Using SpacesEDU to Support Differentiated Instruction: 4 Practical Classroom Strategies

Differentiated instruction involves thoughtfully designing lessons to ensure that every student, no matter where they are on their learning journey, is appropriately challenged and making progress. For teachers, this principle is a guiding light. Granted, with class sizes growing, it can feel like a pretty lofty goal. Luckily, technology has advanced to help us make this goal a reality. This blog outlines how to use SpacesEDU to support differentiated instruction and make the process of creating personalized learning paths for students simple.

How Does SpacesEDU Support Personalized Learning?

SpacesEDU offers a centralized hub for managing all the logistics of a personalized program – from the delivery of content to differentiated assessment. It allows easy assignment of tasks to individual students or groups, tracks their progress, and supports personalized report cards. By using the program, educators get a holistic view of each student's educational journey which makes differentiated instruction so simple.

4 Strategies for Differentiated Instruction Using SpacesEDU

1. Use the Data to Inform Personalized Learning Pathways

Data-driven instruction is the cornerstone of differentiation but it’s also the biggest stumbling point because collecting and organizing the data is so time-consuming. Educators can easily eliminate this pain point by using SpacesEDU to collect and organize learning data in real-time. This means they won’t be left with a pile of work to sift through at the end of the day.

• Through the mobile app or website, capture written assignments, anecdotal notes, videos, pictures, and audio when you see or receive them.
• Quickly tag the data with a learning goal and, using the proficiency scale feature, assess how well the student demonstrated the goal, quite literally in seconds.
• Use the Proficiency Report to get a comprehensive overview of learning data, pinpointing each student's strengths and areas for improvement.

By leveraging the data in SpacesEDU, teachers can design personalized learning experiences confidently, knowing that they are meeting the individual needs of every student.

2. Design and Assign the Right Activities to the Right Students

Creating tasks, sharing resources, and tracking the completion of work assigned to individuals or groups of students is always a time-consuming challenge. With SpacesEDU, teachers can meet students where they’re at by assigning custom activities based on individual or group needs.

• Use the Activities feature to design personalized learning tasks based on the learning data collected and analyzed.
• Upload and attach any necessary resources, and assign the activity exclusively to the students who need it.
• Track who has submitted work and offer feedback directly through the Activity Quick View.

SpacesEDU Tip: Save precious time by copying activities and tweaking instructions or resources to meet the needs of other students. Then, simply select the next student or group of students to assign it to.

3. Tailor Instruction Using the Different Spaces

So, what is a Space? Picture a conference. The entire group convenes in the main room for the keynote speaker. Following that, participants split into different rooms for in-depth discussions tailored to various topics or experience levels, ranging from introductory to advanced sessions.

Use SpacesEDU to get that same adaptability, by setting up unique virtual spaces tailored to individual student needs:

• Consider the Class Space or feed as the main room—a space for delivering information to the entire class, akin to the keynote room.
• Use Individual Spaces for private 1:1 conferencing
• Establish Group Spaces to facilitate smaller groups

The key is that students only access information delivered to the groups that they belong to and they are only connected to the students who are in the same group. This allows educators to provide tasks and resources that precisely meet the needs of each specific group of students within any given space and connects students so that they can engage in peer collaboration.

4. Let Differentiated Instruction Lead to Differentiated Assessment

Embracing differentiated assessment involves placing greater emphasis on formative assessment. Since an overarching goal is to ensure the progress of every student, each learner will have distinct learning goals based on where they are on their individual learning path. For this reason, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ assessment of learning isn’t meaningful.

Rather than focusing on a single assessment of learning, if teachers have access to the Portfolio feature, they can capture many pieces of evidence that showcase what a student is demonstrating most recently and most consistently based on their personal learning goals.

• Each time a student shares a piece of evidence, they have the option of adding it to their digital portfolio. The resulting student portfolios will be unique to each learner and offer physical evidence to support teacher assessments.
• Use the digital portfolio as a map during conferences or when collaborating with students, parents, and support staff in the development of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) showcasing how far the student has come and supporting goal setting for next steps.

SpacesEDU Tip: Engage community stakeholders in the learning with Portfolio Sharing. Teachers and students can generate a view-only version of the digital portfolio to share their learning beyond the classroom.

Starting with the data collected in SpacesEDU, the journey to mastering differentiated instruction and assessment becomes straightforward. SpacesEDU manages the logistics allowing you to offer personalized instruction and support inclusion effortlessly. What initially felt like a lofty goal is now a concrete reality.

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