Using 1:1 laptops to diagnose ADHD

I've been manually updating my classes' 1:1 parent funded MacBooks over the past week. As they are parent funded, the students have administrator access and can install whatever software they like and change any settings they like. This provided an interesting opportunity to see what they had done.
easily distracted and
dislike writing and
interested in wide range of subjects and
interested in computers and
need structure for multi-step tasks
take pens apart in class
are surprised when due dates for assignments come upFive seconds is the shortest update period one can choose to have the desktop background changed. I wonder what these boys would choose if lower settings were available. As I go through them, I have to set the update to 1 minute (the next option) as otherwise, the computers pause annoyingly every five seconds for about a second while they change the high resolution backgrounds. I wonder if the pictures register at all with the students, a beautiful zen garden, the three dimensional patterns in an iceberg underneath the Arctic sea, or if it is just the flickering changes that they need. I've noticed a similar feature of group music listening amongst these students, although this applies across the board and not just to my short attention span boys. I have an old iPod full of 'suitable for school' top 50 hits. In the mornings my classroom is busy with students using laptops, microscopes, physics apparatus etc as well as chatting and listening to music. The 'listening to music' comprises of students calling out the song they want to listen to, reaching some agreement on it, starting the song, then 30-40 seconds later - well before the song has finished, but usually after the first chorus - starting to call for their next choice. I'm pretty sure they haven't played an entire song this year. Most of these students can direct their attention for a lesson if it interests them. Today I delivered an off topic, lecture style summary of nuclear reactors and the problems at Fukushima. Broken up with two youtube videos, requiring no notes, and containing no admonishment that they would have to learn this for a test, all of the students bar one managed to focus for the full forty five minutes. I don't think the answer is that lessons just have to be more interesting. That is a worthwhile goal, but so is developing the character to be able to tackle extended pointless tasks with no immediate gratification, otherwise no teacher would ever get their 100 points together for their WACOT re-registration.





