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Differentiation with Technology

The original lesson plan I created for Topic 4 was already integrated with technology such as video clips, GoogleDocs, and Canva. However, with a few adjustments, I was able to further incorporate technology that would add to the collaborative experience for this lesson. Here are a few examples of the technology used within the lesson and with what purpose:

GoogleJamboard

GoogleJamboard creates a digital whiteboard where all students can collaborate in one space. Within this specific lesson, students would be introduced to WWII propaganda through a Jamboard and will work on separating the propaganda posters into groups according to propaganda tactics. Because this is part of the GSuite, as the teacher on GoogleClassroom, I would be able to check in on each Jamboard as well as see what each student contributes and when. Jamboard is also helpful as students can download and save Jamboards to refer back to later on if needed. Students will also be uploading their own examples of propaganda/advertisements to Jamboard.

2. GoogleDocs/Slides

Similarly to Jamboard, Docs and Slides belong to the GSuite which allows for ease of monitoring. It also lets students share their work with each other remotely. In this lesson, students will be able to work with Docs/Slides to complete graphic organizers. A benefit to having digital graphic organizers is that students will be able to add multimedia pieces to better explain their choices. As this lesson relates to advertisements, it would be helpful to be able to include images which can be annotated upon or even add voice notes to further explain their reasoning.

3. Canva

Canva is an online tool that students can use to create graphics. In this lesson, students will be tasked with creating their own propaganda poster. Canva has a variety of poster design options which allows students to focus more on the tactics they are using within their poster rather than things such as poster size and theme. Students will also be able to choose whether to present their poster digitally on the projector or to print out their poster and present the hard copy. Having this choice can ease students' reservations about presenting which can be quite difficult for students with anxiety who feel overwhelmed.

This lesson is not only supposed to introduce students to propaganda and how it was used in WWII, but how propaganda and advertisements influence our world today. Looking at the different appeals used to target specific audiences teaches the students about how groups are marketed to and persuaded, and how it varies by location and culture. Once students gain an understanding of how this works, they can identify it in their own lives and make more informed decisions.

References

Abebe, M. (n.d.). How to use Google Jamboard to build ideas visually. Stanford Graduate School of Education. https://teachingresources.stanford.edu/resources/how-to-use-google-jamboard/

Ahmad, S. Z. (2019). Digital posters to engage EFL students and develop their reading comprehension. Journal of Education and Learning. 8(4). 1-16. https://doi.org/10.5539/jel.v8n4p169

Hobbs, R. (2020). The importance of propaganda education. Porchlight Education. https://www.porchlightbooks.com/blog/changethis/2020/propaganda-education#:~:text=The%20study%20of%20propaganda%20provides,increase%20autonomy%20and%20personal%20freedom.

Walsh, K. (2010). Google Docs: why teachers and students should be using them for course work. EmergingEdTech. https://www.emergingedtech.com/2010/11/google-docs-why-teachers-and-students-should-be-using-them-for-course-work/

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Differentiated Lesson Plan

For this lesson, I decided to have students learn about the Holocaust through an online exhibit curated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The specific exhibit is named “Some Were Neighbors” and it examines the role of ordinary citizens that lived through the Holocaust. The goal for this lesson is to have students analyze the reasoning behind the choices everyday citizens made; whether to be complicit in the Nazi’s plans to eradicate the Jews and other marginalized groups or to fight back against the Fascist regime. The reason why I chose to use this online resource for this lesson was because of how versatile it is. The online exhibit includes photographs, videos, interviews, and primary documents that explain the roles of the people in the community and how the social norms of the time influenced them to make their choices. The online museum model is also much more interactive and accessible than a regular museum visit which is key for these summer school students (Douma, n.d.).

            For English Language Learners and students with special needs, I decided it would be helpful to have printed transcripts of the audios and videos available on the website. This would be helpful for ELL students as they may have a hard time understanding the audio portions as some of the people in the videos have European accents when speaking in English. This would also be helpful for students with special needs as they would be able to read at their own pace, and not the pace set by the audio/videos. Additionally, having the graphic organizer to write down their findings helps keep the students organized, with a clear goal in mind, and assists them in having the information ready for their reflection. The added benefit of having these available in real time is an advantage of this virtual tour which would not be the case in many museum tours. For gifted students, having them use the exhibit and the evidence provided adds a challenge to their learning and also reinforces connections by referring back to the content of the exhibits in order to support their ideas.  

