Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction (DI) is today's educational buzzword. In a nutshell, DI suggests that students learn in different ways, so the teacher needs to find the different ways to help each student learn, in hir way. DI is the culmination of Multiple Intelligences and of Ron Edmunds. In the late 60's and early 70's, Edmonds was deputy chancellor of education in New York City. In one of his reports he said, "All children can learn." He was involved in "Effective Schools."

Edmunds' original list to identify an effective school had five elements on it. The first is that the principal is an instructional leader. Secondly, the school has high expectations. Thirdly, the school is a safe and humane climate. The fourth is a focus on basic skills. And the fifth is an effective use of student data, as kids progressed. Many students of Edmunds and critics point out that he left out a couple of important factors, parent involvement and faculty teamwork. The concepts of the Effective School movement and practice uses these seven elements and others to be effective.


Now we are in another phase of the educational revolution, differentiated instruction. It accepts "that all children can learn" and that we all have "multiple intelligences." DI incorporates the parents and demands faculty teamwork. DI suggests we be aware of the differences students have. Teacher need to be aware of the scholars' prior knowledge, language, learning style, and readiness to learn. Technology is ideal for this environment. With technology, we can assess prior knowledge, adjust to different learning styles, and provide different time and sequencing activities to meet all the special needs of all students. We agree that no two student are the same nor do they learn in the same way. This is why computer technology is so powerful and useful in achieving effective classrooms for the DI model. DI reflects Bloom's Taxonomy. There are increments in accessing the content. Accessing and absorbing the content is key and the steps used to help the students absorb the content is a crucial part of DI. Perhaps the most frequently used word in most definitions and descriptions of DI is "flexibility." Students and teachers must be flexible in all aspects of DI. When it comes to flexibility, those of us who use computer technology, we know about flexibility. We can provide different lessons instantly to our scholars. We can adjust the level of content in nanoseconds. We can provide different time limits or none and provide for multiple uses of content. In all cases the scholars are dependent upon their own knowledge of the computer technology. Access to content in various forms is constantly available. The scholars can change the font size, can have the text read to them, and can do other fun things to the text. The teacher has many online surveys to help them determine the learning styles of their scholars.


For example, in CyberEnglish (CE), my scholars were working on different parts of their pages. They chose the work they needed to accomplish in what order they select. Some worked on vocab, some on reading, some on the content of an assignment, some were revising work, some were reading email. In all cases they were in charge of their own learning based on need and necessity. The computer technology allowed all of this to happen without much control from me. It allowed me to move around the class to assess, to conference, to coach, and to encourage the scholars. I had a Smartboard on which I could do quick little mini lessons for one, a few, a group, or for the whole class. Since the scholars were publishing to the web, I had constant access and could use their work as the content of the mini lessons. CE meets all the criteria of DI and more. As I have said, CE has allowed me to be as close to a brain surgeon as I will ever get. While sitting at my computer, I can login to watch each scholar work and therefore think. I am watching their brain work. It was my introduction to brain research. I wrote about this in my March 27 Blog. Brain research plays a bigger role in the classroom now, because of the introduction of Differentiated Instruction.

Now I use DI in CyberSchool.