Digital Blog Post #G - Success of All Students through Technology

The most important theme for this particular section was the idea that we must use technology to promote the success of all our students. And in today's world, we have an incredibly large variety of students to work with. Today, though we have seen some push back against the educational system and the way it works, we know we will work with students who come from latino, African American, and numerous other ethnic and racial backgrounds. We will meet students who have parents of the same sex (as my own children will) or who have single parents. Children who are adopted, who are poor, and possibly refugee children. And all of them deserve our full attention, and our best efforts. And when it comes to technologies, we must consider the best practices and we must research which technologies may benefit our students the most. And we must consider them individuals with their own needs and interests, and adapt to those.
An important section in this chapter was on Writing Transformations with Technology, which highlights some of the issues we face in the way we teach writing skills and the way the skill has evolved over the years. We face new challenges with the advent of Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and digital literacy playing a roll in the way our students write. Of particular note are the abbreviations we use in other forms of writing with technology, phrases like 'lol,' 'ttyl,' 'brb' and others are all inappropriate for any formal writing. So students have got to be taught using proper writing form as well as the varying technological formats it now encompasses.
Another interesting thing to me was the section on Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design for Learning. They are two systems which allow for the adjustment of curriculum for different students within one class.
The first, Differentiated Instruction (DI for short) is a system in which the instructor makes a variety of experiences so as to meet individual needs of students.
The second, Universal Design for Learning (UDI for short) is, as its name might suggest, inspired by architecture. The description briefly talks about architectural designs which create greater access for all. The idea is then translated into educational purposes - for example, creating curriculum in which multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement are offered. The idea is to give the broadest access to educational and learning opportunities without diminishing any students educational experience.
The following is a link to my padlet, a new form for me and the place where I conclude this digital blog post. It is simple now but I plan to use it to a much greater capacity in the future - it is an excellent form to blog with and it allows for utilization of space and content in a novel way!
Working with Variations

Resources
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O'Loughlin, Ruth Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.