Abstract:

The diversity of the 21st-century classroom creates several difficulties for teachers who most probably did not encounter such multiplicity as students. The practice of differentiating instruction helps teachers address the required standards, yet be able to respond to their learners’ needs.

Differentiation permits teachers to focus on important skills in each content area while at the same time be attentive to their learners’ individual differences. It also helps them integrate assessment into their instruction, and provide their learners with multiple opportunities to learning. The result is a classroom where all learners acquire knowledge. Differentiated Instruction “is a model of instruction that revolves around the belief that students learn in many different ways” (Verde, 2004). It “provides materials and tasks at varied levels of difficulty with varying degrees of scaffolding, through multiple instructional groups; encourages student success by varying ways in which students work alone or collaboratively, in auditory or visual modes, or through practical or creative means” (Tomlinson, 2000).

At CiS (City International School) we differentiate our instruction because we can maximize our learners’ growth by meeting them at the level they are and helping them progress. In our classes we use technology since we believe that it helps us meet the needs of our learners in every lesson we give since technology assists us in pacing lessons for each of our student’s learning level. However, it’s important to know how to successfully assimilate technology into our instruction. The most vital principle of technology integration is that we need to focus on the outcome of the instruction, and not technology itself (Gibson, 1977). We only use technology to help facilitate our students’ learning process for it allows changes in the lessons in terms of content, channels of input and the means of output. Moreover, through technology, our classes become a great stage for cooperative learning.

Tools such as comic Creator, Character Trading Cards, Acrostic Poems, Cube Creator and sites such as Podcasts, Webcams, Discovery School and iLearn are used in most classes at CiS to enhance learners’ experiences. In this paper I will share the LWIS-CiS-DT’s experience in using technology to advance learning using differentiated instruction.

Keywords:

Technology, differentiated instruction, learners’ needs, classroom.