2. Differentiating Instruction
Addressing the needs of all students can be very challenging in our classrooms. A
teacher will have gifted students, students who don’t like to work in groups, students
who have IEPS. The list can go on and on, but the key is to plan according to the
needs of our students. This is called differentiating instruction.
Differentiated Instruction (DI) purposefully designs instruction to accommodate the
known needs of one’s students and providing them with different content, strategies,
and means of demonstrating the desired learning goals
4. Differentiate Content
• Access primary documents including images and audio files from museums or the Library of
Congress. Create or find WebQuests on different topics of study. Review Today’s Front Pages
from the Newseum. Incorporate an academic search engine or one designed for children.
• Use short video clips from an education video-sharing site.
• Use data from government agencies such as NASA, NOAA, or travel sites from other countries.
• Incorporate text readers for digital books or web pages.
• Use a social bookmarking site, such as Diigo, or a web curation site, such as LiveBinders to
identify and organize information used in a lesson.
5. Differentiate Process
• Use a comic book creator or app
• Incorporate a virtual field trip with a local business, museum, or point of interest.
• Explore consequences and manipulate outcomes through a simulation or digital model.
• Write a storyboard for a video or presentation.
• Play or create a learning game on an educational website or using an app.
• Create a digital story using presentation software that incorporates text, images, and/or
video.
• Assign groups based on learning profiles or interests.
• Connect with other classrooms through e-mail or videoconferencing
6. Differentiate the Process
• Create a concept map before and after instruction.
• Create a public service announcement about an environmental or social
issue.
• Demonstrate a process through a narrated screen capture video.
• Generate an oral history using digital audio and images.
• Publish to a blog.
• Create an infographic using clip art and text.
7. Universal Design for Learning
Another method of personalizing instruction is through Universal Design for
Learning (UDL). UDL is an approach to instruction in which teachers remove
barriers to learning by providing flexibility in materials, methods, and
assessments.
UDL is more focused on addressing the needs of special needs students than
DI.
8. Research on UDL
According to the research article Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A Content
Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Journal Papers from 2012 to 2015 old fashion one style of
teaching does not work.
• The article quotes “The traditional teaching approach of ‘one-size-fits-all’ cannot
meet learner diversity in contemporary learning. The main theories that have been
developed to overcome the failing of this approach are either accommodating
educational content in accordance with individual learner preferences or designing
flexible and accessible educational settings, without retrofitting or adaptation. The
former can be exhibited in the learning styles theory, whereas the UDL approach
represents the latter.” (Al-Azawei1, Serenelli, Lundqvist 2016)
9. Chapter 11
A key component to mastering DI is learning to be a culturally responsive
teacher.
A culturally responsive teacher is one who understands and capitalizes on the
unique cultural attributes and experiences of students to promote student
achievement.
10. Key Behaviors of a Culturally Responsive
Teacher
1. They are socially conscious, meaning that one’s understanding is influenced by one’s
culture.
2. They view students’ diverse backgrounds as assets rather than liabilities/
3. They feel personally responsible for helping schools be more responsive to all
students.
4. They understand how learners construct knowledge.
5. They know about the lives of their students
6. They design instruction that builds upon students’ prior knowledge and experiences
and stretches them beyond the familiar
11. Digital Divide
One of the NETS standards says that we should address the diverse needs of
learners by being able to provide equitable access to all tools and resources.
Digital divide deals with students who don’t have access to all the tools nd
resources other students ma have.
12. Four Components to Consider with the Digital
Divide
1. Access to up-to-date hardware, software, and connectivity
2. Access to meaningful, high-quality, and culturally responsive content and
the opportunity to contribute to that content
3. Access to educators who know how to use digital tools and resources
4. Access to systems sustained by leaders with vision and support for change
via technology.
*** Teachers can directly influence the first 3.
13. APA CITATION
Slide 8
Al-Azawei, A., Serenelli, F., & Lundqvist, K. (2016). Universal Design for
Learning (UDL): A Content Analysis of Peer Reviewed Journals from 2012 to
2015. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 16(3), 39.
doi:10.14434/josotl.v16i3.19295
