Running head: UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY TO DIFFERENTIATE INSTRUCTION

Utilizing Technology to Differentiate Instruction Stacy Godin Small University of New England EDU 610

UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY TO DIFFERENTIATE INSTRUCTION Abstract Public schools today are educating students for a future we cant fathom using an educational system rooted in the past. In order to prepare our students for their academic and work place

futures, we as educators must envision the world that they will be entering and the skills that they will need to compete in the global marketplace of the future (Olsen & Kuglin). How to best to meet the educational needs of our students? According to Kuglins Educating our 21ST Century Media Snackers: A Pathway to Higher Student Achievement keynote address, schools need to teach our students using the new and affordable computing capabilities that directly addresses the 21ST Century goals of critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, creativity and innovation. New and exciting technological trends engage student learners, educate them with the knowledge of the core content, and provide them with the skill set needed to compete in the 21st century. Social networking, creating avatars, digital cartooning, and blogging are all social trends in which many of our students regularly participate outside of school. Utilizing these technologies in our classrooms not only increases student engagement, but also increases student proficiency with technology. They also provide differentiation for student learning.

UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY TO DIFFERENTIATE INSTRUCTION Utilizing Technology to Differentiate Instruction As stated by John Kuglin in the video of his latest presentation, Even if all students mastered core academic subjects, they still would be woefully under prepared. Todays educators must not only provide an education in the core content areas, but also provide meaningful interactions with technology to prepare students to compete in the 21st century marketplace. As educators we have moral responsibility to educate ourselves in the technological trends and advances available to help engage our students, provide meaningful differentiated instruction, and prepare them for their futures. After watching Kuglins latest presentation about the new technologies available and the need for educators to use these trends and advancements to engage and educate our students, I began using youtube to research 21st Century learning and using technology to differentiate instruction. Using those two search inquiries, I found some really engaging material. One of the most helpful sites I found was through a podcast on youtube. It is a website called CoolTeachers.com. The cool teachers are actually two college professors from the Boise State. They provide weekly podcasts for free about technology trends and tools that help to make a classroom a fun and engaging place. I listened to several podcasts and from those podcasts I learned about many technology trends. Two that I think will be very fun to try in my classroom are Voki and Toondoo. Voki allows students to create voice activated avatars and

Toondoo is a free cartooning application. These engaging and creative programs I feel will help me to improve student engagement, increase student proficiency in technology, and provide opportunities to differentiate instruction. Voki.com is a free service that allows a user to create personalized speaking avatars to use on blogs and in email messages. The avatars are very easy to make and customize and the voice activation is easy too. You can choose from many prerecorded voices or use your own

UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY TO DIFFERENTIATE INSTRUCTION voice to share your message. There are several ways I think that this program can be utilized in

the classroom. This program would be a great way to differentiate product. It would be great for shy students who do not like presenting in front of their peers. They could create an avatar that could be used to present their information for them. Because the presentation can be prerecorded and transferred to the avatar, the student does not have the anxiety of sharing in front of the group. It could also be a great anchor activity, once the program is taught to kids. They could use it to share book talks, movie reviews, reports about independent learning projects, etc. The possibilities are endless. The last site is called Toondoo.com. It is a free site where kids can create cartoons. This again would be a great anchor activity or a way to differentiate product. It is a great way for creative kids to share their learning. It would also be a great way for kids to summarize a book they read. Little kids could do problem and solution comics, BME (beginning, middle, and end) comics, or a comic about their favorite part. Older kids could create a comic book based on their chapter book. These are just some of the possible learning extensions a student could create with this program. Knowledge of core content is necessary, but not longer sufficient for success in a competitive world. (Kuglin). In order to truly prepare our students for the 21st century, educators must provide content instruction within meaningful, differentiated, technologically based learning units. This means that technology immigrants must educate themselves about the trends and advances in technology and utilize this technology to educate our students in a meaningful and engaging way.

UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY TO DIFFERENTIATE INSTRUCTION References Kuglin, J. R. Kuglin Consulting [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.kuglin.com/ Olsen, E., & Kuglin, J. Focusing on a 2020 Vision for Learning. EdTech Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.edtechmag.com/k12/events/updates/focusing-on-a-2020-vision-forlearning.html Schroeder, B., & Haskell, C. Cool Teachers [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://coolteachers.org