Meeting the Needs of Diverse
Learners
Through Virtual Experiences
Plunge In!
Presented by: Debra Mozingo
July 27, 2009
Meeting the Needs of Diverse Learners:
1. Issues: individualized learning/special needs
2. Solutions using virtual experiences:
• Virtual Field Trips
• Simulations
Challenges: Individualized Learning/Special Needs
Children come to school with a variety of:
•backgrounds
•interests and ability levels
•learning styles
•special needs
Solutions for students with diverse needs:
Adjust level of difficulty of materials
Engage various multiple intelligences
Be sensitive to culture, language, and gender
Incorporate student interests
Use multiple types of assessment
More solutions for students with diverse needs:
Include cooperative learning experiences
Provide multi-sensory experiences:
Ear Eye
Taste Touch Smell
How can virtual experiences help these challenges?
Virtual Experiences cross the barriers of:
•Time & Space
•Distance
•Economics
•Danger & Inaccessibility
Virtual experiences provide solutions
for individualized needs:
Authentic & inquiry-based learning
Highly motivating & appeals to multiple senses
Varied learning modalities & formats
Adaptable for special needs
Virtual experiences help students with special needs:
• Student-centered interface: easy to navigate
• Students with hearing impairments:
• captions and/or written transcripts
• Students with visual impairments: audio descriptions
Adjust the level of difficulty
Types of Virtual Experiences:
Virtual Field Trips/ professionally produced:
National Geographic Expeditions Online
4-H Virtual Farm Tour
Monterey Bay Aquarium
More on Virtual Field Trips:
Meet Me at the Corner :
Educational “You Tube” for kids!
Homework Spot Directory of Field Trips
Create your own virtual field trip
Virtual Simulations:
Frog dissection - solution for fine motor problems
Pottery class – also for fine motor issues
Great Barrier Reef Virtual Dive – accessibility
Works Cited
Devlin-Scherer, R. (2008). Cost-free Travel with Virtual Field Trips.
http://www.techlearning.com/article/1338
Johnson, L. & A. Lamb. (2007). Digital and Virtual Field Trips. http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic35.htm
Klemm, B. & G. Tuthill. (2003). Virtual field trips: best practices.
International Journal of Instructional Media 30(2), p.177. Retrieved July 25, 2009 from Academic OneFile. Gale. Eastern Michigan University. http://find.galegroup.com.ezproxy.emich.edu/
Lamb, A. (2002). Bringing Learning Alive From All: A Dozen Different Ways. http://emuonline.edu/re/DotNextLaunch.asp?courseid=3487388
Works Cited Continued
Websites:http://eduscapes.com/tap/
http://www.field-guides.com/index.htm
http://www.froguts.com/flash_content/index.html
http://www.gifanimations.com/
http://www.handsoncrafts.org/000-a.htm
http://www.homeworkspot.com/fieldtrip/
http://www.meetmeatthecorner.org
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/efc/
Works Cited Continued
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/00/earthpulse/reef/reef1_flash.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/siteindex/adventure.html
http://office.microsoft.com/en-s/clipart/default.aspx
http://sites.ext.vt.edu/virtualfarm/main.html