Technology for All: Successful Strategies for Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners.

ONE OF THE GREATEST challenges teachers face is effectively reaching a roomful of students with varying abilities and learning styles on a daily basis. When I completed my special-education certification 27 years ago, I knew I'd be constantly working to develop a curriculum rich enough for all students. Fortunately, I've found that technology is the perfect tool for providing learners of all abilities the opportunity to achieve. In my third-grade class of 25 students, I have seven students with special needs, two identified as gifted and 16 considered typical. The technology I use for planning, instruction and assessment ensures that they are all engaged learners. The techniques I use to facilitate my students' success include a classroom structured around learning centers and small-group work, integration of a variety of technology tools, and assessment organized around the multiple intelligences. I have been using technology tools since the early '80s, but it wasn't until a 1999 Project Venture grant that I could put a critical mass of technology tools to work in my classroom and see what my students and I were capable of doing. The grant provided five additional computers (adding to an existing four), a color printer and a projector for the class. Then in the summer of 2000, I was one of the first U.S. teachers to complete an innovative professional development program called Intel Teach to the Future, which focuses on effectively integrating technology into existing curriculum. A Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant from this program gave me funding to provide additional tools for my classroom. These resources, tools and techniques put me on a path to reach all of my students with enriching experiences. Arranging the resources in my technology-rich classroom required me to come up with a layout that was not only convenient, but also allowed me to adequately monitor learning as well as the safe and healthy use of technology. I have three locations in my room where I have deliberately placed these resources. Along one wall is a bank of six computers that students use primarily for partner and center work. Against the opposite wall is a computer workstation connected to a SMART Board interactive whiteboard, a projection system,VCR, microscope, webcam and FlexCam. The monitor at the workstation, which is connected to the interactive whiteboard, is visible to me at all times so that I can quickly evaluate students' work and monitor their behavior. The center of the room has a workstation, projection system, speaker and microscope that I use for presentations and student sharing. I also have an additional computer, laptop and overhead projector available at this location. This structure makes the technology available without being overwhelming, while the layout allows for both safety and convenience in terms of technology access and use. Developing Effective Lessons One of the early mistakes I made using technology was thinking that it would automatically engage all o f my students. I now know that just because something is new doesn't mean it will match a particular student's learning style; adding a technology-based activity doesn't necessarily improve learning either. The Intel Teach to the Future program helped me understand which technology-rich activities would be most effective. The program uses a backward-design approach that begins by asking essential questions to get at the heart of what students need to learn, as well as what skills they need to acquire and demonstrate. Once I determined what lessons would meet our learning objectives and state standards, I could then decide when and where the addition of technology would be most appropriate. This philosophy helped me focus my instruction. I found that I had many activities for my students, but they were not all necessarily lessons. The result was a concept I call Jobs and Choices, wherein students understand which activities are the jobs they must perform to master the material, and which are elective choices that enable them to demonstrate their mastery of a skill or key concept. …