This article describes a study of the use of a digital note-taking technology with high school students with specific learning disabilities. The goal of the project was to understand the degree to which this intervention has the potential to support students' note-taking skills, promote retention of material, and reduce cognitive effort during note taking. The authors offer recommendations for ways in which existing features and uses of this technology can be improved and enhanced. The findings of this research suggest that the use of digital pens can increase the quality of student notes and note-taking strategies. Based on this pilot study, the pens are recommended for use in particular types of course activities for students with language-based learning disabilities. (2007) pointed out, most of the developments in the field of special education technology have suffered from a lack of understanding of the specific instructional needs of students with learning disabilities. These researchers go on to assert that access to technology is not meaningful unless the tools are integrated into the instructional setting and matched to the needs of the learner. Anderson-Inman (2009) expands on this idea by suggesting that technology needs to match the media rich environments that exist in student's lives today. She suggests that students have the opportunity to make use of digital tools not only to collect information, but also to expand their own understandings and share their knowledge with others. Further research into the possibilities afforded to students with learning disabilities via new technologies such as digital note-taking tools is needed, particularly when that research is based in the classroom and connected to the curriculum and teachers' everyday practice. A s Boone and Higgins

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between television viewing time, physical activity level, food consumption patterns, and academic performance of adolescents in a large urban school district in the USA where health disparities are prevalent, particularly among minority residents. Design/methodology/approach – The 2010 Youth Risk Behavior Survey was used to analyze the relationship between academic grades and physical activity patterns and food consumption in a large urban school district serving over 77,000 students. Findings – Results indicated that students who self-reported grades of As and Bs had higher levels of physical activity and less screen time compared to students who reported grades of Ds and Fs. Further, as grades decreased the consumption of soda and fast food increased. Originality/value – Higher grades track significantly with improved physical activity and lower intake of soda and fast food. These findings provide additional support for the role of regular physical activity and its positive effect on academic performance.

Understanding how schools are complying with school wellness policies is a next step to determining where additional resources or support are needed in order to support school-wide adoption of healthy policies.

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Background/objectives: Previous research indicates that youth with obesity exhibit deficits in executive functioning (EF), which often take the form of impaired response inhibition. One aspect of EF not previously studied in obesity is the adaptive process known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), the suppression/inhibition of intrusive or non-target items by the retrieval of specific items from memory. The present study investigated if child or adolescent obesity disrupts the ability to inhibit retrieval of intrusive memories. Subjects/methods: We compared the manifestation of RIF in children (ages 8–12) and adolescents (ages 13–18) as a function of their weight status and sex. We also evaluated the effects of these variables on simple recall of items from episodic memory under conditions where competition from intrusive items was reduced. Results: Children with obesity did not demonstrate significant RIF, whereas RIF was exhibited by preteens without obesity and by teenage participants with- and without obesity (x Weight Status x Age Group interaction p = 0.028). This pattern of results did not differ as a function of sex for either age group. No differences in episodic memory were found. Additional analyses using Age as continuous covariate (and not as a nominal group) comparing participants who exhibited RIF with those who did not, found that the no RIF group consumed fast-food meals more frequently (p=.024) and had higher percentages of total body adiposity and android fat compared to the RIF group (p’s<.05). Conclusions: The findings expand what is known about the effects of childhood obesity on cognitive functioning, identify impaired RIF with specific behavioral and dietary factors and increased adiposity, and suggest the possibility that impairments in the ability to inhibit intrusive memories of food and eating may contribute to poor early-life weight control.