This evening's OTF Connects session with Marie Swift introduced us to differentiating with technology in our classrooms.
Marie shared a several concrete ideas about how technology could be used to differentiated instruction for students, based on product, process, content. Here are five that stood out for me:
1. Voice Dictation Why do they all need to "write"? It's true that speaking is different from writing, and I'm curious about how this change in "producing content" will affect people's thought process. Nevertheless, there are some incredibly valuable worktools here. As assistive technology continues to evolve, I believe students will become more adept at "speaking their thinking", i.e. dictating, so that they can share their ideas in writing, but without the struggle of actually writing. This will be particularly helpful for students with certain kinds of learning disabilities. I plan to try this out with Alex and Simon tomorrow, for blogging. 2. Vocabulary Lists Students can use their personal devices to create and store vocabulary lists for personal reference when they are writing, both for topical ideas, and for spelling. I've had subject-specific vocab lists posted in class, but there is never enough wall space, and also, different students may benefit from different words on their lists, depending on individual needs and interests. | 3. Text-to-Speech-to-Text How about getting students to harness the built-in assistive tech in their own devices?! If your students have access to an iPhone or iPad, check this out!!! 4. Simple Wikipedia LOVE this idea!!! I want to explore more, to see if in fact it is as great as it sounds: As my students increasingly use online resources for research, it's important to have material written in "accessible" language. Apparently, Simple Wikipedia offers just this sort of a resource. 5. Descriptive Feedback Using Google Docs, people (peers or teacher) can give feedback immediately and simultaneously on a piece of work. As a participant added, "this tool is also great for collaborative learning groups". I have to confess that I'm feeling a little tense about this one: The whole Google Drive and Docs thing totally overwhelms me, and I don't really understand how it all works, but this is one thing I am definitely putting on my "to do" list professionally next year: Learn more about Google Docs and Drive!! :) |
Many more ideas and software were shared, but these are a few that stood out for me as manageable, effective technology that will enhance teaching and learning in 21 C classrooms -- can't wait to put them into action in my own!!