Put Your Classroom On A21st Century DI-IT!!

Differentiated Instruction is the latest catch phrase for designing effective instuctructional practices to better meet the needs of the diverse learners found throughout every classroom. Many of your instructional practices may already include these practices, but building strategies that infuse educational technology will assist in supporting and fostering highly engaging 21st Century classrooms. I hope that you can use these resources to assist you with differentiation and the effective integration of technology into your daily instructional repertoire.

Curriculum should be differentiated in three areas:

1. Content: Multiple options for taking in information
2. Process: Multiple options for making sense of the ideas
3. Product: Multiple options for expressing what they know

Non-negotiables For DI

1. Supportive Environments - meet the needs of all learners. Levels, styles and readiness.
2. Ongoing (formative) Assessment - identify and assess knowledge, skills through student products.
3. Quality Curriculum - based on standards, benchamarks, 21st Century Skills.
4. Respectful Tasks - respct for the individual learning needs.
5. Flexible Grouping - grouping based on student interests, levels, and learning styles.
   1. Resources
      1. Carol A. Tomlinson's UBD Model
      2. DI Toolbox

Multiple Intelligences - How do we learn? Read this excerpt from Multiple Intelligences and Instructional Technolgy.

1. Take the Test!!! Learn how You Learn.
2. Another Fun MI Test

How do you rate your technological literacy; a preliterate, technorat, technotraditionalist, or a technoconstructivist? Read here to find out what level you are on and where you can be.

A Digital Blooms Taxonomy - Bloom's Taxonomy Revised- Blooms Taxonomy For the 21st Century Classroom

Techlearning Article

Incorporating the 21st Century Skills and the NETS

• 21 and Nets.ppt
• nets21stcent.doc

A Differentiated Instructional Technology Approach

Download and use this template to assist you with lesson plan development.

• DI and Integration.dot
• DI IT.ppt

How Well are You Integrating Technology?

Use ISTE's new tool Classroom Observation Toolb - ICOT, to measure teacher NETS and integration strategies. Provides qualitative and quantitative ed tech data and feedback. Observation forms are free and can be disaggregated at ISTE's site so that collected data can be used to evaluate teacher, school, or district use of technology in teaching based on 2008 Teacher NETS.

What are the 6 Identified Areas of Instruction?

1. Setting - who, what, when and where?
2. Room Description - describe room or learning environment
3. Grouping - student groups or pairing
   1. Levels of Engagemennt
   2. Integration components - content and effectiveness
4. NETS - identifies standards covered during instruction
5. Chart - timeliness of technology use during instruction (identify use every 3 minutes)

Resources for Effective Integration Strategies

Web20Guru - My wiki with tons of free Web 2.0 Resources for effective and engaging integration strategies.

Suggestions for implementing differentiated instructional technology practices.

1. Identify student learning styles to customize learning experiences by better meeting student needs.
2. Offer students a choice when establishing projects and desired outcomes.
3. Technology integration should be seamless and meaningful, it's not something "Extra".
4. Start simple and build upon to establish an instructional repetoire.
5. Use technology resources that are accessible 24/7.
6. Ask your digitally connected students for assistance, they will enjoy it!!
7. Be practical and realistic with yourself and your students.
8. Have fun!