph. D.

University of Rhode Island

Disclaimer

Randy Kulman is President of LearningWorks for

Kids, Inc. and a Cogmed provider.

Introduction

• Terminology- Games, Apps, Digital media,

screen time, technologies- interchangeable

• Making the best of technology--with concern

• Research-based, practical approaches

• Games, Tech, media are forms of digital play-

and play=learning for children

• We want you to have fun and learn today

Take-Aways

• Recognition of the extent of children’s involvement with digital media

• Understanding the research on the impact of games, apps, technology on kids with ADHD

• Concerns and cautions about digital media and ADHD

• What makes digital media so powerful for kids with ADHD

• Real world strategies for video games and kids with ADHD

• Generalization strategies to make popular games and apps into teaching tools for executive and academic skills

Finding Angry Birds and Amazing Alex

• How to find Angry Birds on your device:

• iPhone, iPad: Go to App store, search on

bottom of screen, type Angry Birds on top of

screen, go to Free version, tap and download

• Android Phone/ Tablets: Go to Google Play,

search Angry Birds go to Free version, tap free

and then download

• Do the same for Amazing Alex

Minecraft

Why Do Kids Love Minecraft?

• Gratification in building something

• Constant feedback and discovery

• Creative engagement

• Taking something from imagination and making it into reality

• Incredible opportunities for expansion (achievement) via

mods, videos, and programming (effort)

Why Do Kids Choose To Play Minecraft?

• It's easy to enter, do not need to use to use complex moves

to start

• Simple as block by block but the complexity increases with

more knowledge

• Opportunities for planning and vision

• Easy in the way the Legos is easy anybody can build a

house but challenges increase incrementally

• So much to learn from others, kids love to watch Minecraft

videos

It’s Not Just Video Games Anymore

• Games, apps, software,

and websites are

merging.

• Access, particularly

mobile and tablet-based,

requires a new type of

monitoring and

understanding.

• Academic and

classroom are increasing

requiring games and

technology.

• Screen-based technologies or digital-media use are more

encompassing terms than video games.

Do Parents, Educators, and Healthcare

Professionals Have a Choice?

• Many homework and supplementary programs are available only on websites.

• Libraries are still for research (but only if you use the Internet to search).

• Everybody else is playing.

• 21st century skills require digital literacy.

• Communication requires digital technology.

Media Use Across Decades

• 1930s: Movies, print, radio.

Children 9-12; 2-3 hours per day listening to radio

• 1960s: Movies, print, radio, television

TVs on 6 hours per day in homes

• 1980s: Cable, video game consoles, portable music players, computers, VCRs

Elementary schools kids watch 2.3 hours TV per day

• 2010s: Internet, cell/ smart phones, DVRs, Tablets, handheld video games

Developmental Trends across

Media

Percentage of 8-18 Year Olds

Who Own Each Item:

Among All 8-10 11-14 15-18

Ipod/mp3 player 76% 61% 80% 83%

Cell phone 66% 31% 69% 85%

Handheld video game player

59% 65% 69% 41%

Laptop 29% 17% 27% 38%

Portable CD/tape player

16% 9% 16% 20%

Percent of Young People in Each

Age Group Who Own a Cell Phone:

Recent scholarly perspectives on the potential benefits of playing video games, as well as video games and children

with ADHD.

• Identify and discuss potential benefits of playing

video games in 4 areas of functioning:

• Cognition

• Motivation

• Social behavior

• Emotion regulation

Granic, I., Lobel, A., and Engels, R. C. M. E. (2014). The benefits

of playing video games. American Psychologist, 69 (1), 66-78.

• “A small but significant body of research has begun to emerge, mostly in the last five years, documenting these benefits. … these findings suggest that video games provide youth with immersive and compelling social, cognitive, and emotional experiences. Further, these experiences may have the potential to enhance mental health and well-being in children and adolescents… Whereas adolescents and adults often use self-disclosure and direct discussion with close friends to resolve emotional issues, children use play to work them out through pretend-based narratives enacted either alone or with others. Links between children’s propensity to play and their development of cooperative skills, social competence, and peer acceptance have also been empirically established”

Why might video game play be

beneficial?

