Using Media to Help Teach Vocabulary

An Educational Media Product for Young Children with LD and ADHD
Product Overview
This media product will be an app for kids ages 6-8 that can be downloaded from Google Play or Apple’s iTunes. It will be a free app that provides a portal to kids learning shows, similar to PBS Kids or YouTube Kids. The product will allow children to watch the shows on a personal device, like a tablet, iPhone, iPad, android, etc., or on a PC or a TV that is connected to the Internet. The product will consist of shows that focus on learning vocabulary but also on dealing with tough situations that kids commonly have to face in this day and age—issues such as divorce, death, sadness, loss, isolation, and trauma. The programs are designed for children with learning disabilities and ADHD.
Demographic Characteristics
The demographic for this educational media product is children grades 1-3, ages 6-8. The cognitive/social orientation of the demographic will consist of children with learning disabilities (LD) or children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD); this can even include children with autism, children experiencing divorce, and children suffering from a loved one who is terminally ill, as there are so many children who are misdiagnosed as having LD when what they really have is ADHD or autism or are suffering from some other problem that goes undiagnosed—so preparing a product that is universally accessible for children of this age group is important as it is very difficult to determine sometimes the exact nature of the challenge for the student (Czamara, Tiesler, Kohlbock et al., 2013)). The media product is geared towards children who come from traditional homes as well as those who are either experiencing a trauma or have a handicap or challenge that prohibits them physically or mentally from engaging with learning material in a traditional manner. The interests of the children of this demographic are games that require problem-solving (Therrell, 2002); information about animals, insects, and nature; sharing and reading books (Palmer, ; superhero cartoons, crazy, fun, large and colorful characters; and programs that teach words in an entertaining manner like Sesame Street (Teach Mama, 2017).
Media use patterns for this demographic, according to research by Cain and Gradisar (2010) consists of a wide range of electronic, digital and print media, while in more recent years, this demographic has been exposed to more personal computer screen time with the arrival of iPads, tablets, androids, etc. (Hale & Guan, 2015). Because the Digital Age has arrived it is far more common today for younger and younger children to rely on personal computers, tablets, iPads, iPhones and androids that belong to their parents, for entertainment purposes. Media products range from learning videos, to apps, to games, to YouTube videos and so on.
Learning Goals
Czamara et al. (2013) show that ADHD is one of the most common neuro-behavioral childhood disorders. Their study indicates that 5% of school children are affected by ADHD and that half of all children with ADHD present as LD students. The learning objectives of this product, therefore, are to appeal to students with ADHD so that they can develop their learning skills more efficiently. The Montessori Method, based on the theory of self-directed learning, allows students to command their own pace and direct their own interests in a way that is conducive to having a healthy development of knowledge (Mangal, 2007). This method can be employed most easily especially today with the arrival of digital technology that allows for interactive learning experience. As many researchers show, computer-assisted instruction can help students to improve grades across a range of disciplines, can improve vocabulary, and can increase the students’ level of engagement with the lessons (Keengwe & Hussein, 2014; Alvarez-Marinelli, Blanco, Lara-Alecio et al., 2016; Cassady, Smith & Thomas, 2017). The app will contribute to the healthy development of the target audience by offering engaging, interactive, computer-assisted instruction through digital media, whereby the user is able to use a mouse on a PC or a touch-screen pad on a tablet, etc., to interact with the videos that are streamed via the app. The characters will present situations for the children and the children will be able to link to the next video by way of the options that appear on the screen. It will be like “choose your own adventure” but on YouTube instead of on print media.
The theory of self-directed learning advocated by the Montessori Method combines here with the theory of using computer-assisted instruction to provide children with ADHD who may be struggling with a variety of issues at home a way to engage with and interact with educative, entertaining characters via the app while learning to make decisions and develop their own vocabulary in a way that is age-appropriate but real-world situated. The specific learning goal that is meant to be achieved through this product is the development of the student’s vocabulary by introducing the student to a new set of words that are explored through a variety of methods during the program.
Educational Approach
The educational approach that writers and producers can work from should be geared towards the age group of 6-8, at which age children are most interested in games that require problem-solving. As the target objective is to get students to develop their vocabulary in ways that are engaging, interactive and fun, the educational approach should involve presenting scenarios to the students through characters that speak directly to the viewer and who give the viewer/students the option of continuing in a manner that is preferable to them. So one student may select the “answer” to a question of how they would like to proceed by clicking on one video option while another student may select a separate video option. The videos should be brief—between 2 and 3 minutes long, so that there is time to introduce characters, introduce the vocabulary, and set up a scenario in which a choice has to be made, which will lead to the next video.
The goal of the program will be to quickly recap what was learned in the previous video before introducing new idea or word that can be linked to the next video. The videos should ultimately circle back so that they are part of a continuous web of interlinking, interactive short videos that the students can watch a number of times, always with the option of taking the “adventure” in a different direction the next time around. Recapping the major points of the vocabulary will occur at the beginning of each video, connecting it to the previous one, before then introducing a new word and concept that will be demonstrated in action by the characters, spelled visually and orally for the viewer, and defined by the characters who use the words as they compile their “adventure book” along with the viewers who help them decide what to do next and where to go. The viewer should have enough time to select the link to the next video before it ends and an automatic video is selected by YouTube.
Format
The overall structure of the product will be an app that can be downloaded to any web-based device (PC, tablet, etc.) that can be used as part of computer-assisted instruction via self-directed learning. The app will connect to shows uploaded to YouTube that are 2-3 minutes in length and that interlock with one another through the self-directed learning method, with the child choosing the next segment to be streamed a part of the “choose your own adventure” nature of the program. Each program will have regular features regarding learning vocabulary and will consist of a cast of familiar characters that accompany the learner from show to show on the quest to develop an “adventure book” of new words learned.
Characters
Major characters will include an adult character, three child characters from the same age-group as the target audience, and puppet characters similar to what appear on Sesame Street. Guest characters may appear from episode to episode and will include a witch, a wizard, a hunter, a professor, a librarian, and a bus driver. The children we be from diverse backgrounds and represent multicultural learning.
Example Outline
I. Intro: The game begins with the puppets interacting with the children and showing them their book of adventure words.
a. The characters introduce themselves
b. The game is explained to the children
II. Set-up: Each new word they learn goes into the book and takes them on an adventure.
a. The children experience an adventure with their first new word.
b. The first adventure takes them on a bus ride.
III. The mission: The children help them to collect words and the adults who guest star facilitate the quest by introducing the main characters to new words.
IV. The interactive experience: The viewer gets to choose which adventure to take at the end of each segment.
V. The adventures are based on the pursuit of a new word.
The Research
Children who suffer from learning disabilities and ADHD as well as other challenging situations that stem from the environment are in need of individualized education that engages them on a one-to-one platform. Whether that one-to-one engagement is over reading, as Sioux Falls Public Schools Education Foundation (2011), or via computer-assisted learning, as Ybarra and Green (2003) show in the case of ESL students who use technology to help with their language skills acquisition, the concept is clear: students with learning disabilities require alternative educative techniques that engage them in a personalized setting. This program will facilitate the development of learning vocabulary for children with LD or with ADHD because it aims to be engaging, personalized, interactive and complementary to the child’s interests and life situation. The program can be especially helpful for children who come from broken homes, as Ealry (1993) notes regarding the power of using stories to help children cope with their environment. Similarly Harpaz (2014) shows that children respond with greater positivity to narrative structures when they are learning because narratives help them to better adapt to the world around them. This program therefore is supported by the research on using self-directed learning (Mangal, 2007) and computer-assisted instruction (Cassady et al., 2017).

References
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