the tech world and differentiation

How the Tech World Does Targeted Interventions

Eric CalvertBowling Green State UniversityRachel Smethers-Winters

Portage County Educational Service Center

Differentiation

Success with RTI hinges on capacity to effectively differentiate learning experiences and interventions

• Teachers need sustained training and coaching

• Teachers need time to develop/select multiple approaches

• Teachers need easy access to good data to match students with appropriate options

• Teachers need support, accountability

We asked: Who does differentiation really well, really consistently?

• We struggled to name schools...

• But we thought of a LOT of web apps and social networks that do.

• Then we thought, "What ARE these sites doing that allows them to customize for each user?

• "Are there models that schools could appropriate from the tech world to help turn "differentiation" and "collaboration" from ideals into real practice?

Who Differentiates Online?

Examples

FacebookHunch.com

Facebook Stats

Questions:

• How much time is that per user per month?• Why do you think so many people use Facebook?• Why do you think the people who use Facebook spend so

much time doing so?

Facebook Strategies• Every user is the center of his or her own network• Recognizes and leverages power of social connection

o People go there because their friends are thereo Feedback is highly rewarding/motivatingo People are interested in themselves:

Social comparison What others are saying about them (triggers)

o Mutual self-disclosure strengthens social ties• Not differentiation -- customization. No two people see the same

content.• Subtly competitive• Opportunity to build 24/7 identity - not anonymous. • Doesn't force choice between one group and another• Makes it easier to do the things we know we should to maintain

relationships• Colonial - Facebook doesn't limit itself to its own site.

What can "School" Learn from Facebook?Facebook School

Emphasis is on engagement: number of visits, time spent per visit

Success is linked to "time on task" (true engaged time, not "seat time.")

Facebook "learns" about users based on connections, content interactions

Need data not just on "how" students are doing, but "what" they're doing.

Social ties are strengthened through shared activity, mutual self-disclosure

Opportunities to connect with others with similar interests decreases risks of disengagement

Users will reinforce other users' engagement if given tools to do so. Positive reinforcement is best, but negative feedback is better than no feedback.

We need a "like button," more and better opportunities for students to get feedback from someone other than the teacher or the test report.

People want to customize their environments, "own" their identities and interactions

Give kids a space they can customize, connect with others.

Example 2:Hunch.com

Rachel's Favorite Things(Note: You will receive none of these items in a gift bag.)

Cities to Visit:LondonCarmarthen, WalesPortland, OregonPittsburgh

Movies: Shawshank RedemptionLord of the RIngsThe Breakfast ClubBatmanHighlanderSleepless in SeattleMy Cousin VinnyMonty Python and the Holy GrailDogmaTombstoneGroundhog DaySecondhand LionsA Fish Called Wanda

Favorite Books:To Kill a MockingbirdEnder's GameThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Chronicles of NarniaThe Hero and the Crown (or any Robin McKinley book)any PD James mystery

Hunch.com

How does the web do this?

• It's not a manual process. It's algorithmic.o Based on:

User's profile data User's expressed preferences Past user behavior Increasingly, "social graphing" (e.g. Facebook)

Who are your friends? What do they like? "Taste graphing" (e.g. Hunch)

• It's not perfect, but it is fast, and it gets better and cheaper the more it's used.

• It doesn't try to "differentiate" common content. It customizes.

Cool.

So what?

RTI Model/ApproachKey Features Review

1.Tiered approach to supports and services2.Use of Evidence-Based Practices and

Standard Protocols to respond to child/student needs

3.Universal screening, progress monitoring, assessment

4.Data Driven Decision Making process5.Collaborative problem–solving approaches

to child/student needs (Parental involvement)

© Mary Ruth Coleman, 2008

RTI Model/ApproachChallenges and Criticisms

• If oversimplified, "tiers" can be the new "labels"• "Evidence" for "evidence-based practice" is usually

based on small, limited samples.o Also, evidence is often a weak driver for human

behavior (see acceleration)• Universal and ongoing assessment/progress monitoring

is time and labor intensive.• Collecting good data and making it useful for decision

making is a challenge.o Also "making decisions" usually requires time, effort.

In worst-case scenarios, it involves committees.• Space and time constrain opportunities for collaboration

Making it Happen

• It's possible that some of the failure of our education system to meet the needs of all students isn't due to the fact that there haven't been enough PD workshops.

• We DO need to continue to promote strategies for differentiating learning

• But, while we continue to work with teachers, we also need to look at the SYSTEM in which they work to make RTI a reality

Technical Advocacy• What else is going on other than funding that is going to

shape what happens for years to come?o Standards revisionso Test developmento Data system revisionso Accountability/improvement debateo District-level curriculum and assessment o Local technology policieso Credit flex/acceleration/online learning—baby steps

toward no longer age-based groupings • If gifted students are a part of these systems, gifted

educators' expertise will be more valued

Technical Advocacy• New mantras: It's not just about money.

It's about systems.o "Standards" should be about "working together," (the tech

definition) not "everybody does the same thing" (the school definition)

o Assessment should be "adaptive" to the student, ongoing, and online, should provide results in real-time.

o We need tools that connect "what" students do to "how" they do

o If we can't have tiny class sizes, we need tools to help automate differentiation/customization

o Age-based grouping is so 20th Century. If we're not going to do "ability grouping," let's do "readiness grouping."

Comments? Questions?