Leveraging Technology to Differentiate
Instruction
by Lauren Fee
Instructional Technology Services of Central Ohio
A Definition
“Differentiation means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction.”
- Carol Ann Tomlinson
Simply Put
• Response to learner needs
• Recognition of students’ varying background knowledge/preferences
• Instruction that appeals to students’ differences (Personal Learning Environments)
• iGoogle
• PageFlakes
• ZCubes
A lot to consider
• Learning styles, skill levels and rates
• Learning difficulties
• Language proficiency
• Background experiences and knowledge
• Interests
• Motivation
• Social/emotional development
• Various intelligences
Teachers Can Differentiate
According to Students’
Content Process Product
Readiness InterestLearningProfile
Technologies to Differentiate Content, Process & Product• Web searching (Grokker - WikiMindMap)
• Simple Searching (Yahoo!)
• Podcasts (Coulee Kids - 60 Sec Science)
• Blog (Getting started - Edublogs)
• Wikis (East Side Community School)
• Google (Docs - Custom Search Engine)
• WebQuest (Matrix)
• Video/Photo editing (Jumpcut )
Analytical Creative Practical
Sternberg’s Theory
Partial List of Learning Modality Tasks/Skills
Kinesthetic
•model •demonstrate •build
•act out •use tools to.. •dance
•produce •simulate •craft
•transform •show in lab •make
Visual
•diagram •overlay •map
•chart •timeline •web
•illustrate •cartoon •model
•graph •video •pop-up
Oral
•recite •broadcast •speech
•discuss •question •interview
•debate •cook/taste •sing
•argue •converse •perform
Auditory
•radiocast •soundscape •music
•podcast •commercial •chant
•persuade •ad/jingle •rhythm
•compose •speech •phone
http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/ts/style.html
Foundations of DI
Pre-assessment
Flexible grouping
Instruction
Formative assessment
Adjust Instruction
Flexible grouping
Summative assessment
What to Pre-Assess
Readiness
“A student’s entry point relative to a particular understanding or skill.”
Interest
“Refers to a child’s affinity, curiosity, or passion for a particular topic or skill.”
Learning Profile
“It is shaped by intelligence preferences, gender, culture, or learning style.”
Tomlinson The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners
Technology and Pre-Assessment
• KWL / Online Pre-tests (Discovery School)
• Journal Entry/Blog (Edublog)
• Graffiti Wall (Wiki)
• Video
• Online Multiple Intelligence Inventories
• Abiator’s Online Learning Styles Inventory
• Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire
• Exit Cards
Technology and Summative Assessment
Electronic Portfolio (Helen Barrett)
• Process of developing
• Examples
• Traditional technology tools
• Web 2.0 tools
• Blogs/Wikis
• Google Docs/Spreadsheet
• Podcasting
Instructional Strategies
• Tiered Activities
• Learning Contracts
• Choice Boards
• Menu
• Bingo
• RAFT’s
Tiered Activities
“Teachers use tiered activities so all students focus on essential understandings and skills but at different levels of complexity, abstractness, and open-endedness.”
- Tomlinson
Beginning Intermediate Advanced
Outcome/Objective
Students will determine a topic and will write a five-sentence paragraph with a main idea, three supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence.
Students will determine a topic, state a point of view, and write two paragraphs defending that point of view.
Students will determine a topic, state a point of view, and write an essay of at least five paragraphs that uses multiple sources to defend that point of view.
Instruction/Activity
Students will receive a model of a five-sentence paragraph and explicit instruction in constructing the paragraph.As a prewriting activity, students will list their topic and develop a list of at least three things that support their topic.
Students will receive a model of a persuasive essay and a graphic organizer that explains the construction of a persuasive essay. Students will also receive explicit instruction in writing a persuasive essay.As a prewriting activity, students will use the graphic organizer to plan their writing.
