Using Technology toMeet the Needs
of Diverse Learners
Donna Murray
DifferentiatedInstruction
“ is a model of instruction that revolves around the belief that students learn in many different ways.”
Taking in information (Content)
Making sense of information (Process)
Expressing what students learn (Product)
Provides multiple options for:
Digital Text
Text stored as strings of characters
Flexible and versatile
Search
Rearrange
Read aloud
Customize
Digital Text
Who does it help?Students who
…have trouble reading standard print from books.
…need additional info or supports placed near the text.
…could benefit interacting with text.
Other free digital texts
Audio
Text to speech
Read by computer on command
Pre-reading support
Access advanced materials
Reading and listening together
Read selected words/phrases
Text to speech
Support comprehension
Students improve editing and proofreading
Rewarding and motivating
Text to speech
Who does it help?Students who…
…struggle with task of composing grammatically correct sentences.
…could benefit from hearing omissions or inaccuracies in their work.
…could benefit from auditory input to support reading.
Text to speech
http://delicious.com/murraygirl/texttospeech
Listen Tool
Enhanced Text
Text with images, sounds, charts, definitions, background information, questions.
Enhanced Text
Who does it help?
Students who…
…have difficulties comprehending or organizing information.
…are ESL/ELL.
…students who need more context.
Software
Support research-based strategies
highlighting, scaffolding, summarizing
Software
Who does it help?
Students who…
…struggle with writing.
…need more time for editing and revision.
…have trouble with spelling and grammar.
Microsoft Word
Adjust text appearanceAdjust grammar checkerHighlight textOutliningInsert text boxes/graphicsDetermine readability of textAutoSummarizeThesaurus & DictionaryFind synonyms to match reading level
Visual
Nonlinguistic representations
Clip art
Streaming video
Digital photos
Graphic organizers
Visual
Who does it help?
Students who…
…benefit from seeing relationships between information
…having visual representation to help clarify and organize information
Visualhttp://delicious.com/murraygirl/graphicorganizers
http://delicious.com/murraygirl/videos
Curricular Supports
Web and digital tools that support flexibility for differentiation.
Assistive Technology
http://delicious.com/murraygirl/assistivetechnology
Board Maker templates
Text to speech tools
Assistive technology matrix
Additional Tools
Professional Development Resources
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
For more information, visit http://creativecommons.org .
Credit info: Donna Murray, Instructional Technology Specialistmurraydo at hickoryschools.net
Duffie, J (2008). Using Technology To Support Diverse Learners. Retrieved October 4, 2008, from WestEd Web site: http://www.wested.org/cs/tdl/download/lib/2590/TechSupDL6-7-07.ppt?x-r=pcfile_d