Keynote from FLUID Denmarks conference on Differentiated instruction in UC Sjælland, Slagelse: In his keynote Hróbjartur Árnason will investigate differences a teacher can expect to experience between learners and elaborate why and how a teacher can differentiate the teaching and how various technological tools can support such differentiation and which pedagogical principles and approaches together with useful tools can enhance students learning. Hróbjartur Árnason is Assistant Professor for Adult & Continuing Education at the University of Iceland. Hróbjartur has extensive experience of educating and training adult educators, both in informal settings as well as part of the Masters Programme on adult education he leads at the University of Iceland.

3. Differentiation in teaching
and learning through the use
of technology
Hróbjartur Árnason
Assistant Professor
Adult- and Continuing Education
University of Iceland
Hrobjartur@hi.is

4. My Point of View
• Adult Learning
• Lifelong Learning

5. What do YOU mean
when you talk about
differentiated teaching?
Please discuss 3-4 together

6. How do we react to differences in the
classroom / among our learners?
Differentiate
Personalize
Individualize

7. What is…
• Individualisation: Instruction adapted to the learning needs of
individual learners
• Differentiation: Instruction tailored to accommodate different needs
in the same group
• Personalisation: Instruction paced to learning needs, tailored to
individual learning preferences and interests and needs.
US Department of Education 2010

8. Differentiation:
“A proactive response to the
unpredictability of todays
diverse classrooms”
Carol Ann Tomlinson
And here too

9. why

10. #1 We gather learners in a
classroom for a reason
• Economy?
• "The industrial model"!
• Politics
• Democracy
• Equality
• Better
• Learning
• Teaching
• Community
• Interaction
• Theory: The social construction of
reality
• Berger, Peter L.; Luckmann,
Thomas (2011). The Social
Construction of Reality: A
Treatise in the Sociology of
Knowledge . Open Road
Integrated Media.
• Learners learn by
• seeing others learn
• hearing others learn
• interacting with others
• asking peers
• explaining to peers
• showing peers
10

11. #1 We gather learners in a
classroom for a reason
• Economy?
• "The industrial model"!
• Politics
• Democracy
• Equality
• Better
• Learning
• Teaching
• Community
• Interaction
• Theory: The social construction of
reality
• Berger, Peter L.; Luckmann,
Thomas (2011). The Social
Construction of Reality: A
Treatise in the Sociology of
Knowledge . Open Road
Integrated Media.
• Learners learn by
• seeing others learn
• hearing others learn
• interacting with others
• asking peers
• explaining to peers
• showing peers
11

12. #1 We gather learners in a
classroom for a reason
• Economy?
• "The industrial model"!
• Politics
• Democracy
• Equality
• Better
• Learning
• Teaching
• Community
• Interaction
• Theory: The social construction of
reality
• Berger, Peter L.; Luckmann,
Thomas (2011). The Social
Construction of Reality: A
Treatise in the Sociology of
Knowledge . Open Road
Integrated Media.
• Learners learn by
• seeing others learn
• hearing others learn
• interacting with others
• asking peers
• explaining to peers
• showing peers
12

13. #1 We gather learners in a
classroom for a reason
• Economy?
• "The industrial model"!
• Politics
• Democracy
• Equality
• Better
• Learning
• Teaching
• Community
• Interaction
• Theory: The social construction of
reality
• Berger, Peter L.; Luckmann,
Thomas (2011). The Social
Construction of Reality: A
Treatise in the Sociology of
Knowledge . Open Road
Integrated Media.
• Learners learn by
• seeing others learn
• hearing others learn
• interacting with others
• asking peers
• explaining to peers
• showing peers
13

14. #2 Diverse groups give more
creative results
• Research on creativity
• The tension between
• Understanding each other
• Language
• Idioms
• Common knowledge
• And not understanding
• misunderstanding
• explaining
• sharing
• etc.
c.f. Keith Sawyer: Group Genius 2008
14

15. #3 Differentiated instructions can
enable MORE learning
• Constructivism
• Zone of proximal Development
• Different learners need to
develop different
• Teacher nudges learner out of
their comfort zone
• Carl Rogers
• Meaningful learning
• We learn things we find
meaningful to us
• Malcolm Knowles
• Experience varies
• amount
• Quality
• IS important
• Learning styles
• Kolb
• Dunn & Dunn
• Multiple Intellegences
• Howard Gardneer
• Thomas Armstrong
15

16. Learning Styles: Senses

17. Learning styles: Kolb
Doodle by Patricia Kambitsch, from her blog „Adventures of slow leaning“

18. Learning styles: Dunn & Dunn

19. #4 Differentiated instruction
can help learners
become lifelong learners
• Differentiated Instruction can foster more self directed
learning, self efficacy and self responsibility
• Making learning a positive experience
• Learning activities tailored to learner preparedness
• Because learners are working on meaningful tasks
• Because learners can choose tasks
19

20. #5 Differentiation can help all
learners succeed
Elements of motivation:
• Feel inclusion
• Culturally responsive
• Attitude
• Meaning
• Competence
Wlodkowski (2008)
People experience FLOW
when tasks are
• challenging
• not too easy
• not too hard
• learners lose sense of
time
• only conscious of task,
not self
Experiencing Flow builds
psychological capital
•Csikszentmihalyi (2008)
20

22. Plan learning activities which meet
student‘s...
• readiness
• When the learning tasks match or fit the student’s learning skills as well as their
knowledge and understanding of the learning material
• interest
• The learning tasks kindle curiosity, passion or appetite for
learning or completing the task
• learning profile
• The assignments fit the way the student likes to learn and work
• Learning style / preference
C.A. Tomlinson (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms

24. A classical way of
differentiating
learning materials
according to
learning
speed/ability…
• The right answer leads
the reader to new
material,
• The wrong answer
leads the reader to
more material
expressed differently

25. 10
best
How to
choose

29. Kahn Academy pre-learning assessment

30. Kahn Academy: Assessment question

31. Kahn Academy dashboard

32. Kahn Academy: Teacher dashboards

33. Alma: Create your own differentiated
paths

35. A guide through the
course with choices in
learning materials
Links to tagged lists
Links to playlists

36. With you can discuss the content
ON the page
Highlight important
sections of the webpage
Discuss specific issues in
the text… f.ex. to train
learners to discriminate,
and judge content
reliability

37. Discussion
Highlights

38. Why Differentiate?
• #1 We gather learners in a classroom for a reason
• #2 Diverse groups give more creative results
• #3 Differentiated instructions can enable MORE learning
• #4 Differentiated instruction can help learners become lifelong
learners
• #5 Differentiation can help all learners succeed

39. How to differentiate
Planning for
unpredictable groups
of learners:
•Preparedness
•Interest
•Learning preferences
Using ICT tools to:
•Create / present
varied content for
different learners
•Present with varied
methods with
“Playlists”
•Assess student‘s
mastery in ways that
suit and interest them
Varying elements of
learning and teaching
•Content
•Presentation
•Assessment

40. You can find this presentation on Slideshare and can click on all pictures
and logos to find more information or the respective tools
Go to: tiny.cc/fluid
Contact details:
Hróbjartur Árnason, University of Iceland
Hrobjartur@hi.is