Part 2: Blog Post

Section 4: Differentiating Instruction through Technology

When it comes to students we have always differed when it comes to learning styles, we are
all different and thus we learn and retain things differently from others. This can put teachers in a
complicated situation, trying to cater to each individuals preferred way of learning. The is where
Differentiated learning comes in to play, this learning method has become one of the latest
methods of education, it offers a way to impact the students learning and evaluate it to the
highest level possible. As we all know there are always pros and cons to everything. There are
many pros for adjusting instruction for differentiated learning a few of those pro are: The
students themselves become motivated to learn the content, when you can offer a lesson in the
way they learn best the odds of them retaining the information are increased. ) Differentiated
instruction allows them to learn at their own abilities and strengths, thus making the content
more student-friendly. This will help motivate your students by allowing them to demonstrate
what they have learned while using their own talents with regard to their interests. (Tomlinson,
2000) another pro is that is can help the lower end learners, without putting them on the spot in
class. The low-end learner or lower functioning learner needs to be offered different strategies
and modifications, in order to achieve their level of learning. Low-end learners may not be able
to attain grade-level appropriate curriculum; however, all learners need the opportunity to be
Successful at their individual instructional needs. A few cons of Differentiated instruction are
that the environment will undergo a change, it may become overwhelming when everyone is
working on something different and some students may not be able to tune out the distractions of
all of the different conversations happening bout all the different learning modules, whether it be

the higher end learners comparing each others or the lower end learners discussing. This might
about create a problem of fairness a higher-end learner may feel that their work is far more
complicated, they may think that the lower-end learner is getting off easy.
The practice of differentiating instruction aids teachers in completing the demanding
standards while responding to the separate needs of student. Differentiation permits teachers to
focus on essential skills in each content area and to be responsive to individual differences.
Students with disabilities have access to appropriate modifications, while students who excel
have access to appropriate challenges. (Hobgood & Ormsby, n.d) Then it comes the question of;
should a teacher only use technology to differentiate instruction? I think differentiate learning is
a good idea and great resource to have, however, some of the best learning happens when you are
face to face with your teacher. Teachers are people watchers, they watch habits and reactions of
their students, they have a nature ability with children, they can read them, they can tell when a
student is happy, sad, irritated, angry and frustrated, and a computer program cannot offer such
details when it comes to human emotion.
The impact on student achievement when technology is used to differentiate instruction is
that the student is offered a level of learning that is specialized for their partially learning level.
According to Gunter " Graphics play an important role in the learning process: many individualswho are visual learners may learn concepts faster or retain a higher percentage of material if the
see the information presented graphically" (Gunter 2014) When differentiate instruction is
introduced multiple avenues to learning to created and teachers can reach all students in the
classroom, whether they are lower-end or higher-end learners.

References
Gunter, G. (2014). Teachers discovering computers: Integrating technology in a changing
World. S.l. Cengage Learning
Hobgood, Bobby, Ed.D., & Ormsby, Lauren.( n.d.). Inclusion in the 21st-century classroom:
Differentiating
with technology. Learn NC.
Tomlinson, C.A. (2000). Differentiation of instruction in the elementary grades. ERIC Digest.
January 17, 2015 from http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/eecearchive/digests/2000/tomlin00.pdf