The App Generation—An Education Idea That Needs Your Vote

The App Generation

It’s easy to recall this typical school-day scene: morning bell rings, kids line up, the teacher leads the way into the classroom and students find their places.

For some, however, this is also a time when confusion and isolation begin to set in.

Students’ backpacks unzip, papers, books and pencil cases make their way to desktops, as some find themselves stuck in a maze, frozen, without any idea of which direction to turn. Each year tens-of-thousands of students in Los Angeles classrooms find themselves, as hard as they try, lost in these everyday situations.

These students struggle with executive function: difficulty with making transitions, remembering and retrieving information, solving problems, organizing thoughts/actions and keeping track of more than one thing at a time.

In the current fiscal environment of ever-shrinking education budgets, it is imperative we develop creative, technology-based solutions that help maintain educational excellence despite significantly reduced funding.

"According to a study sponsored by the Fordham Institute, special education represented about 21 percent of all education spending across the nation in 2005, or $110 billion (Layton 2012). In LAUSD alone, approximately 77,000 students currently have Individual Education Plans, of which some 50,000 students are identified as having trouble with executive function (organizational skills), which negatively impacts their ability to learn effectively. (Cross & Joftus, 2011).

NOW imagine: a classroom that truly implements technology to assist a student in becoming productive and self reliant– far beyond games and fun apps.

Together a parent and teacher have created such a tool.

Take a look and make everyday tasks a reality for millions of kids with your vote:    

myla2050.maker.good.is/projects/KCARUSO