Differentiated instructions mean tailoring the instruction to meet individual needs. Differentiating instruction is teaching the same material to all students using a variety of instructional strategies, or it may require the teacher to deliver lessons at varying levels of difficulty based on the ability of each student(1).

Differentiation

Teachers/instructors who practise differentiation in the classroom may (2):

• Design lessons based on students’ learning styles.
• Assess students’ learning using formative assessment.
• Manage the classroom to create a safe and supportive environment.
• Continually assess and adjust lesson content to meet students’ needs

Why Differentiated Instruction is needed?

Four ways to differentiate instruction (2):

According to Tomlinson, teachers can differentiate instruction through four ways:

1) differentiating content

2) differentiating process

3) differentiating product as curriculum and

4) learning environment.

Please watch the following video explains differentiated instruction (3) –

Software that supports differentiated instruction (4) :

With the technological advancements, there are more and easy methods are available to provide differentiated instructions. The digital platform provides a precise individualized learning experience that customizes assignment, activities, interactive media and even language.

Students have freedom to work independently at their own pace and style. These digital platforms which support the differentiated instruction are available online as well as offline.

Online tool for differentiated instruction are the websites like – activity learn (https://www.activelylearn.com) and Arcdemics (https://www.arcademics.com).

Offline tools are the software, which can be downloaded and used for the differentiated instructions. The software can be bought and they can be customised depending upon the need of the instructor as well as the learner’s need (5).

The examples of differentiated instructions software are the computer and mobile applications. They are kahoot, Google classroom etc.

While introducing the differentiated learning digital platform, it is very important to keep skill of the teachers in mind. There are following points can be considered (4) -

A training for a new ergonomically designed interface
Introduction to the required equipments and the basic training for the software.
A home screen that includes new and dropped students, birthdays, and
A teacher tool to aid instructional decisions day-to-day in the classroom
Expanded mobility for educators, requiring access to only the Web and a SQL server.
Importance of compatibility with Internet Explorer, Safari and Firefox
Whom to contact in case of technical assistant for

Pros and cons of differentiated instruction (include software) pros and cons(2,5)

The benefits of differentiation in the classroom are often accompanied by the drawback of an ever-increasing workload. Here are a few factors to keep in mind:

Pros

Research shows differentiated instruction is effective for high-ability students as well as students with mild to severe disabilities.

When students are given more options on how they can learn material, they take on more responsibility for their own learning.

Students appear to be more engaged in learning, and there are reportedly fewer discipline problems in classrooms where teachers provide differentiated lessons.

Cons

Differentiated instruction requires more work during lesson planning, and many teachers struggle to find the extra time in their schedule.

The learning curve can be steep and some schools lack professional development resources.

Instructors also need support in term of preparation and organization of the session

Critics argue there isn’t enough research to support the benefits of differentiated instruction outweighing the added prep time (4).

In a nutshell, differentiated instructions provide students with the opportunity and comfort to catch up the concept. They are not in the spotlight (Which happened in the traditional classroom approach) their anxiety level reduces and their commitment and desire to continue the course increases.

References:

1. https://www.eschoolnews.com/2007/06/27/excelsior-software-introduces-revolutionary-new-tool-to-aid-differentiated-instruction-and-assessment-in-the-classroom/
2. https://medium.com/inspired-ideas-prek-12/digitally-yours-4-ways-technology-based-differentiated-instruction-propels-learning-e0ea0ff0d4ab
3. https://youtu.be/h7-D3gi2lL8
4. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2014-09-16-opinion-how-software-can-make-a-differentiated-difference
5. Theodoros Kokkinos, Panagiotis Gakis, Anna Iordanidou, and Christos Tsalidis. 2020. Utilising Grammar Checking Software within the Framework of Differentiated Language Teaching. In Proceedings of the 2020 9th International Conference on Educational and Information Technology (ICEIT 2020). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 234–240. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3383923.3383936