I read a very interesting article from eSchool News. It was called Technology Empowers Differentiated Instruction. The article talks about a webinar presented by two authors, Grace Smith and Stephanie Throne (Differentiating Instruction with Technology in K-5 Classrooms and the soon-to-be-published Differentiating Instruction with Technology in Middle School Classrooms). The webinar was created to help teachers find concrete applications of differentiating in the classroom using technology. Both authors believe that differentiated instruction is student-centered, and offers multiple paths to learning.
The first step is to pre-assess student’s interest through surveys, observations, or interviews. Next they said to choose different strategies to build on students’’ interest in ways that are appropriate for their abilities or age levels. Some of these strategies include I-Search, Web Quests, interest centers, flexible groups, literature circles, Role Audience Format Topic Tech (R.A.F.T.T.), jigsaw, or computer software. The article continues to break these strategies down and explain more about each one.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2009/02/02/technology-empowers-differentiated-instruction/
What do you think about webinars as a method to bring teachers up to speed on new topics? Seems like a good way to allow learners to work on their own time and at a speed that fits their learning style. Once a group completes a webinar on say, differentiated learning, the team could get back together and plan with some common knowledge.
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