Differentiated Instruction and the 21 st Century Learner IDEAS Conference Kingston, Ontario February th, 2012 Engaging 21st Century Learners Marc Paradis and Megan Valois

What is 21 st Century Learning?

What does 21 st Century Learning mean? 21 st Century Learning is about more than just using technology. It is about engaging learners! 21 st Century Learning Skills include: ◦ Critical Thinking and Problem Solving ◦ Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence ◦ Agility and Adaptability ◦ Initiative and Entrepreneurialism ◦ Effective Oral and Written Communication ◦ Accessing and Analyzing Information ◦ Curiosity and Imagination

21 st Century Technologies...

Advantages of 21 st Century Learning in your classroom Authentic learning! Students evaluate, make decisions and are responsible for their own learning. Students master knowledge by constructing it and experiencing it, first- hand. Students have the opportunity to be ◦ co-operative, collaborative or independent.

Start where they are! An integral part of Differentiated Instruction is on-going assessment. Pre-assessing students’ understanding, can help teachers to develop their lessons accordingly. Start where they are! Likewise, formative assessment after a lesson allows teachers to see if the students have grasped the concept.

Pre-Assessment Activities Activities such as the traffic light activity, or a “Smart Response”, allow teachers and students to see where they are starting from and guide teaching and learning. Likewise, it also shows both students and teachers how far they have come, once the instructional unit is complete.

Smart Response in Action!

What is Differentiated Instruction?

Differentiated Instruction is... based on the premise that, since students differ significantly in their interests, learning styles, abilities, and prior experiences, then teaching strategies, materials, and pace should vary accordingly. easily adapted to use technology and encourage the development of 21 st century learning skills. There are many amazing DI strategies out there; today, we will be focusing mostly on the strategies that use technology.

Differentiated Instruction for the 21 st Century Learner using Bloom’s Taxonomy

What can be differentiated? A blend of instructional methods, usually considered the 3 P’s: ◦ Presentation (Content) ◦ Process ◦ Product ◦ Each of these three can be approached by looking at student readiness, interest and learning profile.

How can we differentiate by Presentation? Presentation is how we teach/present information and what students learn. Presentation is not only how WE teach but how students teach each other and themselves! We can differentiate presentation for a 21 st Century Learner by using SmartBoard interactive lessons, YouTube videos, websites/online research, podcasts, collaborative learning tasks, online newspapers or magazines, e-books.

Let’s see some examples! Let’s share some examples of technology we’ve used in presentation! ◦ YouTube Videos (WWI)(WWI) ◦ Podcast (CBC)(CBC) ◦ Canadian War Museum Scavenger Hunt

How we can differentiate by Process? Process is the learning process, namely the activities they do to learn and how we gauge student learning. Examples of sense making activities that are easily differentiated are: Expert groups, learning centres, online discussion forum questions and collaborative tasks (Google Docs), SmartResponse, BlackBoard Blogs, online exit cards (Google Doc survey), Edmodo (online exit card, formative assessment quiz - multiple choice/true false, discussion forum), CollaborizeClassroom.

Let’s see some examples! Demonstration of: ◦ Google Docs Google Docs  How to use  Different Applications (Docs, Presentations, Forms) ◦ BlackBoard Blogs BlackBoard Blogs ◦ Edmodo Edmodo ◦ Collaboratize Classroom Collaboratize Classroom

How can we differentiate by Product? Product is what the students produces as a final representation of learning. (ie: unit task or project). Choice Boards allow students to “choose” from a lists of tasks, to represent their understanding. This option allows students to choose a task that interests them and provides technology options. Some examples of 21 st Century Learning products include: Prezi presentations, movies/films/videos, podcasts, websites, Animoto, Glogster, online games, Visual.ly, Storyboard, FlipBook.Prezi presentationspodcastswebsites AnimotoGlogsterVisual.ly

Let’s see some examples! Actual student created final tasks, using technology!  Prezi Prezi  MovieMaker (Cue for Treason Trailer; Remembrance Day History Video)Cue for Treason Trailer Remembrance Day History Video  Google Sites Google Sites  PowerPoints  Glogster Glogster  Websites:  YouTube videos:  

Learning Stations Process Station -We’ll get you trying out: -Google Docs, SmartResponse, BlackBoard Blogs, Edmodo and CollaborizeClassroom! Product Station  We’ll get you trying out:  Prezi, MovieMaker, podcasts, Google Sites, Animoto, Glogster, Visual.ly, Storyboard, FlipBook.AnimotoVisual.ly

Consolidation Smart Response Formative Assessment/Feedback! How confident did you feel about implementing some differentiated instruction strategies geared towards 21 st Century Learners before today? How confident do you feel now?