Users who have difficulty concentrating
Jump to:
Difficulties in concentrating are widespread amongst the general population and not necessarily associated with specific disabilities. However; a range of different conditions can make concentrating particularly difficult. Issues may include fatigue, emotional difficulties, over-stimulation, cognitive difficulties or environmental distractions, but in each case different approaches and techniques can offer support to the user concerned. Using technology in an agile and flexible way will help users with concentration problems and also be of benefit to staff who are involved in supporting them.
Within education, where lacking concentration can be an emotive issue, the nature of a resource can play an important part in engaging learners and the the learning experience itself may be equally, if not more, significant. Learners actively involved in creating resources and experiences may find concentration easier to maintain. Those involved in more passive learning may experience greater difficulty and need higher motivation to overcome an inability to concentrate.
The availability of resources outside the formal setting is important. Concentration issues become less significant when information or learning can be revisited.
JISC Techdis resources include:
- Guidance for users on simple ways of adapting resources; for example some users may concentrate more easily on an audio or mind map version of a document than the document itself;
- Guidance on creating engaging learning resources using simple technologies;
- Signposts to free and Open Source software tools that allow alternative ways of presenting information and engaging or assessing learners.
