Executive Functions are the skills that we use to set a goal, make a plan, and then do the steps needed to complete the plan and meet the goal. There are three main areas of executive functions:
- Working Memory: The executive functions skill of holding on to information and putting it to its correct use. Executing the sequence of looking up the telephone number for pizza delivery, finding your
phone, making the call and ordering pizza is an example of working memory.
- Cognitive Flexibility: The executive functions skill of looking at things in more than one way. If you are preparing a presentation and decide that graphs would be more effective than pie charts, you are using cognitive flexibility.
- Inhibitory Control: The executive functions skill of staying focused on a task and ignoring distractions. In today’s virtual learning environment, it could be described as resisting Instagram when you are taking lecture notes. Master Your Executive Functions Skills for the Age of Virtual Learning
Executive functions skills can be critical in today’s virtual learning environment. As our world grows in advancement, the distractions grow at an equal, sometimes, greater pace. With or without a specific executive functions disorder, training executive functions skills is more important now than ever. Executive functions skills in the brain are like command operations in a computer. Every individual has a limited capacity for executive function skills before they get exhausted. In a virtual learning world, there is an ever increasing number of tabs to keep track. Training executive functions skills will ensure that the brain is running at optimal performance!
