Creating engaging, effective, efficient and equitable learning through differentiated instruction

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As a school leader or a teacher, you know that classrooms are filled with diverse learning needs. Each of those learning needs should be supported so every student has the chance to succeed, but the reality is that differentiation can feel overwhelming for teachers. Dr. Claire Kilbane and Dr. Natalie Milman believe the answer to making differentiated instruction less complex is through the use of technology. 

Dr. Claire Kilbane is an education professor at the University of Notre Dame. She has an extensive background in teaching, as well as online learning design and research. Dr. Natalie Milman is the Associate Dean of the Office of Student Life and a professor of educational technology leadership at George Washington University. Both were K-12 classroom teachers before working at the university level.

Dr. Kilbane and Dr. Milman are also co-authors of the book Using Technology in a Differentiated Classroom. They sat down with us for a webinar designed for school leaders and teachers. In this educational blog post, we’ll cover their recommended strategies and tools for differentiation.

Why educators should differentiate instruction

Dr. Kilbane says, “As an educator, you work too hard not to be effective. And you’re doing that hard work because you care enough about your students and want them to succeed. So for me, differentiation and technology is an integral part to achieving those goals.” 

She explains that there are a many different types of learning needs in a classroom such as:

• How far along each learner is in the study of the curriculum
• How quickly learners progress in class
• Variety of languages spoken (for example, some are learning English at the same time they are learning the academic content)
• Learners from diverse cultures
• Learning disabilities 
• Difference in prior schooling
• Diverse socioeconomic situations
• Maturity, motivation, interests and skills

How to realistically differentiate instruction in the classroom

Dr. Milman explains, “You do not have to differentiate content, process, product and environment. You can pick and choose based on your learners’ needs and based on the objectives that you have for your students.”

Provide different sources to access content

One way to differentiate instruction is how educators provide learners access to the class content. For instance, there are print materials like textbooks, e-books, other online materials, videos and multimedia. In one class, learners could work on different kinds of content but with similar goals.

Another example is the use of annotation. For second language learners, an educator might annotate academic vocabulary for them to have more depth of understanding. Or an annotation could be an embedded question within the content. This could be done in a Google Doc or PDF or a Chrome extension like Annotate.

Differentiate the process

Educators can also differentiate the process or “the means by which students engage in the learning process.”

For example, one way you can incorporate differentiation is by offering students more choices. They choose the project they want to do or even choose the sources.

Another way to meet different learning needs is through tiered assignments where there are different levels of depth and opportunity. In this case, learners also get the chance to choose which assignments they want to complete for greater depth of understanding and the direction they are curious to take in the content they are learning. 

University of Massachusetts at Amherst has open source choice boards that you can use, which is a great way to pair technology and differentiation. Choice boards look like game boards, and learners can access the content and the material based on their interests. For example, an educator might say, “I’d like for you to complete at least three of the rectangles that are in this choice board.” Or an educator might want learners to complete half of them, depending on the objectives for the lesson.

Differentiate how students demonstrate their learning

One of the other ways educators might differentiate instruction is through the product. This is what students actually create to demonstrate their learning.

You might have them do a multimedia presentation, such as a paper slide video, a recorded video presentation, Google Slides, a printed report or an acting performance. 

Differentiate the learning environment

Another way to differentiate is how learners are engaged in the instruction with regard to how they feel in a location or environment.

What kind of spaces support their learning? An educator could incorporate a flipped classroom, which is a strategy where educators create a recorded presentation and students engage with the content and the material at home or  remotely in some way. Then, when they come together as a class,  learners will engage in discussion with one another, ask questions and tackle problems.

Another example of a learning environment is the use of learning management systems, where students are engaging with their peers, engaging with the teacher and engaging with the content.

Technology and equity in the classroom

Dr. Kilbane says that when it comes to differentiation, “Technology can be a very powerful tool, but that tool is always going to have some challenges associated with it. There’s always affordances and constraints of every tool.”

She continues, “Sometimes technology can make learning more equitable, meaning that more students have the support they require to have an opportunity to succeed. But sometimes the use of technology can make learning less equitable because it means that some students won’t have the skills they need to use that technology fully. And so when we’re thinking about these particular uses of technology, whether it’s in assessment or other aspects, including the process and the product, we want to be thinking carefully about the use of the tool and who it helps and who it challenges.”

Questions to consider about a tool or type of technology:

• Does the tool create more equitable instruction? Or does it add barriers?
• Does it help us create more efficient experiences for our learners?
• Does it help us create more efficient experiences for ourselves?
• Does the use of technology save time, energy or other resources?
• Does it make learning more effective?
• Does it stimulate learners’ attention and motivation? 
• Does it distract learners?

The role of assessments in differentiation

Dr. Kilbane says, “The goal is always to have accurate and meaningful assessments, no matter what kind of assessment you’re trying to use, whether it’s pre-assessment, formative, summative or other types of alternative assessments like portfolios. This helps us with instructional decision making, which is always important, but especially important in a differentiated classroom.” 

Pre-assessments

Using different types of technology can save time, which means that educators can do more frequent pre-assessments and have more accurate data for instructional decisions. 

Dr. Kilbane explains, “We want to think about both strategic learning about our students through assessment and inquiry, but we also want to remember to always relate with them as human beings and special individuals. So when we do pre-assessment, one of the things we’re trying to do is learn about our students and their entrance readiness learning profile. And that’s where differentiation is really helpful.”

Educators can do pre-assessments with technology before a lesson or at the beginning of the school year to get to know their learners. This helps educators better relate to them and meet their learning needs. They can incorporate pre-assessments to find out learners’ interests or whether or not they have mastery of a content skill.

Formative assessments and feedback

Formative assessment is learning that occurs during the process of a lesson to check where students are in their learning. 

Dr. Kilbane explains, “Formative assessment is something a teacher can offer, but it’s something that can also involve peer assessment and self-assessment of the students with a rubric.”

Learners can add annotations to work, referencing guidance from the teacher, or complete peer assessments with annotation, too. Another way to use technology is by giving feedback with audio.

“We can certainly write instructions for the students to improve their work, but students love to hear the concern and the support in your voice,” explains Dr. Kilbane.

Educators can also use a learning management system to record a quick message to help learners understand their strengths and areas they need to work on, while referencing some supportive resources that can help them. Or they can add feedback in Google Drive formative assessment.

Summative assessments

Summative assessment is the type of assessment we think about most often, which is assessing learners at the end of instruction. This is another area where educators can provide differentiation through choice of projects or use of technology to demonstrate learning.

Classroom communication and technology

Another way to address differences in the classroom is by communicating effectively with learners.

Communication begins with getting to know learners. Dr. Kilbane emphasizes, “One very important thing to do is to know their names and not only what their names are, but how to pronounce them. In our increasingly diverse classrooms, we can’t expect that we will be familiar with [all names], but we do need to be familiar with our students, including their names. And so one of the things I love to do is to get my students to record their names.”

She uses an MP3 player because it’s portable and quick, but there are a variety of apps that record audio. 

There are also many different types of tools educators or schools can use to communicate with families, including assisting with language translation.

Streamlining administrative classroom tasks with technology

There are many different details to manage in classrooms, especially when educators are giving learners choices about assignments.

Dr. Kilbane says, “I do find that technology allows me to practice more consistent and powerful differentiation because it streamlines some of the administrative processes. It keeps records of the plans, units and materials that I’ve created, and it’s much easier to update those when they are in electronic format.”