Blogs and Differentiated Instruction

Although I have been using computers over the course of the last number of years, this is the first time I have posted a blog. It is not function of a lack of understanding of the technology involved but rather a function of my personality. I tend to keep my opinions to myself and typically will share them with only my close friends. Notwithstanding this after reading the articles that Peter posted on blogs and conducting some Internet research there are a number of issues that seem to have arisen.

Yesterday I attended an in-service with our board regarding Differentiated Instruction (DI). For those unfamiliar with the term it refers to tailoring instruction to a student’s type of intelligence, individual learning style (whether they are visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners) and their personal interests. Reduced to its basic premise DI is student centered whereas traditional instruction is teacher centered. For many students, particularly identified ones, computer use is a necessary component of their IEP’s and of their ability to master the Ontario curriculum. For many of these students writing in a traditional sense is both laborious and difficult and a computer eases their aid of learning. It is not the identified student that DI is concerned with, but rather the traditional student and the Ministry of Education has identified it as one of its initiatives.

If we use blogs as part of our teaching repertoire and include in them in our Differentiated Instruction, there is no doubt that they would enhance collaborative learning as echoed by David Huffaker. They would be an excellent tool that offers many advantages both to educators and students including; encouraging student ownership, fostering a learning community, allowing for student creativity and producing equity in education to name but a few. Many of our students are extremely computer literate and would have absolutely no problem in creating a blog and posting it online. Dennis Pearce has provided some other food for thought in his article Panelists: Blogs are changing education (http://http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=36898&CFID=3093554&CFTOKEN=96719202)

Yet blogs also create some additional challenges. During our in-service discussions it became readily apparent that many teachers voiced some of the same concerns, namely lack of computer resources within their schools or lack of computer time available to them. Many of my colleagues in fact do not have a computer lab present in their schools. In addition, they are not of the computer generation and tend to be older in age and would probably voice concerns over the increased workload. Similarly, so would the teacher unions. Would planning time become a negotiable issue? School administrators may have concerns over content and the ability to monitor it or the capability to log onto certain sites, which may be considered inappropriate especially in Catholic schools. In addition the ICT department within each school board may have concerns over security issues. Online or cyber bullying whether originating from a school environment or from the home is a real and present danger as evidenced by the young man who was murdered in Brampton after being threatened over the Internet. Finally, how do we address the inequity of home computer access? Many of our students especially in the larger cities are children of immigrant families who simply do not have the funds to purchase computers or other types of technology. What of those students who do have computers in their home, who is monitoring their computer use?

Many of these issues clearly do not have simple solutions and require the collaborative efforts of many individuals and groups. Undoubtedly computers and their associated technology are the way of the future yet there are many turns and twists not to mention pitfalls in the road. It is our duty as educators to confront these barriers and find solutions that allow us to use the technological tools of the 21^st century in our classrooms.