There is empirical evidence documenting positive

effects of video game play on cognition,

including:

– Spatial skills

– Problem solving skills

– Creativity

Cognition

• The design of many video games, seems

perfectly suited for promoting and teaching an

effortful, persistent, approach to problem solving

(e.g., motivation) and task completion

Motivation

• “In summary, although playing games is often considered a frivolous pastime, gaming environments may actually cultivate a persistent, optimistic motivational style. This motivational style, in turn, may generalize to school and work contexts. … certain types of games will more likely foster these healthy motivational styles, while others may not…Game designers are wizards of engagement. They have mastered the art of pulling people of all ages into virtual environments, having them work toward meaningful goals, persevere in the face of multiple failures, and celebrate the rare moments of triumph after successfully completing challenging tasks”

Motivation (cont.)

• “… among the top reasons individuals cite for using

diverse forms of media are to manage their moods

and to enhance their emotional states. Gaming may

be among the most efficient and effective means by

which children and youth generate positive feelings.

Several studies have shown a causal relation

between playing preferred video games and

improved mood or increases in positive emotion”

Emotional benefits of gaming:

• “experiencing positive emotions may help broaden the number of behaviors one perceives as both possible and motivating and may build social relationships that provide support for goal pursuit and coping with failure. …Games do not elicit only positive emotions; video games also trigger a range of negative ones, including frustration, anger, anxiety, and sadness. But…. the pretend context of video games may be real enough to make the accomplishment of goals matter but also safe enough to practice controlling, or modulating negative emotions in the service of those goals. Adaptive regulation strategies such as acceptance, problem solving, and reappraisal have repeatedly been linked to less negative affect, more social support, and lower levels of depressive symptoms… These same adaptive regulation strategies seem to be rewarded in gaming contexts because their use is concretely and clearly linked to goal achievement”

Emotion regulation (cont.)

• …In these virtual social communities, decisions need to be made on the fly about whom to trust, whom to reject, and how to most effectively lead a group. Given these immersive social contexts, we propose that gamers are rapidly learning social skills and prosocial behavior that might generalize to their peer and family relations outside the gaming environment

• Players seem to acquire important prosocial skills when they play games that are specifically designed to reward effective cooperation, support, and helping behaviors

Social Behavior Enhancement:

• “Social skills are also manifested in forms of civic engagement: the ability to organize groups and lead likeminded people in social causes. A number of studies have focused on the link between civic engagement and gaming. For example, one large-scale, representative U.S. study (Lenhart et al., 2008) showed that adolescents who played games with civic experiences (e.g., Guild Wars 2, an MMORPG, or massive multiplayer online role-playing game) were more likely to be engaged in social and civic movements in their everyday lives (e.g., raising money for charity, volunteering, and persuading others to vote).”

Social behavior (cont.)

WHAT’S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Children with autism

spectrum disorder (ASD) and those with ADHD are at risk for

problematic video game use. However, group differences in media

use or in the factors associated with problematic video game use

have not been studied.

WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Boys with ASD and ADHD

demonstrated

greater problematic video game use than did boys with typical

development. Inattention was uniquely associated with problematic

use for both groups, and role-playing game genre was associated

with problematic use among the ASD group only.

Mazurek, M. O., & Engelhardt, C. R. (2013). Video game use in

boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, or typical

development. Pediatrics, 132(2), 260-266.

• METHODS: Participants included parents of boys (aged 8–

18) with ASD (n = 56), ADHD (n = 44), or TD (n = 41).

Questionnaires assessed daily hours of video game use, in-

room video game access, video game genres, problematic

video game use, ASD symptoms, and ADHD symptoms.

• RESULTS: Boys with ASD spent more time than did boys with

TD playing video games (2.1 vs 1.2 h/d). Both the ASD and

ADHD groups had greater in-room video game access and

greater problematic video game use than the TD group.

