E-Learning and Differentiated Instruction - Part II

Hooray!! I’m not the only weirdo thinking about elearning and how it applies to differentiation. I actually found an article written by an Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon named Kathleen Scalise. I’ve included the link below in case anyone would like to read it:

www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/CSD4903.pdf

It begins by discussing the three basic ways that learning is adjusted in a differentiated environment. Differentiation by content, by learning style and by product.

(She then goes off on a random rant about Wal-Mart and how their customer suggestion system went wonky…the rest of the article was interesting though)

The article then outlines 5 current strategies for differentiating in elearning and even uses the nickname “e-diff” to describe it. The 5 strategies are (summarized):

Diffuse Approach – same content, but different approaches to engage learners. Not really intended directly at different learning styles but allows for choice in how to make sense of the content. The hope is that if you provide enough options…you’ll hit every learning style.

Self-Directed Approach – Learners choose what content they learn and when they learn it.

Naïve Differentiation – Same content, but changes the content randomly by rotating content and graphics. (personally…this one cracked me up…like seriously…this is honestly considered a strategy for differentiation?)

Boolean Differentiation – Almost like following a flowchart. If you learn 1, go on to 2, if no…then go to 1A for remediation.

Model-Based Differentiation – I’m going to be honest…I don’t know if was the way that the author described this one or what…but I didn’t get it…

There are many different ways in which to fit the various elearning components into these strategies (except maybe the naïve strategy) but I’m really liking the idea of the self-directed and boolean strategies. I think they have some solid pedegogical basis to them and would be the ones that would be the easiest to defend especially if an elearning program in the 9-12 classroom came into question.

I’m looking forward to continuing my learning on this subject…

Until next week...