            Moreover, this lesson is also very student-centered and hands-on (HurixDigital, 2022). As museums aim to have their descriptions at an eighth-grade level, most students in this class will have no issue with comprehension but also, because it is online, if they do need further clarification, the website itself provides a glossary they can use. This speaks to the accessibility of this lesson as well as the variety of mediums within it. This exhibit benefits a wide range of learners as it combines text, audio, and visual elements.

Furthermore, this lesson allows students to develop their social and emotional skills by having them read, hear, and see the experiences that everyday people went through during the Holocaust (KaiXR, 2022). Having them reflect on the experiences and choices these people had to make or witnessed others making gives them a deeper understanding of the Holocaust which cannot be achieved through mere lecturing.

References

Douma, M. (n.d.). Learning. WebExhibits. http://www.webexhibits.org/about/learning.html

HurixDigital. (2022). How virtual field trips enhance the learning experience. HurixDigital. https://www.hurix.com/how-virtual-field-trips-enhance-the-learning-experience/

KaiXR. (2022). Educational, engaging, accessible: the benefits of virtual field trips. KaiXR. https://www.kaixr.com/post/benefits-of-virtual-field-trips

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Analyzing Learning Styles

Learning Styles Analysis

According to the charts above displaying learning style preferences based on answers from a learning style survey, Student A would be considered a kinesthetic learner, Student B a visual learner, and Student C a visual learner. Recently, the idea of learning styles and teaching students according to their learning styles has become popularized. However, studies show that tailoring lessons to teach students according to just one learning style does not necessarily improve outcomes. Although the idea, in theory, makes sense, in reality, students do not learn one way, across all subjects all the time. Students’ minds are constantly growing and changing, and with that, the way they perceive and learn information does too. Therefore, it is essential not to pigeonhole students into certain learning styles but instead expose them to various activities and lessons that represent all of the different learning styles. For Students A, B, and C, although this chart may represent how they scored based on a survey of learning styles using the VARK system, they are more than that. These students are in summer school for reasons such as excessive absences/cuts and/or academic failure. Each of these students has multiple log entries related to their behavior; instead of focusing on their preferred style, focusing on all of the factors that led the student to be in this group is also essential.

Moreover, instead of focusing on the specific learning styles individually, by implementing evidence-based practices such as the Universal Design for Learning, the different learning styles are already addressed through multiple means of engagement, representation, and action. However, the student as a whole is addressed, not just their preferred learning style as determined by one survey. This allows for the students to have the opportunity to engage in all types of learning and see what their strengths are for a particular activity, lesson, or unit. In this way, all students have the differentiation they require while being given a chance to grow and try new things.

In my own classroom, I enjoy doing this by creating engaging lessons that represent all learning styles. For example, one that always fairs well with the students is the escape room games I create to introduce or review a unit. I typically create an escape room with 8-12 puzzles that need to be solved; within these puzzles, I ensure the different styles are represented. For example, students who are visual learners enjoy the images, tangible texts, charts, tables, and maps that I include. Auditory learners appreciate that along with the tangible texts are the audio pairings they can use to assist them and be in groups for the discussion factor. My kinesthetic learners truly enjoy the manipulatives I include, moving around the classroom and having to physically unlock boxes to get clues.

These individual puzzles cater to unique learning styles, but the key is to combine all of these pieces into one gamified learning experience. This way, students can freely explore different activities in an informal setting without feeling pressured, they also have the assistance of their group members if they get stuck, and it allows me to give them feedback in real-time as I walk around the room observing their work and handing out the following clues.

When it comes to assessment, I create my assessments similar to my activities, with all my learners in mind. With formative assessments, since there are so many, such as exit tickets, quizzes, emoji surveys, sticky note reflections, etc., it is essential to employ as many of these as possible; by switching up which types of these assessments you use, all students get the chance to do well. Additionally, creating choice boards for summative assessments like essays and projects is extremely important to me as it shows students that the way they learn and feel comfortable showcasing their knowledge is valid and can be done in more ways than one. This concept drives my instruction; as long as the student understands the concept and can showcase their knowledge clearly and coherently, the methods they used to arrive at that point are not set in stone.

This is why my assignments, projects, and lessons change every year. Each year I get to know students with new ideas that open my eyes to methods, ideas, and connections that I wasn’t aware of, and I like to incorporate them for my other students. This is how I’ve built my resources over the years, with the help of colleagues and students along the way!

