This category is about finding new, creative approaches to education and learning. Many high schools and universities report tremendous dropout rates and a social education-gap remains reality in most countries. Smart Learning innovations may, for example, provide free-access training courses, foster ICT competence, create scientific understanding, support international knowledge exchange, or open up new capacities for scientific research. This also includes tools boosting learners’ motivation to study like infotainment games, platforms for open-access education or other digital solutions for making scientific progress beneficial to all. (ICCM, 2012)
Why did you choose smart learning?
The reason why I chose this category is that I think learning/education is important and I believe everyone has the right to study and learn. However, there are still some disabilities making studying hard.
There are many learning disabilities and each of those, need another approach to help the people with those disabilities.
There are a few known learning disabilities like dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia. Furthermore, ADHD can influence your way of study and more problems, that are not as familiar as well as we think:
- Dyspraxia; A disorder that is characterized by difficulty in muscle control, which causes problems with movement and coordination, language and speech, and can affect learning. Although not a recognised learning disability, dyspraxia often exists along with dyslexia, dyscalculia or ADHD
- Executive functioning; An inefficiency in the cognitive management systems of the brain that affects a variety of neuropsychological processes such as planning, organization, strategizing, paying attention to and remembering details, and managing time and space. Although not a recognised learning disability, different patterns of weakness in executive functioning are usually seen in the learning profiles of individuals who have specific learning disabilities or ADHD.
- Memory; Three types of memory are important to learning. Working memory, short-term memory and long-term memory are used in the processing of both verbal and non-verbal information. If there are deficits in any or all of these types of memory, the ability to store and retrieve information required to carry out tasks can be impaired. (Learning Disabilities Association of America, 2015)
My interest goes out the Executive Functioning disability though it is not officially recognised as a learning disability; it can influence your study in a negative way. The reason(s) for choosing this is that I know there are some good solutions for the other, familiar, disabilities.
Although, this disability is not officially a learning disability, does not mean it should be ignored. It can make studying very difficult. Many people will drop out of school because they cannot get their head around things and that can give a very lost feeling or they feel like it is not taking seriously. I think that it is a big problem and that is why I would like to find a way to help these people getting their study and (social) life, better organised.