BOOK REVIEW
Don’t Ditch That Tech: Differentiated Instruction in a Digital World
Written by Matt Miller, Angelia Ridgway and Nate Ridgway
Reviewed by MUHAMMAD ASYRAF NORLI
INTRODUCTION
The main purpose of this book is to explain how to use technology to differentiate the learning environment. Also, this book has a rich resource for understanding ways technology can be a powerful tool for adapting to the dynamic range of learners in today’s situations. It is a practical guide and handbook for an educator to use in understanding or implementing technology at school.
These 9 chapters explain in detail the topics of finding the technology level in classroom surveys, identifying technology situations, exploring possibilities, ways to take attention, channeling the real world, employing tech to vary the content, improving student products, teaching with transparency, and teaching kids to reflect.
REVIEW OF THE BOOK
Technology is one of the most complicated things in this modern world. Almost every person in this world is using machines, tools, applications, and platforms created by the intelligence of technology. Not many of the users masterly know about computer languages or the terminology that is being used in technology learning. Two years ago, the pandemic forced society to use technology as the main element to run every shape of the industry. In education, especially in Malaysia, educators at schools and universities face challenges in implementing knowledge of technology in teaching and learning. The interest in technology is that there are so many ways to ease users using tools, applications, and platforms, and it is the technology of digital. People use them without creating a complicated area that involves computer language or coding. A user needs to learn how to optimize special functions in certain digital software. In education, as well as technology, the input is as important as the output. The input is on the teacher, and the output is on the students or pupils.
A survey has been used to recognize the reader’sreader’s role level in technology. The role level is Pilot, Museum Exhibitor, Restaurant Owner, Council Member, and Creative Art Couch. In the classroom, the teacher can be a pilot, museum exhibitor, restaurant owner, council member, or creative art member, depending on expertise in technology survey. The pilot is the lowest role level, and the creative art member is the highest role level. Every reader who has a role can choose and understand the instructions or procedure from the first chapter until the last. In the second chapter, the writer guides readers to understand their environment and suggests some applications that can be used. Each application is explained in detail not only in Chapter 2 but in the other chapter. In the second chapter, the writer focuses on creating a home base learning tools for students to access warm-ups, activities, and learning materials quickly and efficiently if readers readers schools do not have a learning management system (LMS) such as Canvas, Schoology, Moodle, and others. Google sites, Web-Based Applications, and Applications that are easy to use have been discussed in chapter two
Chapter 3 is part two of Chapter 2. The authors discuss creating a home base if the school doesn’t provide or use an LMS. Using Google Classroom, Google Sites, HyperDocs, HyperSlides, Google Drive, Dropbox, Google Forms, and a few web-based applications to create a home base. Students need to access learning materials quickly and efficiently. The author also emphasizes that readers stick to applications that are easy to use and avoid barriers to overcome to use the applications that have been used. On the other hand, chapter 4 is the first chapter to examine how to use tech to differentiate educators’ instructions. This chapter discusses a few applications, strategies, and examples that educators or readers can implement in their classrooms. In Chapter 5, the authors bring readers back to reality when everything changes depending on the development of the way human beings live. Part of human beings in the twenty-first century is technology. Therefore, process, content, and expression in education must open students’ content to a real-world experience. This chapter included Google Earth, YouTube, Podcasts, Skype, Facetime, Google Hangouts, and a few web-based applications as support to the chapter discussions. Generally,
Chapter 6, as it is a coherence to chapter 5, this chapter discusses the intersection of tech and differentiation. This chapter explains how students’ backgrounds and intentions influence the election of tools that will be used in the classroom. As the book is about education, the authors explain and discuss improving student products in several ways in chapter 7. In this chapter, the authors give and suggest some tools, applications, and extensions that can be used as students students sharing mediums, such as Telestory, Educreations, AnswerGarden, Gradecam, ClassTools, Vocaroo, Buncee, Trello, and Pocketbooks. After the authors gave many ideas on how to implement practical strategies and applications to better differentiate teachers’ or educators’ classrooms in the previous chapter, how all the strategies and applications align with philosophy toward students and community discussed in chapter 8. The authors also explain that sharing work with the world is a matter to prove that education happens in today’s classroom. For instance, teachers or educators can use Twitter and Seesaw to share content or news related to education, topics, and classroom learning. In the last chapter, readers, teachers, and educators are shown by authors how to teach kids to reflect by setting a goal, chunking, problem-solving, evaluating, and reflecting. Google Forms, One Note, Padlet, Google Calendar, MindMup, Thinglink, Classdojo, Emotionary, and Penzu are the applications, tools, or extensions suggested by authors to execute students’ reflections.
The writer put the introduction with the story of educators who have used technology and have a passion for developing their knowledge in technology. As a reader and teacher, I love reading a simple book but close to what I know and do. It is such affectionate reading when it is formal, complicated, and serious but details that avoid time to wonder or question. The opening makes the reader want to know the next chapter without being overwhelmed by digesting a lot of technology terminologies. In each section of information, the point of each writer’s view is concluded. When this book is read in the eBook version, the website link is linked to the website, and the reader can explore the information that has been shared. Although this book’s theme is technology, the words or terminologies used in writing are familiar to a reader, especially when you are an ordinary teacher or well-known as a non-technology expert teacher. Before the reader goes through or passes to another topic, the writer puts in a questionnaire that will let the reader know their skills, situation, and opinion. The objective of the book has become more vivid when the writers bring the reader to know themselves and turn off their unrelated situations or consequences of using technology in the classroom.
As a reader from the beginning of the book, experiences that have been shared by writers make a reader excited to know what will be read. Other than that, there are a few suggestion or situations that reminds me of the 21st Century Learning (PAK21) element called hat thinking. Otherwise, the writer’s expertise in writing makes the element close to the reader even without face-to-face virtually. The book was more exciting when it concluded with a question about implemented technology since my school is in a rural area. Most of the time at school, my teachers and I face so many bad situations when it comes to internet connection and, sometimes, no phone coverage for many days. The reason why the writer obtains questioning has crept into the reader’s mind – what if technology is not provided by my school? During my teaching practicum and as a trainee teacher, I have limited knowledge about applications and platforms that can be used in classroom teaching and learning. This book’s content helps me as a teacher to conduct teaching and learning properly with technology as a tool. As we know, technology and nology have limitations in a few aspects. The writer makes readers think and have second thoughts that technology is easy with proper knowledge and steps. I like reading this book when it is close to reality, although the writers are not in the same country – Malaysia.
CONCLUSIONS
This book is suitable for people, leaders, or teachers who love exploring technology knowledge through reading. The language and writing styles on this are easy to understand and suitable for world readers, especially non-native readers. This book also makes the reader realize that technology is simple to learn, apply, and understand, as it is an important element in today’s education. When the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic, technology sustains education and some of the industry. Generally, this book is interesting, informative, and practical, yet written professionally and full of educational theories
MUHAMMAD ASYRAF BIN NORLI
Degree Bachelor of Teaching (Hons)
Remedial Education For Primary Education
Master of Education (Malay Language Education) Student
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
TS. DR. MOHD KHALID MOHD NASIR
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
REFERENCE
Matt Miller, Angelia Ridgway & Nate Ridgway. 2019. Don’tDon’t Ditch That Tech: Differentiated Instruction in a Digital World. San Diego: Dave Burgass Consulting, Inc.