Differentiation and Technology

The course Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology has actually been very helpful to me. This year, I have possibly the most diverse class I have ever taught. In that past, I have thought that differentiation meant I had to change the curriculum or create a new lesson for each child. The resources and discussions in this class have helped me see that differentiation is really about looking at the students instead of the curriculum, and allowing students to access the curriculum differently based on how they learn. Technology, of course, is key to being able to do this. We now have the ability to make text books interactive, add audio/visual aspects to lessons and even increase the size of text using educational technology.

The social networking group that was formed in the class was valuable as well. Sometimes when we are looking through the endless possibilities for technology resources for our classrooms, it can get a bit overwhelming. We all know that we cannot simply click on the first resource that our search engine pulls up and put it into practice with our students. It must first be researched. Having a group of educators with the same goal posting their technology finds has helped me by giving me tried and true resources that I can trust and use in my classroom safely and quickly to differentiate instruction.

The foremost change to my instruction will be a change of perspective about differentiating instruction. Simply having different activities is not enough. I must first survey my students somehow to find out what their needs are. Of course, after most of a year with them, I can tell you their academic short comings; however, I would like to find more out about their interests and engage them on that level. I will also make an attempt to allow students more opportunities to prove their knowledge. I often give them one paper/pencil test and ask them to perform well in order to prove mastery of a skill. I will make more of an effort to offer a wider variety of performance and project-based tasks for students to prove mastery.