Reaching and Engaging All Learners Through Technology: A Reflection

Throughout this course, I have discovered the importance of differentiating in my instruction as well as incorporating the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in to my teaching. As a group, we put together a resource of websites, articles, strategies, and learning activities that will help us to incorporate these principles seamlessly into our teaching. As a first year teacher, I have come to realize how important it can be to reach and engage all types of learners that come into your classroom. Utilizing technology and the principles of UDL as well as the incorporation of technology can help you to achieve this. Incorporating technology into your teaching can help you to create an environment that is engaging and allows you to personalize learning for students and essentially prepares them for a global marketplace and the real world (Laureate, 2009).


Using the Differentiation Station learning resources will truly help me to differentiate for all of my students. There are tools for beginners, such as myself, so that you can take small steps towards differentiating until you have a firmer grasp and can explore new tools and strategies. As someone that is new to Universal Design for Learning, there are strategies for getting to know your learners and information on how to accommodate for the various types of student needs using technology. There are tools for students, tools for teachers, teacher blogs to follow as your begin your implementation of these different strategies and technology tools. Even if it is just links for books online, a teacher’s blog to follow as they begin their journey of differentiation, there are many resources that are a great aide as you try to reach all of the learners in your classroom. This is a resource that I will continue to use throughout my teaching career as well as share these ideas and strategies with others.

As a part of my immediate incorporation of differentiation and UDL, I would like to get to know my students as the different types of learners that they are. As part of my job, I work to differentiate for the students that are a part of my caseload. I work to customize learning for them so that they can still maintain their role as a student in their classroom. Using the tools that I have gained from this course, I will establish student surveys and learner profiles so that I can find different activities and strategies that will appeal to them as learners and that they can use across many different types of educational settings. Using “technology can provide the teacher with tools that can facilitate assistance, remediation, or extend the learning” (Bray, Brown, & Green, 2004, p. 16). I want to bring different technology tools into my teaching with them as it will help to make their learning even more individualized. I want to discover the tools that will be the most beneficial to them so that I can engage them in the content and increase their knowledge and skills.


References:

Bray, M., Brown, A., & Green, T. (2004). Technology and the diverse learner: A guide to classroom practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.