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There are many challenges an instructor may face when facilitating a learning experience for their students. One of which that is salient, is how they might effectively teach a group of individuals who may be diverse in several different aspects. Additionally, how can technology give a diverse group of students an equitable opportunity of success in the classroom? It turns out, there are several ways in which technology can help enhance the learning of a diverse classroom of students under the right conditions! Here are a few ways that you can achieve just that:
Creative expression
The use of some technologies in the classroom can provide students with a greater level of creative freedom in their assessments. Many students have different ways of expressing themselves and communicating their thoughts. Allowing the use of many different programs and technologies for assessments makes it more likely that students will have an option to use that works best for them.
More personal learning environment
Integrating technology in the classroom can mean having more time for instructors to give students personal attention and also help students who have unique challenges in learning. Certain technologies can help students learn at a pace that works best for them and sometimes without direct help from the instructor. In particular, technology like online learning modules can be integrated with current classrooms to allow for instructors to give more personal attention to students rather than being the sole facilitator of the learning experience.
Create collaborative environments
Many technologies allow for collaboration among peers in unique ways that traditional assessment methods can’t support. Using collaborative technologies in the classroom can help support learning in a variety of aspects. More specifically, it can help students boost their self-confidence, sense of belonging in the classroom and highlight the cultural differences and opinions of students.
Use technology that is accessible
Not all technologies can have the advantages listed above. When introducing a new tool into the classroom it is important to ask if it will be accessible to all your students. For example; students in a class may come from vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds. If you require students to bring a laptop computer to work on their assessment, is that accessible to all your students? Some students may not be able to afford the tools that you need to facilitate the learning environment you envision. This is just one example of how accessibility can be an issue when introducing new technologies in the classroom.
Hope this gives you some insight into how you can use technology in your classroom to support diversity!
References:
- Hollenbeck, J., & Hollenbeck, D. (2009). Using Technology to Bridge the Cultures Together in the Multicultural Classroom. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED519991.pdf
- Learning Technology and Diverse Students: A Classroom Resource Guide for School Teachers. (2009). MIT OpenCourseWare. Retrieved from https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/womens-and-gender-studies/wgs-693-gender-race-and-the-complexities-of-science-and-technology-a-problem-based-learning-experiment-spring-2009/student-work/MITWGS_693S09_sw02_Learning.pdf