Differentiated instruction creator, Carol Ann Tomlinson, describes it in simple terms as thinking about teaching with the child in mind.
Key differentiation strategies include:
- Building relationships with your students.. knowing your students, their likes/dislikes, their zones of proximal development, and how to engage them in learning.
- Flexible thinking as an educator.. keeping the learning goal in mind and adapting in an agile way.
- Managing the details.. making sure the resources you need are available, putting students in groups of different or similar abilities depending on the activity, keeping a tidy and organised classroom that is set up to enable different learning activities to take place simultaneously.
Educators wanting to adopt differentiated instruction need to consider the following four elements and what adjustments are needed: content, process, product, and learning environment (Power School, 2021). They also need to be comfortable with several different activities happening at the same time in the classroom (School of Education and Human Development, 2011).
Tomlinson’s faculty conversation on differentiation at the University of Virginia in 2011 makes an interesting point that many educators think by focusing on learning styles they are doing differentiation. She argues we need to address three aspects of student needs: student readiness to learn, student interests, and student learning profiles (made up of gender, culture, learning styles and intelligence preferences).
Many of the discussions on differentiated learning in the classroom emphasize that this does not mean creating individual lesson plans and it should not incur additional work for teachers. It’s about having a different mindset and approach to teaching and learning.
Tomlinson also cautions educational leaders to not see differentiated instruction as a quick win or something that can be implemented rapidly. She considers it to be a “second order change” that is transformational by nature and requires long-term support by administrators (School of Education and Human Development, 2011).
Differentiation seems to be an intersection of learning styles, multiple intelligences, zone of proximal development, UDL and other learning theories.
Differentiated instruction is a way of teaching that tailors instruction to meet all students’ learning needs. Instead of teaching the entire class at one level of difficulty or using a single instructional strategy, educators can practice differentiation to give students options for taking in the information, understanding the concept, and demonstrating what they learn.
Cindy orr, director education programs, power school
Technology can support differentiation through adaptive learning, using tools that capture and analyse data on student performance so the lesson can be tailored to their individual learning needs. Technology can help educators individualise learning in a timely way and, depending on the tool, can be automated to provide additional support where needed (e.g. Duolingo is designed to repeat parts of lessons that users do not get consistently right). Technology can also be used to adapt the type of content used in lessons, the learning process, and the learning product or outcome (Frackiewicz, 2023).
Links to differentiated instruction and technology intersectionality:
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/enhanced-learning-through-differentiated-technology-julie-stern
https://www.edutopia.org/article/differentiation-english-class-video-game-style-supports
https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-ai-math-instruction
References
Frackiewicz, M. (2023, July 20). Adaptive learning: the intersection of technology and pedagogy. TS2. https://ts2.space/en/adaptive-learning-the-intersection-of-technology-and-pedagogy/
Power School. (2021, August 26). Differentiated instruction: definitions, examples, and strategies. Power School. https://www.powerschool.com/blog/differentiated-instruction-definition-examples-and-strategies/
School of Education and Human Development. (2011, April 1). Faculty conversation: Carol Tomlinson on differentiation. University of Virginia. https://education.virginia.edu/news-stories/faculty-conversation-carol-tomlinson-differentiation