Standard 2.

5 Differentiation
Candidates model and facilitate the design and implementation of technology-enhanced learning
experiences making appropriate use of differentiation, including adjusting content, process,
product and learning environment based upon an analysis of learner characteristics, including
readiness, interests, and personal goals.
The Artifact I chose to represent mastery of standard 2.5 was the Web Quest titled Boston that
I created for ITEC 7445. The creation of the web quest addressed the multiple learning styles and
learning levels that were evident in the fourth grade co-teaching classroom. This classroom
consisted of four students with disabilities, five students in the gifted and talented program, and
eleven students who were performing on grade level. Reading ability levels were determined
through Aimsweb testing, progress monitoring, and Lexile level assessment.
The web quest was designed in a PowerPoint format with hyperlinks to research articles, virtual
tours, editorial articles, and even an editorial cartoon about the events that took place during the
Boston Tea Party. The premise of the web quest was that the students were cleaning the
professors lab and they stumbled upon a time machine. While investigating the time machine,
they were accidentally transported back in time to the morning of the Boston Tea Party. Students
were given the task of writing an editorial for the Boston Times newspaper reporting on the
events they witnessed that day. Students were given the choice of being for the Boston Tea
Party, or against the Boston Tea Party.
Differentiation of instruction was evidenced through the individual goals developed for each
group of learner found in the classroom. Gifted students were required to complete more tasks on
the rubric than students with learning disabilities. Students were given a choice of the role they
wanted to take in the web quest. They could report as an interviewer, a participant, or as an
observer. The choice of roles and how they were going to complete the assignment is an example
of adapting the lesson to meet the abilities and needs of each students. Non-readers were allowed
to complete the assignment by developing an illustration of the events that unfolded. Read aloud
software was used in order to give non-readers equal access to the reference material.

Future implications for the grade level would be the modeling of the ease of differentiating a
project to meet all of the diverse learning styles found in todays classroom. The editorials and
illustrations were posted in the hallway as evidence of learning and were viewed by grade level
peers. The sharing of the works created led to a grade level discussion of the benefit of using
web quest in order to deliver grade level content in an interesting and engaging medium.
Hopefully, this project will inspire others to develop project based learning activities in the
future. Students benefit from the ability to choose a reporting style that reflects their own
individual learning style.