Prioritizing and Completing Tasks with Checklists

Learners can use technology to create a checklist of tasks to accomplish and put them in order based on what needs to get done first. Checklists provide a visual reminder of what needs to be accomplished. Checkboxes can be used to indicate when something has been completed. Digital checklists can often be shared with educators to provide guidance and feedback. Digital checklists are also often flexible, allowing items to be re-ordered, read aloud with text to speech, and edited. The following are a list of potential tools that could be used to create digital checklists.

Managing Time with Alerts and Alarms

When diligently working on a task it can be easy to lose track of time. An alarm or alert helps learners know that something is coming up that needs attention. Learners can set an alarm to go off at a specific time. Educators might need to provide guidance with regard to how much time might be needed to prepare for the transition to the next experience. The following website provide free, programmable alarms.

Screenshot of a digital timer

Managing Time with Timers

Knowing how much time one has left before a transition takes place helps learners understand when the task they are working to complete will come to an end. Educators can guide learners to set their own timers to help them learn self-management skills. Learners can also challenge themselves to complete tasks accurately within the given time frame. Timers can have both visual and auditory components as a cue to the learner about how much time is left like the Candle Timer.

Screenshot of Candle Timer

Defining Executive Functioning

Executive functioning skills are a set of cognitive abilities that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control used daily to learn, work, and manage everyday life. People can use technology to help learn how to manage and develop these abilities. This blog often shares specific strategies to people learn how to use technology to build executive functioning skills all of which can be accessed by using the Executive Functioning category on the right.

The video titled “What is Executive Function?” further explains executive functioning.

Google Keep Voice Notes

Have an idea on the go? Don’t want to forget a task you just thought of? No time to type it all out? NO problem! Use the Voice Note feature in Google Keep! Voice notes taken on your phone are great, but then they just sit in an audio file, on your phone, until you put it to use or type it out somewhere else. Why not have Google Keep do that for you? With the Google Keep iOS app, you can record voice notes on the go and it will put that recording into a sticky note on your virtual wall. What is even better, is that it will translate your audio note into text, in the same “sticky” note!  Prefer to jot down notes, but not type? You can also write out a note with your finger or stylus. Google Keep will put that into text as well. Then you can color code, move around, label, and search for your notes like usual. No more forgotten ideas!

Google Keep Voice Note

Voice Note in Google Keep

Voice Note Google Keep

Voice Note Listening in Google Keep