Multivariate models showed that inattentive symptoms

predicted problematic game use for both the ASD and ADHD

groups; and preferences for role-playing games predicted

problematic game use in the ASD group only.

Mazurek (cont.)

• WHAT’S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Concerns as well as hopes regarding electronic games have led researchers to study the influence of games on children, yet studies to date have largely examined potential positive and negative effects in isolation and using samples of convenience.

• WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS: Results from this nationally representative study of children 10 to 15 years indicated low levels of regular daily play related to better psychosocial adjustment, compared with no play, whereas the opposite was true for those engaging in high daily play.

Przybylski, A. K. (2014). Electronic gaming and

psychosocial adjustment. Pediatrics, 134 (3), 716-722.

• METHODS: A large sample of children and adolescents aged 10 to 15 years completed assessments of psychosocial adjustment and reported typical daily hours spent playing electronic games. Relations between different levels of engagement and indicators of positive and negative psychosocial adjustment were examined, controlling for participant age and gender and weighted for population representativeness.

• RESULTS: Low levels (less than 1 hour daily) as well as high levels (more than 3 hours daily) of game engagement was linked to key indicators of psychosocial adjustment. Low engagement was associated with higher life satisfaction and pro-social behavior and lower externalizing and internalizing problems, whereas the opposite was found for high levels of play. No effects were observed for moderate play levels when compared with non-players.

Przybylski (Cont.)

• “Electronic games might best be thought of as a new

variety of toys offering a range of distinct play

experiences and not a new embodiment of traditional

media entertainment. Other aspects of gaming, such

as children’s motivations for play and the structural

affordances of different kinds of gaming contexts, must

be investigated to further our understanding of how

exactly they impact on children’s well-being and

behavior and inform improved evidence based

guidelines for electronic play.”

Przybylski (Cont.)

• ABSTRACT. Young people with developmental disorders

experience difficulties with many cognitive and perceptual

tasks, and often suffer social impairments. Yet, like typical

youth, many appear to enjoy playing videogames. …

Durkin, K. (2010). Videogames and young people with

developmental disorders, Review of General Psychology,

14(2), 122-140.

• Why should videogames appeal to children with disorders,

who often struggle with many other tasks?

• Even if the games do have attractions for these individuals,

how do their conditions affect their abilities to engage with

them?

• What is the nature of their uses and experiences with the

medium?

• Can their interactions with games help us to learn more about

their disorders, needs and potentialities?

• Is game playing advantageous to them or harmful?

• Could their interests be built upon for developmental,

cognitive, educational, social, or therapeutic benefit?

Durkin (Continued); Questions posed:

• Exploiting videogames to support and extend the development of

young people with disorders, and to enhance their leisure time, is an

attractive prospect not least because it affords means of delivering

or supplementing interventions and of stimulating play in a relatively

cost-efficient manner. It is not a substitute for other forms of

support, nor is it likely to prove a panacea for all the difficulties

that these children face. Overall, considerable evidence indicates

that videogames can be as engaging for children with disorders as

they are for other players, and several studies indicate benefits in

respect of cognitive or social functioning. There is little evidence to

indicate that children with developmental disorders are harmed by

playing videogames, though a cautious interpretation could be that

this is partly because the question has not been addressed

extensively.

Durkin (Continued) :

• Clinical and anecdotal observations -

too much!

• No evidence of difference concerning

frequency or duration of play between

ADHD and typically-developing children

ages 10 to 12.

• Similar enjoyment for the same types of

games (Bioulac 2008).

• South County Child and Family

Consultants Data

How Much Do They Play?

• 10- to 12-year-olds in France are exactly like their peers (Bioulac 2008)

• Milwaukee study of teens, same amounts with more variability (Fischer and Barkley 2006)

• More video-game play than music, in contrast to peers (LearningWorks for Kids 2011)

• 90% of ADHD rather than 80% of TD kids spend more than one hour a day on computer (Linginerni, 2012)

Do children with ADHD play video games

the same amount as their TD peers?

