Using Technology to Differentiate Instruction
I'm in Hattiesburg, MS today at the USM Leadership Institute. We're here talking about using technology to differentiate instruction for a wide variety of learners. The topics we're exploring include ebooks, multimedia presentations, audio ebooks, podcasts, mini-movies, scaffolding, graphic organizers, writing tools, assessment systems, and more.
I'd like to give the participants at this conference an opportunity to reflect on what they're hearing here. Please post a comment and address one or more of these questions:
- What does "differentiating instruction" mean to you?
- What is your school's biggest challenge in trying to differentiate instruction?
- What needs to be done to live up to the promise of ensuring the success of ALL students?
- Which technology that you've seen today do you think has the greatest potential to help differentiate instruction?
- What have you learned today that will be most valuable to you as you go back to your school?
Thanks for sharing!
I'd like to give the participants at this conference an opportunity to reflect on what they're hearing here. Please post a comment and address one or more of these questions:
- What does "differentiating instruction" mean to you?
- What is your school's biggest challenge in trying to differentiate instruction?
- What needs to be done to live up to the promise of ensuring the success of ALL students?
- Which technology that you've seen today do you think has the greatest potential to help differentiate instruction?
- What have you learned today that will be most valuable to you as you go back to your school?
Thanks for sharing!
Labels: differentiating instruction
posted by Karen F at 5:04 AM
2 Comments:
I appreciated the superintendent's call to action for changing what we're doing to raise student achievement.
I was also impressed with the role technology can play in adapting instruction to a variety of learner needs.
ok, I don't usually comment on my own posts, but since Mississippi administrators seem to be feeling shy today :), I'll tell you a few of my own obserations.
I was impressed by Mississippi State Superintendent Hank Bounds. He started his presentation with a wakeup call to the calamity of high school dropout rates. [I think this is a much overlooked statistic that is an indictment of the current state of failure of K-12 education.] He then proceeded with a gutsy presentation of data that showed a disparity of achievement between various student populations (by ethnicity, SES, ELL, etc.). Those statistics painted a clear picture that we are not adequately serving "all" studnets. He called on all of us to recognize that a drastic CHANGE is necessary.
Bounds also said that principals must be "instructional leaders," helping teachers know how to do their jobs better. [This is an area I feel strongly about, yet many principals view their job as overseeing discipline and sports. Shouldn't curriculum and instruction be the primary concern of everyone in education?]
Finally, I liked Dr. Reeves comments about the school trophy case. He identified that as a place where kids see what is important to a school. It should include things like writing samples, academic awards, and other exemplars of academic achievement.
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