Microsoft+One+Note+and+Developmental+Amnesia


 * Developmental Amnesia and Microsoft One Note **

Memory is often something teachers gripe about. “Why can’t you remember your homework? I just assigned it last night!” While most kids can remember plenty, there are those that tend to have a bit more difficulty. “While these children often read and learn at a normal level, they simply cannot keep straight events in daily life. They suffer from developmental amnesia.” (Warwick, 2004). What is developmental amnesia? “Developmental amnesia is a selective disorder characterized by marked impairment in episodic memory despite relatively preserved semantic memory” (Issacs, et al., 2003). This disorder creates gaps in a student’s (and even young adults) memory, making it seem like the student has a selective memory. This can become a problem for students as they go through school. There is so much to remember, even on a daily basis. When homework is due, what specials are today, and even the routine can be challenging for these students to remember and follow. They need some sort of structure to help them, something they can see that will help guide them. Microsoft One Note can be just what these students need! One Note comes with all Microsoft Office programs, but is one that, unless you really look at it, you may not even know about it. One Note allows students to create notes directly on the page. These notes can be highlighted, color-coded, and arranged to suit the child’s needs. The notes can be forwarded to a teacher via email, or can even be collaborated on between students or teacher and student. Audio and video clips can be recorded right there with One Note and can be saved directly to the notes the student is taking. Everything can be separated into sections, just like a notebook, but with One Note, all the student needs to do it search for a specific keyword, and all the notes containing that keyword will show up! One Note is a great tool for creating daily schedules (by using tables and pictures) for the students to follow. Everything they need to know is in one place and easy to find. Just as with other Web 2.0 tools, One Note has so much to offer that it can seem a little overwhelming at first. However, with proper guidance and templates created by the teacher or even parents, students should be able to use it with ease. This program is very user-friendly! Another problem could be the expense. Microsoft Office isn’t cheap, and without Office there is no access to One Note. The final challenge facing these students is access to a computer. Many families do not have computers, so the only way students might be able to access One Note is through computers at school. One Note is definitely one tool that can help those with developmental amnesia!

Isaacs, E. B., Vargha-Khadem, V., Watkins, K. E., Lucas, A., Mishkin, M., & Gadian, D. G. (2003). Developmental amnesia and its relationship to degree of hippocampal atrophy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100(22), 13060-13063. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC240744/
 * Credits:**

Warwick, L. (2004). Children's memory problems. Bulletin of the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development, 3(2), 8. Retrieved from http://www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca/documents/page8vol3no2sept04ang.pdf