Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction is a buzz word flying around the education world today. It is nothing new, but technology IS giving DI a new lease on life!

Learning Styles

After attending a workshop that was centered around this text, I was sold! The workshop emphasized everything I knew to be true about students, teaching, and classroom management. Identifying student strengths through a learning style survey is the first step in providing students with the tools they need. The survey would give students the opportunity to reflect on HOW they learn, and provide them with a useful learning style "type." The survey I use is called the YES I Can survey. The book went on to describe how to incorporate meaningful, individualized lessons withing the existing culture and framework of the classroom with the use of a learning menu.

Learning Menus

Learning menus have completely revolutionized the way differentiated instruction can be packaged in a classroom setting. The first step to any instructional planning is to define objectives. Once the instructor has identified WHAT the students need to learn, the menu will organize the HOW. Instructors get to have infinite creativity when it comes to designing their menu. They can have different tiers with different point values, or use a pattern like tic-tac-toe. No matter what the design, the underlying theme is student choice. Students know their learning style, and can now select items that demonstrate understanding using those strengths. Logistics for the instructor can be difficult having 9 different activities, and any number of students on any one of them. Although organizing the information is a daunting task, technology, like always, is here to save the day!

Web Menus

Now that the instructor has delineated the objectives, selected activities that emphasize learning styles and levels, and packaged it neatly into a learning menu, bring on the HYPERDOC. This technology is described as an engaging, digital lesson created by maximizing the potential of Web 2.0 tools. There are literally endless possibilities when it comes to the combinations of activities and assessments that can be incorporated into one hyperdoc. The trick is in the creative design by the instructor. To avoid your digital lesson becoming a digital worksheet, you must navigate the entire learning process from engage to assess in the document. Hyperdocs emphasize not only connecting students with content and their peers, but also holding them accountable with critical thinking and creation. This is the template I will be using to create my next learning menu.