Activity Mean (N = 65) Standard Deviation

Watching TV 2.8 .96

Reading or doing homework 1.37 .96

Playing outdoors or sports 2.31 1.34

Talking/texting on cell phone .63 1.10

Doing homework on the computer .51 .83

Listening to music 1.86 1.26

Using the Internet 1.49 1.31

Playinng organized sports 1.05 1.32

Playing video games 2.05 1.27

Playing with toys/board games 2.14 1.40

On a typical weekend or vacation, about how much time does your child

spent with the following technologies and activities:

LearningWorks for Kids 2013 Study

0

None1

<30

2

30-60

3

60-120

4

>120 minutes

Activity Mean SD

1. Playing video games 1.59, N = 64 1.87

2. Doing homework 5.89, N = 64 2.24

3. Having a conversation with you or other 4.14, N = 64 2.16

4. Doing chores 5.51, N = 64 2.42

5. Watching TV 2.32, N = 64 1.96

6. Reading 3.67, N = 64 2.34

7. Playing with Legos or blocks 2.23, N = 62 2.12

8. Playing with action figures/dolls 2.30, N = 63 2.16

9. Playing on the Internet/computer 1.94, N = 64 1.76

LearningWorks for Kids 2013 StudyHow often does your child show signs of ADHD such as loss of focus, fidgeting, and disorganization while: (Scale 0 to 9 with 0 meaning never, 9 always)

• Time spent with technology on a typical weekend or vacation Mean = 306.92, SD = 116.64

• Time spent with non-technological activities on a typical weekend or vacation Mean = 228.31, SD = 96.87

LearningWorks for Kids 2013 Study

Approach Percentage

1. No access to games or the Internet 3.1

2. Only on weekends and vacations 10.9

3. After homework is completed 40.6

4. Limited number of hours a day 14.1

5. Do well in school and play games 14.1

6. No specific rules 17.2

Parenting strategies with children with ADHD:

1. Do you monitor the length of time your child plays with video games and is on the

computer?

Never Sometimes Often Always

6.2% 18.8% 28.1% 46.9%

2. What best describes your approach to setting limits for your child with digital

media?

LearningWorks for Kids 2013 Study

• May not always perform as well as their typically-developing

peers (Lawrence, et al 2002)

• May process information somewhat slowly on video games.

(Lawrence et al. 2002, 2004).

• Perform as well as their peers in simple games but problems

applying executive and problem-solving skills to complex

video games (Lawrence et al. 2004).

• Less success when navigating challenges, developing novel

problem-solving (Lawrence 2004)

• Perform poorly in neuropsychologically-based game

mechanics such as working-memory and cognitive-flexibility

tasks

How do children with ADHD perform on

video games?

• More than one hour a day is associated with short term

increased signs of inattention (Taharoglu)

• Increased difficulty in transitioning and stopping video-

game play, resulting in more oppositionalism

• More video-game time is associated with increasing signs

of inattention (Mazurek and Engelhardt 2013 study)

• Video-game play can be associated with video-game

addiction related to Dopamine release in the brain (Han

and colleagues 2009)

Problematic behavior in video-game play

in children with ADHD

• Total time spent with screen media is positively associated

with attention problems (Swing, Gentile, et al. 2010).

• Four-year-olds watching Spongebob can have an

immediate negative effect on children’s executive-

functioning skills (Lillard 2011).

• Television/Video-game use along with exposure to violent

content not predictive of attention problems or grade point

average (Ferguson 2010)

• Are digital media the cause of increasing rates of ADHD?

Do Video/Computer Games and Television Impact

Attention Span?

Cautions Solutions

Children with ADHD or attention problems may become “hyper-focused” on video games and other digital media, neglecting other important responsibilities.

Require that your child complete all of her homework, chores, or other responsibilities before being allowed some digital play time. By making him put-off these fun activities until after her work is done, he won’t be able to use digital play as a means of procrastination.

Kids with ADHD or attention problems often become so absorbed with activities they find interesting, that they may lose track of how much time they have spent on their digital play.

