Journal 4 - One Size Never Fits All

NETS-T (2)

Differentiation is the word in the educational community.  "One Size Never Fits All", an article written by Jennifer Courduff, specifically addresses how to differentiate the use of technology to adapt to the needs of students, especially in special education.  She first suggests that teachers "learn to match specific curricular tasks with technology resources that engage students, increase understanding, and enhance learning (Courduff, 2011).   To integrate technology into the classroom, teachers participated in a program divided into 3 Tiers.  In Tier 1, teachers attended hands-on workshops to learn how to use various technology tools.  Tier 2 participated in a hybrid course utilizing face-to-face and online environments that focused on training teachers to develop e-portfolios.  The final tier, Tier 3, refined teachers' skills in technology tools while emphasizing online collaboration through social networking, texting, etc.  One of the tools being integrated in the classroom now is speech-to-text programs.  This allows students to embrace the magic of story writing without being hampered by the technical skills of writing.

Why is it important to train teachers to use technology resources, especially in special education?
As classes become more integrated and inclusive, it is necessary that teachers develop the skills that can address the wide range of learners in the classroom.  If teachers are not properly trained to integrate technology into their lessons, it no longer becomes a useful tool.  Courduff promotes a process called Tiers not Years to mark the progress of learning instead of a static time frame to give teachers enough time to fully integrate their new skills.

What kind of technology resources can teachers use now?
One of the examples in this article describes speech-to-text programs, but there are also programs that do the reverse.  For students who have difficulties with vision, text-to-speech programs allow students to hear words rather than read them.  

Courduff, J. (2011). One size never fits all. Learning & Leading with Technology, 38(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-june-july-2011.aspx