“Education should help turn novice learners into expert learners – individuals who know how to learn, who want to learn, and who, in their own highly individual ways, are well prepared for a lifetime of learning” (CAST, 2009). This course has shown me that the best way to accomplish this goal is to differentiate my instruction to meet the needs of all my students. I plan to take a variety of steps to incorporate technology and accomplish this goal.
First of all, I plan to use technology to get to know my students. When the teacher understands the way individual students learn, it opens the classroom up to flexibility with instruction and develops the perspective of studying students as individuals instead of as a group (Tomlinson, 2009). I will use technology at the beginning of the year to gain an understanding of students’ interests and learning styles through a questionnaire on Survey Monkey and a webquest.
The second action I recently began in my classroom and plan to continue to expand is using technology to differentiate my assessments. I started using different methods to guide my teaching and provide immediate feedback, such as ActiVotes, educational software, and online tutorials. “Giving students feedback seemed to be more productive than giving them grades” (Tomlinson, 2008, p.10).
The next immediate action I hope to take is to call on the help of my colleagues to share ideas and materials (Tomlinson, 1999). I hope to meet with this group on a regular basis to help each other with new technologies and plan together. Finding peers who wish to grow with you will create a support group to deal with a possible frustrating situation. The teachers at our school were recently given MacBooks and taught to use iChat to communicate. This feature can be extremely helpful, especially if the colleagues you are collaborating with are in a different building.
Finally, I hope to continue learning and trying new technologies. Effective teachers have a mindset and willingness to continue to be a learner (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). To keep my instruction fresh and engaging, I will read articles and attend trainings that deal with implementing technology into the classroom. Once I find a new technology that seems promising, I will experiment with the technology and adapt the use of the technology to fit my students’ needs.
“Integrating technology into a classroom of diverse learners is a difficult process” (Bray, Brown, & Green, 2004, p. 31). Technology should be integrated one step at a time. The teacher needs to experiment with technology and get comfortable using and teaching with technology. Oftentimes teachers can rely on the help of the students when using technology tools. Students of today grow up using technology and have a comfort level beyond what many teachers are capable of depending on how long they have been teaching.
References
Bray, M., Brown, A., & Green, T. (2004). Technology and the Diverse Learner: A Guide to Classroom Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Center for Applied Special Technology. (2009). UDL guidelines, version 1.0. Retrieved from http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2009). Putting it All Togethe [Motion picture]. Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology. Baltimore: Author.
Tomlinson, C. (1999). Differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all Learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. learners. Retrieved from the Walden Library ebrary.
Tomlinson, C. (2009). Learning profiles and achievement. School Administrator. 66(2) 28–33. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