Use a timer if you need to limit your child with ADHD. Time management and having a sense of time are often significant deficits for children with attention problems. You can use online timers such as TabTimer.com or even an everyday kitchen timer to keep your child on track.

Kids with ADHD or attention problems may choose to engage with digital play instead of the physical activities that are part of a healthy treatment process.

Exercise has been shown to improve Focus and learning in children with attentional problems. Tell your child to go out and run around before playing video games, and to play active games such as Wii Tennis or Kinect Adventures.

Angry Birds

• Birds are used as

projectiles to hit pigs that

are protected by

structures.

• Players plan out each shot

and predict the

consequences of his shot.

• Each level is set out

uniquely so the player to

flexibly change strategies.

Angry Birds

• Cogmed Working Memory Training

• Action video games for improving

selective attention (Green and

Bevalier)

• DDR and Improved reading

• Headsprout and ADHD kids

• Computer -based math programs

and ADHD

• Other studies, eg Interactive

metronome, Play Attention, Brain

Train Products, Lumosity, Posit

Science’s BrainHQ

• LWK research on EFS

Research-based Technological

Recommendations

• Apps and Video Games “made” for ADHD

• Tend to be psychoeducational or simply not fun

• Select technologies based upon a child’s individual needs

• Engagement which increases attention and persistence to the task is important

• Technologies with near transfer or direct connections to a skill are best

• Practice, intensity, and limitations are important

Recommendations for Video Games and Technologies

for Children with ADHD

• It is engaging and sustains attention.

• It practices a specific skill the child needs to improve such

as focus, planning, or time management.

• It promotes persistence of effort and a willingness to

overcome obstacles.

• It is complex and interesting enough to result in duration

and intensity of game play.

• Generalization of game-based skills can be applied to the

real world.

What makes a game or app a good

teaching tool for children with ADHD?

Strategies for Improving Executive

Functioning Skills and Attention

• Traditional behavioral, classroom, and cognitive strategies

• Medication and brain-based strategies

• Organizational, study skills, and executive function coaching

approaches

• Meditation, mindfulness training, yoga

• Physical exercise

• Technology-based interventions

What Skills Can You Learn from Video

Games and Technology?

• Focus and attention

• Knowledge acquisition

• Social awareness

• Spatial reasoning skills

• Fluid reasoning skills

• Executive functions and executive control

What Tech Tools are Used to Teach Attention

and other Skills?

• Working memory training programs- Cogmed

• Neurofeedback/ biofeedback

• Action-based video games

• Attention trainers- Akilli, Play Attention

• Brain Training suites such as Lumosity and Fit Brains

• Apps and games designed for special needs kids with Autism,

ADHD, LD

• Popular games, apps, and technologies

How Popular Games and Apps Improve

Executive Functions

• Support, primarily apps where a

skill is scaffold it by the

functionality

• Practice – primarily with games with the

scale is used repeatedly in order to

achieve goals

• Mastery, primarily apps and

games that built in

generalizability and practice

Why Use Popular Games, Apps and Technologies

to Improve Executive Functions

• Engagement, fun, attention, and persistence

• Many games use the same types of activities and exercises that

are used in brain training games

• Game mechanics- adaptive, challenges adapt to mastery level

• Variability- an opportunity to practice similar, but complementary

skills with different games

• Quality and depth of many of the games

• Low-cost and accessibility

Limitations of using popular games and

technologies to prove executive functions

• Lack of peer-reviewed research

• Difficulty in tracking engagement and progress in the game and relating

it to real world skills and improvement

• Skills that are practiced may be less focused or lack intensity and

duration

• Extraneous information and objectives that occur within the game

• Focuses on fun and not skill development

• Attitude of educators and researcher is often negative and skeptical

• No evidence of generalizability

Improving Generalization by Building it into the

Games

• New games such as IF (If You Can)

o For improving social awareness and self-control skills

• Innovations in technology to create

brain change such as a Akili and

other potential tools

• Cogmed working memory training

• Luminosity/ other brain training tools

• Still very limited and the critics of

brain training tools are quite vocal

Strategies for using popular games and apps

to improve executive functioning skills

• Typically requires more than game play alone

• Modeled after the SharpBrains method of effective brain

training • Training engages a specific brain-based

skill such as speed of processing or

working memory

• Training targets an area of weakness,

assessed by tools such as the TEAS

(Test of Executive and Academic Skills)