Students will review the graphic organizer for a persuasive essay. Students will be given explicit instruction in locating sources and quotes for their essays. As a prewriting activity, students will use the graphic organizer to organize their essay. Students will also compile a list of five sources that defend their main point.
Assessment Students will be able to write a five-sentence paragraph that successfully states and supports a main idea. The paragraph will meet the criteria on the state writing rubric.
Students will be able to state a point of view and successfully defend the idea using two paragraphs that defend the point of view using main ideas and supporting details. The paragraphs will meet the criteria on the state writing rubric.
Students will be able to write a five-paragraph essay that states a point of view, defends the point of view, and uses resources to support the point of view. The essay will meet the criteria on the state writing rubric.
Tiered Activity – Writing a Persuasive Essay4th–6th Grade Classroom
Learning Contracts
“In essence, a learning contract is a negotiated agreement between teacher and students that gives students some freedom in acquiring skills and understanding that a teacher (students) deems important at a given time.”
- Tomlinson
Designing a Differentiated Learning ContractDesigning a Differentiated Learning Contract
A Learning Contract may have the following components
• A Skills ComponentA Skills Component• Focus is on skills-based tasks• Assignments are based on pre-assessment of students’ readiness• Students work at their own level and pace
• A Content componentA Content component• Focus is on applying, extending, or enriching key content (ideas, understandings)• Requires sense making and production• Assignment is based on readiness or interest
• A Time LineA Time Line• Teacher sets completion date and check-in requirements• Students select order of work (except for required meetings and homework)
• The AgreementThe Agreement• The teacher agrees to let students have freedom to plan their time• Students agree to use the time responsibly• Guidelines for working are spelled out• Consequences for ineffective use of freedom are delineated• Signatures of the teacher, student and parent (if appropriate) are placed on the
agreement
I will read: I will look at and listen to: I will write:
I will draw: I will need:
Here’s how I will share what I know:
My question or topic is:
I will finish by this date:
To find out about my question or topic…
Learning Contract #1Name _______________________
Learning Contract #2To demonstrate what I have learned about ____________________, I want to
_ Write a report_ Put on a demonstration_ Set up an experiment_ Develop a computer presentation_ Build a model
_ Design a mural_ Write a song_ Make a movie_ Create a graphic organizer or diagram_ Other
This will be a good way to demonstrate understanding of this concept because______________________________________________________________
To do this project, I will need help with______________________________________________________________
My Action Plan is________________________________________________
The criteria/rubric which will be used to assess my final product is _______________________________________________________________________
My project will be completed by this date _____________________________
Student signature: ________________________________ Date __/__/__Teacher signature: ________________________________ Date __/__/__
Choice Boards
“With choice boards, changing assignments are placed in permanent pockets. By asking a student to make a work selection from a particular row, the teacher targets work toward student need and at the same time allows student choice.”
-Tomlinson
Entrée (Select One)•Draw a picture that shows what happens during photosynthesis.•Write two paragraphs about what happens during photosynthesis.•Create a rap that explains what happens during photosynthesis.
Diner Menu – Photosynthesis
Appetizer (Everyone Shares)•Write the chemical equation for photosynthesis.
Side Dishes (Select at Least Two) •Define respiration, in writing.•Compare photosynthesis to respiration using a Venn Diagram.•Write a journal entry from the point of view of a green plant.•With a partner, create and perform a skit that shows the differences between photosynthesis and respiration.
Dessert (Optional)•Create a test to assess the teacher’s knowledge of photosynthesis.
Writing BingoTry for one or more BINGOs this month. Remember, you must have a real reason for the writing experience! If you mail or email your product, get me to read it first and initial your box! Be sure to use your writing goals and our class rubric to guide your work.
