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Future teachers and current practitioners must learn how to think with digital differentiation in mind. This is important so that all students are serviced appropriately.  In our current technologically advanced climate it's important to help teachers develop the mindset and skills to create authentic student-centered learning opportunities that are outcome based. This this is a central component to teachers developing their craft in ways that more fully support all students’ development and learning needs and wants.   This session will digitally present exemplars of graduate students' digital differentiation projects. Participants will be given a summary of the process used to create the projects and an opportunity for question and answer.

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Teachers who are engaged with learners of the 21st century have a responsibility to confront their own pedagogies and begin to transform them to meet the needs of the learners of today.  Digital student-centered practices are necessary for teachers to be able to know, understand and do, as they are central to mastering the art of teaching and learning as a 21st Century educator.  With the advent of Web 2.0 technology students can now work in uniquely personalized environments. However, many educators have been trained to “teach to the middle”, utilizing pen and paper activities only. This is the great problem of teaching and learning in the digital age.  Those with the power to utilize the technology for the betterment of the students they serve often do not do so. Therefore a change in instructional strategy and pedagogical thinking is one that would aid pre-service and in-service teachers in changing their instructional paradigms.  However, the only successful change would take place provided they are given the professional development time to understand such paradigms and implement their practices.  Training teachers to engage students in digital work in a differentiated fashion should be at the heart of new-age pedagogy.  Erstad, Eickelmann & Eichhorn (2015) bring the instructional dichotomy to the fore in identifying that:
School systems worldwide are likewise in a phase of development where tensions between old and new models of schooling are becoming more apparent, creating new demands on teachers as agents of change. These demands include integrating technology into student-centered learning and enhancing subject-specific, as well as cross-curricular, competencies. (p. 642)

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Graduate students obtaining their special education degree exhibited the same challenges in their pedagogical practices as delineated in the introduction. Students approached the educational instructional process in a linear non-unique fashion. They failed to see the instructional value in building differentiated structures for their students that were digital in nature.

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Throughout the course students learned various web-based technologies. They were instructed in how to design instructional activities to meet the needs of a diverse cognitive and cultural group of learners.
Through their theoretical and practical skill development students were able to create differentiated assignments based on a thematic development of a unit that was built on a digital platform (PBworks.com). Students developed proficiency in their technological design skills as well was proficiency in their pedagogical practice related to tiered assignments.

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In order to assist students in developing a differentiated mindset several components of the course were changed.
1. Students were instructed in the purposes of utilizing differentiated instruction for their students.
2. Students explored their own pedagogical biases and shortcomings.
3. Students were taught the TPACK framework.
4. Students developed their technological skill levels and pedagogical understandings.
5. Students were given a digital framework to utilize their newly developed technological skills.

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All of the students were able to produce projects of value in relation to the assignment given.
Example final project.

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Dobozy, E. (2013). Learning design research: Advancing pedagogies in the digital age. Educational Media International, 50(1), 63-76. doi:10.1080/09523987.2013.777181

Erstad, O., Eickelmann, B., & Eichhorn, K. (2015). Preparing teachers for schooling in the digital age: A meta-perspective on existing strategies and future challenges. Education and Information Technologies, 20(4), 641-654. doi:http://ez.sjcny.edu:2081/10.1007/s10639-015-9431-3

Price-Dennis, D., & Matthews, G. (2017). Teacher education in the digital age.English Journal, 106(5), 97-100. Retrieved from https://ez.sjcny.edu/login?url=https://ez.sjcny.edu:2099/docview/1898422704?accountid=28722

Scott, R., & Bowman, D. (2009). It's the pedagogy, stupid.(Forum on "Honors in the digital age")(Report). Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 10(2), 41.

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The following represent a sample of students' work during past sessions of the CSS 600 Technological Literacy/Differentiation course.
It is important to note that although many students came into the class as digital natives they still did not have the skills to instruct using technology until the took the course and engaged in its activities for learning.

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solarsystemunit [licensed for non-commercial use only] / Landing Page

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historictrip [licensed for non-commercial use only] / A Historical Trip to Remember!

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"This was the best assignment I have ever been given. It really helped me learn to master technology in my teaching as a special educator."
"It was really hard at first because I am not a technology person, but I am so proud of what I have learned and created,"
"I used to be confused about how to differentiate effectively, but now I feel confident that I can reach my students where they are."

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Over the last 5 years, 90% of the students stated that the diversity/technology course was among the most useful they had taken during their course of study.