differentiated instruction in online environments
DESCRIPTION
by Gail TaylorThis forum will explore differentiated instruction (DI) in online environments. DI is a flexible, holistic approach to teaching and student learning that recognizes all students are not alike in terms of their learning styles and/or types of intelligences, among other related concepts. We will be exploring ways to make assessments of student learning styles and multiple intelligences as a way to identify teaching best practices for diverse groups of students in online environments.TRANSCRIPT
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Differentiated Instruction in Online Learning Environments:
Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences
Gail Taylor, M.Ed.
University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignHuman Resource Education Ph.D. Candidate
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Introduction to Differentiated Instruction (DI)
Teaching philosophy that promotes student diversity inclassroom settings
Well-suited for adult learners
Recognizes individual students enter classrooms with differentabilities and motivations
Acknowledges student culture that underlies individual abilities and motivations
Empowers students within boundaries of organizationalstructures
University, college, department, program, and classroom levels
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Bounded Learning
“Schools and other institutions, from households to businesses to cultures, value certain ways
of thinking more than others.” (pg. 8)
“People whose ways of thinking do not match those valued by institutions
are usually penalized.” (pg. 8)
Robert Sternberg (2003) Thinking Styles. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Student Body before Conditioning–Patchwork Quilt Analogy
(Quilt source: www.dorchesterlibrary.org)
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Student Body after Conditioning –Double Wedding Ring Quilt Analogy
(Quilt source: www.rockymountainquilts.com)
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Educational Psychology Foundations
DI integrates what is known about brain development,constructivist learning theory, and learning styles
Brain development Brain-based learning and notion of multiple intelligences
Constructivist learning Students construct knowledge by completing social relation
activities and tasks
Learning styles Audio, kinesthetic and tactile, visual
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
DI in Practice
Every teacher has adopted DI in one way or another Different types of assignments, more student choices,
extending due dates, etc.
Possible to make classrooms more responsive to studentsthrough intentional and deliberate planning
Reasons, objectives, and goals for choosing a particular action clearly stated
Realizing DI requires reflection on practice Tracking and monitoring of various materials and procedures
on student learning and anticipated outcomes
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
DI Approaches
Can differentiate instruction by content, process, and/orproduct
Content – what is taught Processes – how something is taught Products – outcomes of teaching that are assessed to
determine student learning
Critical elements are choice, creativity, flexibility, and ongoingassessment of teacher and student practices and processes
Teacher and/or student initiated assessments
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
4-Step Process(Source: www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/differentiate/planning/)
Know your students Ability levels, interests, behavior management issues
Have a repertoire of teaching strategies Cooperative learning, direct instruction, inquiry-based learning,
etc.
Identify a variety of instructional activities Read a book, write a paper, do a web search, listen to music,
go on a field trip, create a blog or wiki as a class project, etc.
Identify different ways to assess student learning andacademic progress
Formative and summative evaluations Giving students options whether assignments should be
graded or completed for credit/no-credit
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Targeted Instruction
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Introduction to Learning Styles
Audio Hearing
Voices and other sounds
Kinesthetic and Tactile Doing and touching
Creating and manipulating objects
Visual Seeing
Images and other visual cues
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Assessing Learning Styles
Learning styles can be assessed by administeringquestionnaires and/or having conversations with students
Assortment of questionnaires available on Internet web sites http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/ts/stylest.html
University of South Dakota Trio Program http://www.personal.psu.edu/bxb11/LSI/LSI.htm
Pennsylvania State University http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/
guidebk/teachtip/vark.htmUniversity of Hawaii
Available in multiple national languages
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Possibly Think the Same but Also Do Things Differently
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Broad Categories of Intelligences
Object-related Controlled and shaped by objects encountered and interacted
with in environments
Object-free Auditory systems (e.g., language, music)
Person-related Inter- and intra-personal that counterbalance interactions and
relationships with others
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Introduction to Multiple Intelligences
Howard Gardner presented the MI theory in 1983 Promotes a cross-cultural perspective of human learning
Believed there were 7 intelligences at the time theory wasformulated
List has now been expanded to include 9 intelligences
Continuing to evolve as teaching practices shift in response tosocietal pressures
Also related to advancement of knowledge about human learning processes in different settings
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Gardner Intelligence Types
Linguistic Read, write, communicate
Logical & Mathematical Patterns, reason, and thinking in a logical manner
Visual & Spatial Think in pictures and visualization of outcomes
Musical Make and compose music
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Gardner Intelligence Types (Cont.)
Bodily & Kinesthetic Problem-solving using one’s body
Interpersonal Good at relating to other people
Intrapersonal Good at doing self-analysis
Naturalist (new in 1996) Ability to make distinctions in the natural world and the
environment
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Assessing Multiple Intelligences
Intelligences can also be assessed by administeringquestionnaires and/or having conversations with students
Assortment of questionnaires available on Internet web sites http://www.accelerated-learning.net/learning_test.html http://jeffcoweb.jeffco.k12.co.us/high/wotc/confli3.htm http://www.literacyproject.org/DL/
MultipleIntelligencesSurvey.htm
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Other Emerging Intelligence Types
Successful intelligence – Robert Sternberg Mental abilities to achieve life goals by adapting to, selection
of, and shaping environments
Moral intelligence – Robert Cole and Ernst Haas Ability to distinguish between right and wrong
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Planning for the Future
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Concluding Thoughts
Academic institutions are exploring the adoption of various e-learning technologies (e.g., electronic books, simulations, text messaging, podcasting, wikis, blogs)
Enhancing personal pedagogical practices is a way forteachers to become proficient at navigating what Curtis Bonkand Kyong-Jee Kim have called the “perfect e-storm”
Differentiated instruction is a pedagogical practice that canassist with determining how best to integrate new technologies into classroom settings where there are diverse groups of students
UIUC 2008 Faculty Summer Institute
Additional Resources
http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.3adeebc6736780dddeb3ffdb62108a0c/
http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_diffinstruc.html
http://differentiatedinstruction.com/
http://www.disabilitystudiesforteachers.org/index.php?id=Differentiated%20Instruction
http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/summerworkshop/walker/index.html