Kansas Researchers Develop Self-Monitoring App for Student Productivity
With the rapid global spread of COVID-19, mass closures of schools were implemented to slow down the spread of viruses. Millions of students experienced changes in the normal learning process. In order to maintain undisrupted learning, more and more homes are transitioning into classrooms. Students are now participating in online classes, and because of the many distractions at home, students are finding it challenging to focus on the task at hand.
Researchers from the University of Kansas have developed a web-based, self-monitoring system that has proven to help students stay on task, reduce disruptive behavior, and boost academic achievement. It is fully adaptable in a home-setting and remote learning.
I-Connect is an app developed by the researchers in Juniper Gardens, part of the Life Span Institute at KU. It is customizable and helps students set goals, track their progress, and store data to be shared among teachers, mentors, and parents. This is free for download and available for both users of Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, and will also be made available soon for use on most laptops.
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Howard Wills, I-Connect lead developer and associate research professor of educational psychology, said that though I-Connect is not new, it is a way to help both students and educators to monitor student's behavior and stay on task.
Before, all self-monitoring was recorded on paper, which proves to be a cumbersome way of storing and graphing paperwork needed for decision-making. With I-Connect, it can send students reminders at a given interval to know whether they are still on track with their task or are meeting the other set goals.
The student only needs to answer yes or no throughout the course of a school day. Their responses will be stored and can be utilized for generating progress reports which can be shared among the people that the users have selected, be it the teachers, counselors, mentors, or parents.
Peer-reviewed research has proven the effectiveness of the I-Connect app in self-monitoring and reducing inappropriate behaviors and increasing productivity and academic achievement.
Self-regulation skills during distance learning
Self-regulation skill is one of the keys that play a role in a student's success. With parents working at home and students engaging in distance learning, all these educational disruptions provide opportunities to promote students' active learning at home and train self-regulation skills.
Self-regulation is the ability to organize one's thoughts and emotions in order to attain a long-term goal. This includes self-control and self-efficacy.
Students who are learning at home will often need to work independently by having checklists or goals set per day. They will be able to consider their strategies in getting homework done. This can make them active participants in their learning at the meta-cognitive, motivational, and behavioral levels.
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Sep 24, 2020 10:22 PM EDT
