The American Hearing Aid Associates (2002) describe new hearing aid technology, as cited by Brown and Green “The system is structured so that the teacher wears a microphone into which he or she can speak normally; the sound is then broadcast to the student’s hearing aid.” This type of technology may be acquired to make students feel more interested and motivated to receive and produce the target language. E-mail, chat rooms, discussion boards and social networks are also used with students for communication outside the classroom. Students are able to download the audio, video and text files and also manipulate and print the material used within the classroom. Webquests, wikispaces, slideshows and blogs will also help us make our tasks much easier to manage.
As emphasized by Dr. McLaughlin (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). “Today’s educators must provide opportunities to help all children to maximize their access and opportunities to learn” and the UDL framework, DI and implementing technological resources in our classrooms will help us achieve our goals. As we have discussed throughout this course, differentiated instruction requires a good amount of time to gather, organize and create materials. The technological resources and diverse teaching ideas shared in our Differentiation Station Assignments will be useful to learn and to create materials, tasks and lesson plans for our students.
As we approach the end of our course, it is time to continue experimenting with the processes, the benefits and also the challenges of using technological resources for differentiated instruction. With the newly acquired knowledge of UDL I have developed several strategies for student learning activities, among these I will mention project work with which students perform research of real-world problems and use submit their findings through oral and written presentations and share what they have learned. In cooperative efforts, students coordinate and arrange information to identify the varied relationships across disciplines. Through web quests students can research and accomplish tasks to learn through authentic information from around the word.
Our objective as educators is to reach all students Davidson (2010) states that “Typical differentiated learning environments provide three or four different options for students in any given class (not 35 different options) … readiness, ability, learning styles and interest vary between students and even within an individual over time, a differentiated classroom offers students equally engaging learning opportunities.” Providing these options will help us reach all students in a diverse learning community which we can frequently find in an EFL classroom.
As emphasized by Dr. McLaughlin (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). “Today’s educators must provide opportunities to help all children to maximize their access and opportunities to learn” and the UDL framework, DI and implementing technological resources in our classrooms will help us achieve our goals. As we have discussed throughout this course, differentiated instruction requires a good amount of time to gather, organize and create materials. The technological resources and diverse teaching ideas shared in our Differentiation Station Assignments will be useful to learn and to create materials, tasks and lesson plans for our students.
As we approach the end of our course, it is time to continue experimenting with the processes, the benefits and also the challenges of using technological resources for differentiated instruction. With the newly acquired knowledge of UDL I have developed several strategies for student learning activities, among these I will mention project work with which students perform research of real-world problems and use submit their findings through oral and written presentations and share what they have learned. In cooperative efforts, students coordinate and arrange information to identify the varied relationships across disciplines. Through web quests students can research and accomplish tasks to learn through authentic information from around the word.
Our objective as educators is to reach all students Davidson (2010) states that “Typical differentiated learning environments provide three or four different options for students in any given class (not 35 different options) … readiness, ability, learning styles and interest vary between students and even within an individual over time, a differentiated classroom offers students equally engaging learning opportunities.” Providing these options will help us reach all students in a diverse learning community which we can frequently find in an EFL classroom.
Miriam
References
Bray, M., Brown, A., & Green, T. (2004). Technology and the Diverse Learner: A Guide to
Classroom Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Center for Applied Special Technology. (2009). UDL guidelines, version 1.0. Retrieved
from http://www.cast.org/publications/UDLguidelines/version1.html
Hearing Aid Associates (n.d.) Retrieved February 21, 2010 from http://www.ahaanet.com/
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Reaching and engaging all learners
through technology. Baltimore: Author.
Tomlinson, C. (2008). Learning to love assessment. Educational Leadership, 65(4), 8–13.
Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
References
Bray, M., Brown, A., & Green, T. (2004). Technology and the Diverse Learner: A Guide to
Classroom Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Center for Applied Special Technology. (2009). UDL guidelines, version 1.0. Retrieved
from http://www.cast.org/publications/UDLguidelines/version1.html
Hearing Aid Associates (n.d.) Retrieved February 21, 2010 from http://www.ahaanet.com/
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Reaching and engaging all learners
through technology. Baltimore: Author.
Tomlinson, C. (2008). Learning to love assessment. Educational Leadership, 65(4), 8–13.
Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
