Thursday, January 7, 2010

Diversity and Technology

When I was a classroom teacher, I spent time in professional development sessions about multiple intelligences and differentiation, and I knew what it meant to do that for non-technology activities.  Interestingly, I haven't really thought about varying technology activities to serve a variety of students, but after reading this and this, I see that there is a much broader view of technology integration in terms of providing all students with options that fit their learning styles, working strategies, and strengths and weaknesses.

I think we (I am definitely included in this club) get caught up in the excitement of using technology and trying something new in our classrooms, and we forget that all of our students come to us with a diverse set of needs that do not end when a computer is introduced.  A visual learner will be a visual learner in any situation whether there is a computer in front of them or not.  And what is even more important is that technology can provide a learner with an experience, personalized to their needs, to a much higher level than without.  It is important for us to tap into this in the classroom.

Eduscapes has a great Technology and Multiple Intelligences page that is full of links to a variety of resources.  A great place to start is about half way down the page where the nine different intelligences are listed.  The link for each intelligence contains a list of different technology tools and resources that target the intelligence.  For examples of specific lesson ideas that target each intelligence, take a look at this page to get ideas.

Not every lesson or project can target all student diversities each time, but having an awareness of how technology can be used in ways to help students learn better, only benefits the students as a whole.

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