Personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner variability.
Disc Week5: Using Technology to Differentiate
Use technology to create, adapt, and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner variability.
This week’s focus is on creating digital age learning experiences. 21st century teachers are expected to provide personalized instruction tailored to meet students’ needs. While there’s no doubt that teachers do this every day with few resources, technology makes differentiating learning experiences much easier!
For this discussion, share your favorite way to use technology to differentiate. Walk us through the process (a specific example is usually the most helpful!), discuss the digital tool(s), and the differentiated learning experiences.
If you are NOT currently using technology to differentiate instruction, draw from this week’s Readings & Resources to create a plan for doing so. Share your ideas, information about your learners, and ask us questions so we can help you get on your way!
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1.You should to responds for two colleagues.I Will post their response.
2.You should to give them helpful suggestions/feedback and/or asks/answers questions, based on their responses.
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1/ My favorite way to differentiate using technology is simply using Google Docs. It seems basic, but there are so many ways for students to practice, collaborate, and complete work! I teach Dual Language (50/50 English-Spanish), and this year most of our students are native Spanish speakers. This sometimes makes it tricky for them to do writing assignments.
Here are some ways that I use Docs to differentiate for my students:
All students put Docs in a folder that we create together during the first week of school. At that time, they share this folder with me, as well, so I have access to all the work they put there. This has helped tremendously with technical difficulties when submitting work into Canvas.
If a student struggles with spelling or typing, they can use the voice-to-text feature. This has been especially useful for a few of my students who have a hard time staying focused. Being “allowed” to talk really helps them get their thoughts on paper.
If a student has a hard time getting started, I can collaborate with them on their Doc from anywhere in the room. They know how to share their Drive folder with me, use the commenting feature, and edit/revise as we work through it.
For my higher-ability students, they can start “worrying about” fixing the grammar and convention mistakes that are underlined in brown (oftentimes Clarity and Convention). My other students need only to worry about fixing the things underlined in red (spelling).
I also have higher-ability students collaborate with each other to revise and edit. They like to share their Docs with each other and make constructive comments on things to improve.
All in all, Google Docs has drastically changed the way I teach writing and the way that students learn and practice writing. In some ways I miss having students hand-write things, but Docs makes it so easy to help everyone be successful that I would never give it up willingly
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2. I am very fortunate to work in a building that has 1:1 technology with Chrome Streams which are a smaller, and simplified version of Chromebook. The laptops are used daily to support math and literacy in my classroom. Because research states that math supports literacy, my focus has been to support math as much as possible this year. A number of students struggled with number sense, so I contacted the district math team for support. With their help and continued professional development, I have developed math centers and math groups to develop the learning of my students. Morning sessions are ability based while afternoon centers are heterogeneous. The afternoon sessions all use Zearn, which is an adaptive program that mirrors the textbook program used in the morning session.
I use three different adaptive technology programs to support Math learning: FASTT Math intervention for struggling learners, ST Math supports student who are at grade level expectations, and Xtra Math for excelled learners. The three programs have placement assessments built in. From the results, the students are directed to specific activities. After an activity, the students are rewarded with a game.
FASST Math begins with a facts grid to show the students what addition or subtraction facts they have mastered and what is left to solve. The lesson begins with simple number sentences to be answered as quickly as possible within one minute. From the results, the program directs the student to math activities to solve with n the scaffolded support of a number line and ten frames. The number sentences have a missing addend or the student must find the sum. The sentences vary to challenge the student at their level of success and learning. They choices for the answers are on a number line, which is not visible unless the student hovers over the area. The invisible line allows the student to solve with an immediate response or hover the cursor at the bottom of the screen to gain access to a number line for scaffolded support. After fast facts exercises, students enjoy STRETCH-To-Go games, motivational designed games to build upon student mastery of facts to build flexibility with numbers. The students in the group continue to struggle with flexibility, number sense.
Data is collected for teacher analysis, and yes, the game piece is part of the data too! I can then use the data to design small group instruction and gather math games for use at a center to support additional exposure in the afternoons. Reviewing data allows me to restructure lessons and find the students who pretend to work. Yes, the data addresses this aspect as well so teachers can design quiet spaces for those who are easily distracted. I will now design an isolated technology center for three at a time.
Data really IS my friend!
Another way I differentiate for my students is using Google Slides to create graphic information for my students. This is an example of differentiating the process. By using photography or illustrations, I use a visual to define academic vocabulary. Presenting new vocabulary in visual format enables my students to understand the meaning of the new terms and take a mental picture to anchor the term in their memory. Using this technique in past years has been beneficial for student learning. Using the same visual technique, I use simplified visuals to match with vocabulary and definitions so all students may demonstrate understanding of the vocabulary by matching terms with pictures and student friend definitions.
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