• Adaptive- games and prescriptions increase the demands on

cognitive resources

Strategies for using popular games and apps to

improve executive functioning skills- 2

• Dosage and intensity -needs to be sufficient

minimum dose of (Approx 15 hours per target

area over eight weeks)

• Choose games that target slightly different

aspects of the same skill, similar to doing a

variety of exercises to build biceps

• Continued long-term practice is necessary to maintain benefits

• Additional training outside of the game using metacognition and

practice opportunities improves generalization

Implementing a game and app

prescription

• Assess the executive functioning skills

• Choose a variety of games that practice targeted skills, or apps to

support the skills

• Create a prescription of games and apps that is age appropriate,

adaptable, enduring, and intense

• Provide specific instructions on how much to play

• Use generalization and metacognitive strategies proven to be

successful in the classroom to promote real world learning

• Identify a variety of sub skills that can build on the initial

prescriptions

• Detect, Reflect, and Connect

LearningWorks for Kids Prescription Model

• Existing games are generally not designed

to promote skills in children with ADHD.

• Existing games focus on other things, while

using important thinking skills.

• Metacognitive skills are not built into

existing video games.

• Generalization and strategic teaching skills

are not built into existing game.

Why do children with ADHD not become

scholars after playing video games?

• Game play alone results in modest improvements in real-

world executive skills

• Children with learning and attention problems have

problems in generalizing strategies

• Kids like to talk about playing video games and may be

willing to learn from that

• Games prompt partnering and motivation to learn

executive skills

• Practice and rehearsal of executive skills

How well do game based skills

transfer to the real world?

• The key to success is effective teaching or mediation

(can be done in the game)

• Teachers (including peers, parents, and imbedded

instruction) make the connection between game-based

learning and real-world skills

• Actual learning requires knowledge of the skill,

understanding how and when to use it, and practice

across many situations

BUT…games are not enough!!!

What can we do to make video games a

more productive learning experience for

children with ADHD?

• Build generalization strategies, practice skills

outside of the game

• Consider duration and intensity of game play

to practice skills

• Mediated learning, including parents,

psychologists, educators, and peers

• Utilize a differentiated instructional model that identifies the specific skills

that a child with ADHD needs to improve

• Teach skills and then practice them in game and technology play

• Talk about gameplay and skills, metacognitive approaches

• Talk before, during, and after gameplay. Choose

gameplay goals with your child.

• Have fun playing the game with your child!

• Reflect on gameplay, emphasizing the use of

the targeted thinking or academic skills.

• Direct your discussion to how these same skills

are useful in daily activities.

Play Together

Building a Home

• Explain the benefits of digital play, and introduce

the skills being exercised in the game.

• Encourage non-digital activities that use the

same skills.

• Regularly connect game-based skills to things

your child is struggling with in the real-world.

• Try different games and skills

Make it Work

Amazing Alex

– Physics-based puzzle game

where players create chain

reactions using everyday

items

– Skills of planning, flexibility,

and focus

– Foresight and working

memory in order to succeed

– Attention to detail is important

in order to obtain perfect

score across many levels

Games for practicing executive skills

Amazing Alex

Age Amount of Time

0 to 24 months not at all

2 to 5 years 30 to 60 minutes a day (joint media engagement the rule)

6 to 9 years 30 to 60 minutes a day (parents select games)

10 to 13 years 30 to 60 minutes a day (parents monitor game selection)

14 years old older 30 to 90 minutes a day (emphasize social gaming)

How Much Should Your Child with

ADHD Play Video Games?