References

Alber, R. (2018). Embracing the whole child. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/embracing-whole-child

Cornell University. (n.d.). Universal design for learning. Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation. https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/designing-your-course/universal-design-learning

The University of Kansas. (2021). Different learning styles—what teachers need to know. The University of Kansas School of Education and Human Sciences. https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/learning-styles-what-teachers-need-to-know

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Assessing Technology-Based Resources for Differentiation

Technology has become increasingly important within education as well as extremely useful in providing differentiation in the classroom. When teachers use technology in the classroom, not only are they giving students the opportunity to learn about technology which is deeply integrated into our world, but they can also use this technology to provide assistance and accommodations for their students needs.  Below are a few tools that can help with differentiation in the classroom.

1. Newsela

Brief description: Newsela is an online platform which provides texts which are paired with integrated assignments, follow core curriculum and state standards, and are published at multiple Lexile levels.  Some articles are also available in Spanish which can help ELLs in the classroom as well. The articles available are constantly updated and are made to be relevant to students and society today which helps with student engagement and comprehension.

Ease of Use: Newsela is extremely easy to use as articles can be read on the platform itself, or they can be printed out. Once the teacher has synced classes to the Newsela account, once an assignment is created, it can be posted directly with an LMS such as GoogleClassroom where students will automatically be signed in and ready to read!  

Cost: $18 per student / $2000 per class / $6000 per school

User-friendliness: Newsela is extremely intuitive. After just a quick modeling session with students, they are usually able to figure out the small nuances on the platform. It has been an incredible resource, especially during COVID where students when learning virtually.

Cross - curricular ability: Newsela offers articles across all subjects and ensures that the questions and quizzes are aligned to common core and state standards. There are also text sets that are created by Newsela and teachers that can incorporate cross-curricular reading.

How does it differentiate? This platform offers most of their articles at five different Lexile levels. Therefore, even if there are students that are below grade level, or even above, they can all get the same content which adjustments. It also includes Spanish versions of the texts which can be suitable for English Language Learners. Additionally, Newsela provides insight on how students are performing. For example, how long they are taking to read an article, the annotations they take, and the questions they answer. This can be used to inform instruction afterwards.

Instructional Strategies: One way Newsela can be used to differentiate in the classroom is through the use of groups. For example, if the class were doing a unit on Shakespeare, having students read build background information on him would be a simple way of easing them into the unit. By splitting the class into different Lexile groups and assigning them a topic, they would be responsible for becoming experts in that topic, annotating and answering questions. Then, regrouping the students to be in groups where each topic is represented, they would be able to share what they learned with the group. Another instructional strategy would be to use Newsela’s data features in order to inform instruction. For instance, if focusing on informational texts and rhetorical analysis and through the data of annotations and answers to questions, the teacher may see that many students are having trouble analyzing rhetorical strategies. With this information, the teacher may take the opportunity to reteach this to make sure that students are clear on the topic before moving on to something else like an analytical essay.

2. Digital Escape Rooms

Brief description: Digital escape rooms use technology to present students with a scenario in which they must solve a variety of puzzles to get to the resolution. These activities can be done on one’s own with tools such as PowerPoint or GoogleSlides or they can be purchased ready-to-use. Either way, they are typically highly customizable.

Ease of Use: While the scenarios and puzzles themselves are simple for students to use, there is a lot of preparation that goes into digital escape rooms; this is especially true if one chooses to go the DIY route. However, there are plenty of free puzzle resources online where one could simply plug in their own content. The easiest option would be to purchase a ready-to-use escape room for the content you are teaching.

Cost: DIY - $0 / Ready-to-use – Between $5 -$25

User-friendliness: Digital escape rooms are not only simple for students to understand, but fun for them to use. They can include audio and visual directions and once students decipher one puzzle, the rest of the puzzles make more sense. Also, because this is highly customizable, one can adjust for different groups as they see fit.

Cross -curricular ability: Escape rooms can be used for any subject or topic. As long as the teacher-created scenario is aligned to what the students are learning, it is an excellent tool to incorporate across the board. Additionally, one could include various subjects within the same game. For example, when doing a Shakespeare escape room with my students, I have puzzles that deal with the time period, the arts, architecture, government, scientific advances, biographies. All of these different aspects are able to be covered in this one activity because of the versatility of this tool!

How does it differentiate? The ability to differentiate in this activity is also important. Being a digital escape room, one can add visual and audio components to engage the different learning styles. Moreover, because these activities are customizable, one could also adjust the Lexile level of the text being presented for each puzzle. Additionally, the puzzles can also be differentiated; not each group or student needs to have the same puzzle, as long as the skill is practiced or comprehension attained, the puzzle itself is not required to be uniform for everyone. Therefore, they can and should be adjusted to the needs of the students.

