I was instructed to write about my experience with differentiated instruction. This prompt was difficult for me because of my lack of classroom experience. I instead drew from my work as a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Rider Coach. This limited my scope of knowledge, but did give me a few examples to draw from.
I don't have an example that works for this prompt. I have utilized differentiation in the course of the MSF Basic Ridercourse, but there is no technology present. I have also helped manage assistive technologies for students at ENMU-Roswell, specifically for use with our sign-language interpreters.
When we differentiate for students in the BRC it often revolves around a single concept that is not working for a student. If a student is constantly stalling the motorcycle during exercise 9, for instance, we will approach with different options for success. Instead of requiring the student to perform the exercise inside of the lines we instead focus on understanding the general movements. Encouraging the student to perform the exercise without regard for the lines and instead focusing on performing the turns without stopping or putting their feet down can lead to a better understanding of what is needed after the boundaries are brought back into play. For visual learners we focus on large, exaggerated movements that allow students to see the movements as large as the movements often feel for students.
The most effective use of differentiation that I have seen during the BRC is intentionally making an exercise more difficult. Students that are struggling with using the clutch to control speed on the motorcycle will often improve when we ask them to shift to second gear. This shift requires the student to utilize the clutch throughout the exercise instead of only for taking off. I have been forced to revert a few students back to first gear when this differentiation lead to additional issues, but those issues fade quickly after the reversion.
Normally these differentiations are implemented based on individual skill level, but sometimes they may be implemented because of language difficulties or learning styles. We refer to "mechanical sympathy" in our class, but most of the time mechanical sympathy is either based on existing knowledge, or lack of fear. Students that aren't mechanically inclined do sometimes need things explained in a different way than those who are mechanically inclined.
In the classroom there are a myriad of options for technology aided differentiation. Things as simple as closed captioning for videos can make a world of difference for students. Distributing digital assignments means that many of those differentiations are built in.
By default most of these differentiations should be available to all students with an understanding of how to enable these tools. More personalized differentiations should be made as needed or determined by IEP.