Recipe Thank you note
Letter to the editor
Directions to one place to another
Rules for a game
Invitation Email request for information
Letter to a pen pal, friend, or relative
Skit or scene Interview
Newspaper article
Short story Your choice Grocery or shopping list
Schedule for your work
Advertisement Cartoon strip Poem Instructions Greeting card
Letter to your teacher
Proposal to improve something
Journal for a week
Design for a web page
Book Think Aloud
RAFT
“RAFT is an acronym for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. In a RAFT, students take on a particular role, develop a product for a specified audience in a particular format and on a topic that gets right at the heart of what matters most in a particular segment of study.”
- Tomlinson
RAFT
• Role: Who are you as the writer? Are you Abraham Lincoln? A warrior? A homeless person? An auto mechanic? The endangered snail darter?
• Audience: To whom are you writing? Is your audience the American people? A friend? Your teacher? Readers of a newspaper? A local bank?
• Format: What form will the writing take? Is it a letter? A classified ad? A speech? A poem?
• Topic: What's the subject or the point of this piece? Is it to persuade a goddess to spare your life? To plead for a re-test? To call for stricter regulations on logging?
Role Audience Format Topic
Semicolon Middle Schoolers Diary entry I Wish You ReallyUnderstood Where I Belong
N.Y.Times Public Op Ed Piece How our Language DefinesWho We Are
Huck Finn Tom Sawyer Note hidden in a tree knot
A Few Things You Should Know
Rain Drop Future Droplets Advice Column The Beauty of Cycles
Lung Owner Owner’s Guide To Maximize Product Life
Rain Forest John Q. Citizen Paste Up “Ransom”Note Before It’s Too Late
Reporter Public Obituary Hitler is Dead
Martin Luther King
TV audience of 2010 Speech The Dream Revisited
Thomas Jefferson
Current Residents of Virginia
Full page Newspaper Ad If I Could Talk to You Now
Fractions Whole Numbers Petition To Be Considered A Part of the Family
A word problem Students in your class Set of Directions How to Get to Know Me
Lang
uage
Arts
& L
itera
ture
Scie
nce
His
tory
Mat
h
Format based on the work of Doug Buehl cited in Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me Then Who? Billmeyer and Martin, 1998
Consumer Education Class RAFTIn this RAFT, all students will have a Topic that focus on food safety practices. The Formats are meant to appeal to different learning styles.
Role Audience Format Topic
Raw chicken pieces
Chefs in training Dramatic speech Why foods like me (poultry) require special handling and care of utensils
Cartoon characters
Saturday morning viewers
Jingle, rap, or chant
The importance of cleanliness and washing hands
National Restaurant Organization
Restaurant workers Illustrated Poster or Flow Diagram
Proper care of knives and cutting boards
Bacteria Ground beef Role play or simulation
Dangers of thawing meat out on a counter
Power Company Consumer Relations Dept.
Homeowners who have lost power for 3+ days due to hurricane or ice storm
Consumer Alert messages for broadcast on TV
What to do with items from the refrigerator and freezer that have come to room temperature
Mayonnaise in egg salad
Picnickers Urgent Email Watch out! I’m going to get you!
3-2-1 Exit Card
• 3 things you learned
• 2 ways you might start or continue in your own classroom.
• 1 question you still have
Additional Resources
• Different Strokes for Little Folks
• Differentiated Instruction
• Differentiating the Learning Environment
• What is Differentiated Instruction?
• Technology and Multiple Intelligence
• Lakeland Schools: Using Technology to Differentiate Instruction
• Enhance Learning with Technology
Thanks so muchSend me your 3-2-1’s!
www.itscoteam.org/~lauren
ITSCO
Instructional Technology of Central Ohio, Inc.
www.itsco.org
References:
Some materials adapted from a presentation by Melissa Storm, PhD, The Access Center and Lori Centerbar, Med, South Burlington Public Schools, VT. Other materials are from an ASCD Onsite Professional Development Class offered by Sandra Page (www.ascd.org).
Thanks to my colleagues Peggy Whyte and Alexa Stazenski for sharing their work.
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