Instructional Strategies: One way escape rooms can be used in the classroom is as an introduction to a unit. For example, I’ve used them as an introduction to my Shakespeare unit. I set up the scenario where students must find out the secret message and make sure they deliver it Shakespeare. To do so, students must explore the town of London, understand the different classes within society, identify different occupations, familiarize themselves with the different types of plays and so on. Students love this activity because it puts them in their own little world where they get to walk the streets of London on GoogleMaps and do a virtual tour of the Globe Theatre; it truly immerses them in the experience. I make sure to put students in pre-planned, heterogeneous groups where each student is assigned a role that best suits them and helps them practice the skills they need along with the assistance of their group members. Another way to use escape rooms to aid instruction is by having students design their own escape rooms. Typically, this is done through GoogleSlides and it can allow students to play up to their strengths and showcase their knowledge. Each and every student-created escape room will be different and having students complete each other’s escape room will give them the opportunity to explore new ideas and viewpoints that they might not have thought of.

3. Kami

Brief description: Kami is an online learning platform that turns most plain PDF documents into documents that can be read, annotated, and highlighted. This can be used from a student’s standpoint in order to analyze documents or from a teacher’s standpoint to offer quick and elaborate feedback on student work.

Ease of Use: Kami is extremely intuitive and easy to use. Not only does the website offer video tutorials for students and teachers but it also labels each of its button which allows students to find exactly what they’re looking for. Essentially, this tool helps student annotate digitally just as they would in print.

Cost: Basic- $0 / Teacher Plan – $99 per year / District Plan - varies

User-friendliness: This add on is very user-friendly as once students add it to their Chrome, any PDF can be exported to Kami in order to mark up. Again, the way everything is labeled really helps students find what they need in order to complete their annotations. Kami also allows teachers to connect these assignments with their LMS, like GoogleClassroom. Therefore, not only can assignments be posted right to the LMS, but grades can be imported directly too.

Cross -curricular ability: Any teacher can use Kami regardless of content area. Teachers can use anything from published articles to self-created worksheets. Because this works as an annotation tool, any assignment that can benefit from annotations and mark ups can find this tool helpful.

How does it differentiate? Kami provides integration of visual and audio components to assignments. Students can record themselves or their voices to annotate their work instead of typing if that is their learning preference. Students could also add in images that they find relevant or that help explain something within the text they are analyzing. These features also let teachers leave feedback in the form of audio messages, video, or images as well. This can help students better understand their teacher’s feedback and ultimately help them improve and grow as students. As long as teachers connect with students and finds out which style works best for them, it can be very beneficial for the individual students.

Instructional Strategies: Implementing Kami in the classroom can be as easy as creating a highlighting key for students and assigning different groups to find the different components. For example, if reviewing figurative language, there could be a key for 5 different types of figurative language and students would be assigned a type and have to identify and highlight them in the text and provide annotations on what the author means through these words. As a class, students could then share their findings and discuss interpretations and meanings. Also, when it comes to feedback, Kami can be useful for teachers in using video/audio feedback. Sometimes students find it difficult to understand teacher’s written feedback but the use of video/audio can aid in offering clearer explanations in a way that students are used to hearing in class.

Learning and Ownership

The use of digital escape rooms in the classroom provides an immersive experience for students that sparks their creativity, problem-solving skills, communication, and team work. Moreover, because these scenarios are so immersive and require little to no teacher direct instruction, students find themselves as the leader of their learning, the story only moving forward if students put in the work. The use of these skills helps establish the building blocks students need to be able to learn and develop intrinsic motivation to keep learning. Similarly, the Kami extension also provides the opportunity for students to work on their annotation skills, forcing them to discern what is important and symbolic within a text. Again, the activity is typically student-led, only reaching completion if students put in the work and apply the knowledge and skills they’ve learned in the classroom.

References

Chalk & Apples. (n.d.). How to use classroom escape games to differentiate instruction. Chalk & Apples. https://chalkandapples.com/classroom-escape-games/

Drexel University. (n.d.). How to use technology in the classroom: benefits & effects. Drexel University School of Education. https://drexel.edu/soe/resources/student-teaching/advice/how-to-use-technology-in-the-classroom/

WeAreTeachers. (2022). How to use Newsela in the classroom. WeAreTeachers. https://www.weareteachers.com/newsela-activities/