Rana Walton

6/28/15
EDU 225
Mr. Martin
Blog Entry 3: Differentiating Instruction through Technology
Without a doubt when students are compared to one another not a single student has the
same abilities, experiences, or learning needs.Each day, teachers face the task of helping students
stay engaged, show growth, and master the curriculum. What is differentiate instruction?
Differentiated instruction is an instructional theory that allows teachers to face this challenge by
taking diverse student factors into account when planning and delivering instruction (Using
technogoly to differeniate learning, 2012). It is even harder to meet the needs of every student
in the classrooms, every student has a different learning style. Technology has become so
advanced that more educators are using web tools to help the needs of students. Technology has
opened the doors for teachers to provide differentiate instruction without feeling overwhelmed
Technology to Differentiate Instruction
As educators, teachers can structure learning environments that address the variety of
learning styles, interests, and abilities found within a classroom. When searching for technology
that promotes differentiated instruction, educators should look for how standards correlate to
their students different learning styles, and options of different skill levels on the same content
(Stern, 2015). Here are three educational technologies that enhance differentiate instruction in
the classroom: SAS Curriculum Pathways, Newsela and Edpuzzle. They all help students gain
confidence to work on their own, access their own abilities, and choose tools that work best for
them.
(SAS Curriculum Pathways)

SAS Curriculum Pathways is a free online resource that provides interactive lessons,
videos, audio tutorials, and apps for English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies,
and Spanish. Teachers browse through the resources using state standards, a keyword, a subject
category, or a level. The various interactive resources let students learn, practice skills, and have
formative assessments to email, print, or save. This information helps teachers continue to group
students based on their needs (Stern, 2015). This tool can be connected to
the ISTE standards because "Students demonstrate a sound understanding
of technology concepts, systems, and operations" (ISTE for students, 2015).
This means that the students understand the use of computers and websites
and they use them effectively.
(Newsela):
Newsela allows students to read the same current events content, but it is differentiated to
fit the needs of the specific student. Teachers assign or students choose articles by topic, reading
standard, or level. For each article, students select from five different levels, ranging from grades
3-12. Some articles also have a four-question quiz providing feedback on correlating reading
standards (Stern, 2015). Students can highlight selections or answer teacher-created questions
within the article. All quiz scores, highlighted information, and written responses are saved in the
teacher's online binder to review and make adjustments as needed. This allows for flexible
grouping, either by topic, reading skill. This tool allows students to apply digital tools to gather,
evaluate and use information (ISTE for students, 2015).
(EDpuzzle):
In EDpuzzle, teachers can crop the video, insert an audio message, record their voice
over the entire video, prevent students from fast-forwarding, and embed different types of quiz

questions throughout. Then teachers assign students to watch the videos with the appropriate
questions or notes (Stern, 2015). As students watch them and answer questions, the teacher can
see how far they watched, how many times they watched a section, and their answers to the
questions. This quickly lets teachers know which students completed the flipped classroom
lesson, which ones have shown mastery and can move on, and which ones need to spend more
time on the concept. ISTE standards because "Students apply digital tools to
gather, evaluate, and use information" (ISTE for students, 2015). At the same
time they develop their critical thinking by choosing the appropriate sources.
Pros and Cons
There are various pros and cons of using technology to differentiate instruction in a
classroom. An example of a pro would be that technology may be used to adjust the level of
learning in order to suit the abilities of both the teacher and the student (Teaching Today, 2012).
A con would be that the teacher and student may have a different ability than one another and
may not be able to find or meet on a middle ground. Another pro would be that technology can
cater to specific learning styles. For example, a tape recorder caters to the auditory learning style
by proving sounds and music that can be heard and in this styles case easier to remember (Stern,
2015). A slide show on a computer would help the visual learners by providing pictures and
videos to look at and receive information by sight. A computer keyboard will help tactile learners
by providing a means for them to touch the information that they are supposed to be learning
(Teaching Today, 2012). The cons to this are that not all forms of technology suit all learning
styles, interests, and abilities of teachers and students.
Concluding Paragraph

There are technology tools available to help teachers keep students engaged while
matching instruction with students' instructional level. We need to allow them the opportunity to
learn from where they actually are and not where the textbook or curriculum says they need to
be. Differentiated Instruction will allow students to feel successful and empower them to become
lifelong learners. Technology can either be a great help to differentiation of instruction in a
classroom and the learning and teaching of students and their teachers or it can be a huge
detriment to progress all together.

References:

ISTE for students. (2015). Retrieved from ISTE: http://www.iste.org/standards/istestandards/standards-for-students

Stern, J. (2015, march 30). What works in Education. Retrieved from Euptopia:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/enhanced-learning-through-differentiated-technology-juliestern
Teaching Today. (2012). Retrieved from Glencoe:
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/di_meeting.phtml
Using technogoly to differeniate learning. (2012). Retrieved from Teaching:
http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/8484-using-technology-to-differentiateinstruction