Differentiates by: Interest, Profile, Readiness, Content, Process
The opportunities presented by blogs for differentiating instruction is abundant. Blogs, short for “web logs,” are websites that can be used for anything from personal logbooks, to journals, to topic discussion forums. Blogs have become easy to develop and use and feature a dynamic grouping of tools (widgets, text, audio files, vodcasts, embedded videos, external links, RSS feeds, search engines, catalogue of posts, etc.) and multimedia capabilities for teachers to employ in any myriad of ways. According to an article by Columbo & Columbo (2007), blogs can help provide ways to extend the learning outside of school for all levels of learners. For those that struggle, blogs can provide ways to practice and review the material through lecture outlines or notes, podcasts or vodcasts, or through embedded flashcards and review quizzes, each of which offers different modalities for students to choose from. For gifted students, you could provide enrichment activities with embedded links or videos, or RSS feeds to related content and news.
Sites offering free space to create blogs:
