FOKUS-ADHS: Self-Regulation for Adolescents with ADHD in the School Day
A free, open-source app to support self-regulation for adolescents with ADHD during the school day. Runs on smartphones and tablets.
Duration: January 2027 – December 2027
Status: Planned
Education Levels: Lower Secondary Level, Upper Secondary Level
BeLEARN Topics: Digital Tools, Digital Skills
Keywords: ADHD; self-regulation; adolescents; school day; open-source app
Initial Situation
ADHD affects around five percent of school-aged children and places considerable demands on the young people concerned, their teachers and the whole class. Effective non-pharmacological approaches such as mindfulness, short bouts of physical activity and calming soundscapes are well documented. However, they were developed for long, guided formats. Hardly any of them can be used during regular lessons without specialised equipment, additional staff or per-pupil costs. As a result, teachers lack practical, low-threshold tools to support the self-regulation of pupils with ADHD during the school day, and evidence-based approaches rarely reach the classroom. At the same time, schools already own smartphones and tablets that could serve as a delivery channel, yet there is no free, privacy-compliant application designed for this purpose and for the Swiss school context. A first solution was developed and tested in a master’s thesis (Brand, 2025). It remains unclear, however, whether such a tool can be used practically and is accepted in real Swiss lower secondary classrooms, and which conditions are needed for its sustainable use.
Objectives
The project aims to (1) further develop FOKUS-ADHS, a free, open-source app offering three short, evidence-based exercise types (mindfulness, brief movement and a calming soundscape) based on the existing DAVI platform; (2) examine its feasibility and acceptance in real Swiss lower secondary classrooms; (3) identify the conditions required for sustainable use; and (4) make the app, its source code and a German-language teaching kit freely available to all Swiss schools.
Method
Feasibility and acceptance study using mixed methods, with a focus on depth of implementation rather than statistical breadth; no efficacy claims are made. The evaluation design is preregistered on OSF before data collection. After co-design workshops with teachers, the app is integrated into classroom routines in one to two lower secondary classes (Q2) and, where feasible, further classes (Q3). Data sources are in-app usage analytics, implementation outcome measures and semi-structured interviews with teachers. App versions and event schemas used in each phase are frozen and documented to ensure reproducibility. Findings feed iteratively into app and teaching kit. An optional exploratory accelerometer component depends on device validation.
Planned Translation
Translation is built in from the start: teachers from the pilot schools act as co-designers, ensuring that the app and materials fit everyday school practice. At the end of the project, the app, its open source code and a German-language teaching kit will be freely available to all Swiss schools. The app runs on devices schools already own and builds on the DAVI platform, for which data protection clarifications have already been carried out, which lowers barriers to adoption. Partners are BeLEARN, PHBern (Institute for Further Education), BFH (Department of Engineering and Computer Science) and one to two lower secondary pilot schools. Dissemination takes place via their networks, e.g. continuing education courses for teachers.
For educational practice, FOKUS-ADHS gives teachers a free, low-threshold tool to support the self-regulation of pupils with ADHD during regular lessons, without additional devices, staff or costs, which may also benefit the whole class. For research, the project generates evidence on the feasibility and acceptance of short, app-based self-regulation exercises in real classrooms and on the conditions for sustainable implementation, providing a basis for a subsequent effectiveness study. Impact will be measured through teacher and pupil acceptance ratings and usage data during the pilot, and after release through the number of downloads, the number of schools using the app and the reuse of the open source code.