• Concerns regarding time management and time blindness

• Difficulty with shifting and transitions from one activity to

another

• Tendency to become overly focused on video-game play

• Oppositional tendencies

seen with children with

ADHD

• Child’s sense of success

and reward in playing

video games

• Parent’s sense of peace

and reduction of conflict

Why It Is Difficult to Set Limits on

Game Play with Children with ADHD

• Be firm, consistent, and engaged.

• Be flexible when it serves your purpose

• Consider schedules

• Curation

• Consider the Individual

and Developmental

level

• Be in control of the tech

• Be sensible, look at

your own media use

• Start with a “Play Diet”

Strategies for Setting Effective Limits for

Children with ADHD

• Control the controller

• Limit access to content such as violence or

sexual themes

• No access during the school week

• Parents own the technology

• Time limiting tools such as timers, screen

managers

• Strategies best for younger children, kids with

addictive tendencies, and inappropriate use

Limit Setting-Parental Control of Access

• Include large doses of physical, social, creative, and

unstructured play

• Make other forms of play more attractive

• Model a balanced play diet

• Screen based technologies should not be the “to go”

activity

• Keep your kids very busy with other activities

• Foster the development of alternative long-term interests

• Strategy is preferred method as it focuses on overall

health

Create a Healthy Play Diet

Make a Schedule

• An hour a day

• After homework is done

• Only on weekends and vacations

• Anytime and anywhere

• Never

• Good for kids who struggle with school or find

screen-based time too rewarding

• Only educational games

• Differentiation based upon an individual child’s

characteristics

• Level of digital nutrition as judged by the parent

• Choose games and apps suggested by your

kids

• Best for kids who can’t choose appropriately or

those with specific academic needs

Curation of Content

• Play games together both at home or online

• Follow your own sensibilities about violence or

other inappropriate content

• Choose games to foster shared family interests

such as sports or classic board games

• Model appropriate amounts of screen-based

activities

• Good for families who use technology with their

kids

Family Sensibilities, Modeling, and Playing with Your Child

• Maturity rather than age-based

• Children under the age of five need ongoing supervision

• Elementary school children-some independence but not

owners of technology

• Tweens may choose own technology but need

supervision from parents

• Teens-Autonomy requires taking responsibility and good

decision making

• Teens need more access to digital and social media

• Important approach for all kids

Developmental Considerations

• Working-memory games, both

formal training and casual games

• Planning games that require

setting long- and short-term

goals

• Apps that help with

organizational and time-

management skills

• Developmentally rather than chronologically age-appropriate

• Genres rather than specific games

• Active games, the more active and vigorous movement the better

• Puzzle games- Help with time management and focus

What Types of Games and Apps Should a

Child with ADHD Use?

• Practice-Guided and

regular rehearsal of new

skills in an interesting

manner

• Master- Owning the skill

, knowing how, when,

and where to use it

• Support- External structure, scaffolding to help self

regulation and learning

How Games and Apps can Help

Evernote

• A smartpen that records voice notes that is connected to

written notes

• Child takes notes on digitally-equipped paper and when

going over those notes can listen to

• Recordings of lectures

• Helps with children who

struggle with working

memory

• Very helpful for children who

process information or have

slow clerical motor speed

LiveScribe

LiveScribe

• 50+ peer review studies -

demonstrated to improve

reading, math, and sustained

attention

• Generalization is improved

by using additional tools and

strategies in conjunction with

Cogmed

• Research-based, clinically-proven computer program to

improve working-memory capacities of

• Targeted regimented exercises

• Demonstrated to promote structural changes in the brain

based upon principles of neuroplasticity

Cogmed Working Memory training

Cogmed Working Memory training

• Players use tennis rackets and can get vigorous

exercise

• Self-control and flexibility required while playing

the game

• Primarily the game is good

for children with ADHD,

as it promotes vigorous

exercise using complex

body movements when

done properly

Wii Sports: Tennis

Wii Sports: Tennis

Thank You

• Randy Kulman, Ph.D• randy@learningworksforkids.com

• @lw4k on Twitter

• www.pinterest.com/lw4k

• www.learningworksforkids.com

• Gary Stoner, Ph.D.

• Gstoner@uri.edu