Definition: Differentiated learning is an educational approach that recognizes and addresses the diverse needs, abilities, interests, and learning styles of individual students within a classroom or learning environment. It involves tailoring instruction, content, activities, and assessment methods to accommodate these differences and promote effective learning outcomes for all students. Education often followed a standardized approach, treating all students as if they were the same and expecting them to progress uniformly through a set curriculum. This approach was based on the assumption of homogeneity among learners, where everyone was expected to learn and progress at the same pace. Classroom teaching primarily involved whole-class instruction, where the teacher would present the same content to all students simultaneously, and assessments were often uniform tests given to everyone at the same time.

Differentiated learning embraces personalization and individualization by tailoring instruction to each student's strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, aligning with their existing knowledge and interests. It promotes flexible pacing employing various instructional methods, such as small groups, hands-on projects, and multimedia, accommodates diverse learning styles., enabling students to advance at their own speed. Assessment and feedback methods are adjusted to accurately gauge individual progress, guiding subsequent teaching. Technology integration, including digital platforms and e-learning tools, provides personalized resources and interactive activities. This type of learning environment fosters peer-to-peer growth and skill-sharing.

Example in practice: The systematic approach of differentiated instruction is suggested to be practiced by educators when planning curriculum and instruction for academically diverse learners. Differentiated instruction assumes that learners have different characteristics. According to Robert Burns, these differences constitute the main premises of differentiation, which assert that:

“There are no two learners who learn the same way. There are no two learners who progress at the same speed. There are no two learners who are ready to learn at the same time. There are no two learners who use the same learning techniques. There are no two learners who solve problems in exactly the same way. There are no two learners who have the same interest profile. There are no two learners who are motivated to achieve the same goals”¹. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

Differentiated instruction is an educational approach that adapts learning to cater to the diverse needs of learners. It is based on three principles of differentiation: (1) developing a variety of learning methods and tools (2) providing appropriate responses to learners’ expectations, and (3) identifying appropriate practices for a particular learner’s need^2,3. According to Philippe Meirieu “we should not refer differentiated instruction as a new pedagogical system, but rather as a dynamic to induce in any pedagogical act ... it is necessary for any teaching”⁴. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

Learners are more productive and motivated if they have the means that meet their needs. Differentiated instruction ensures the implementation of pedagogical techniques adapted to each learner in order to provide pedagogical responses to a given learning situation. However, it does not seek to modify the content to be taught but to change the way, in which it is taught; that is, the learners’ success does not depend on the content itself but on the ability to know when and how to help them apply their knowledge. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017) So without modifying the content, educators are advised to differentiated the following 4 components within the instruction:

1. Differentiating the Content (i.e. Creating content involves a pre-assessment to recognize requirements in relation to the course objectives. The instructor must design different contents around key aims.)
2. Differentiating the Process (i.e. Learners work on the same goals according to their learning preferences. This differentiation takes place on three levels: before, during and towards the end of learning so that to adequately meet learners needs.)
3. Differentiating the Product (i.e. The product or production represents the result of learners learning. These vary in different ways (intelligence, involvement, motivation, collaboration, and so on).
4. Differentiating the Structure (i.e. Apportioning learners into learning groups)

Components of differentiation (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

Prior to incorporating differentiated methods, it is essential to identify the distinct forms of differentiation, which include the following: successive differentiation and simultaneous differentiation^5,6,7.

Successive Differentiation: It is a flexible learning process where activities are varied over time and for the same concept. It is programmed in a collective framework. In this differentiation, the success criterion is the same for all learners but the way to acquire knowledge and know-how is diversified. The successive differentiation aims to make available methods, situations or contents for learners in order to progress and succeed in their learning while maintaining collective progress. Moreover, its implementation is easier and more useful to establish. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

The process of successive differentiation (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

Simultaneous Differentiation: it starts from the idea of simultaneity learning; that is, learners proceed in parallel on different activities ac-cording to their characteristics. This differentiation is based on individual learning project as long as it implies that each learner handle work adapted to his needs, at the same time as the other learners. Consequently, delivering a simultaneous strategy does not retain a fixed learning process; it requires developing an individual action plan to achieve a specific objective. Moreover, its implementation is more complex and requires a high degree of precision. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

The process of simultaneous differentiation (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages but they can be combined to provide complete differentiation using the following learning process modeling steps:

1. Diagnosis: it is the triggering step of the differentiation process. The diagnosis of the initial situation makes it possible to gather all the information needed to establish an appropriate work plan. During this step, the instructor uses the successive differentiation by proposing a set of situations and activities to arouse the learners’ interest and then to determine their needs. A well-established diagnosis will lead to meaningful results without wasting time; (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)
2. Knowledge integration: it is characterized by proposing different learning paths. Therefore, acquiring knowledge can be established in learners groups or individually. At this level, the differentiation is simultaneous that aimed to enhance knowledge related to a particular learning; (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)
3. Assessment: this process is carried out periodically to analyze and interpret the obtained results compared to the defined objectives. Performing as a learning regulator, it allows decisions and corrective actions to be made. Assessment can be ap-plied in different ways but the most recommended one is the criterion-referenced assessment. Furthermore, it checks learners’ performances comparing to competencies defined as criteria; (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)
4. Remediation: the pedagogical decisions are taken on the basis of the assessment results. Accordingly, educational methods are introduced as a part of the remediation plan. For remediation step, the differentiation approach used is simultaneous. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

E-learning makes use of technology's multimodality capabilities to enhance the learning experience, making it increasingly feasible to design curricula that effectively support different types of differentiation, they are:

1. Diffuse Differentiation: It is a way to provide for all learners the same content with multiple learning opportunities. This does not directly address learners’ needs but stimulates their attention through diversified approaches. The diffuse differentiation concerns the variation of process not content. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)
2. Self-Differentiation: It represents an integrated mechanism enabling learners to choose the content that best meets their needs. The aim is to involve learners in the learning process and consequently build their own learning paths. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)
3. Naive Differentiation: The main feature of this approach is delivering automatically and randomly a learning content. Unlike some approaches, learners’ needs do not represent the criterion of differentiation. This differentiation approach varies parts of the content in order to motivate the learners to consult them. Unfortunately, its disadvantage is the lack of plans and strategies for differentiation. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)
4. Boolean Differentiation: It adjusts the content for learners according to the ma-chine logic. Similarly, this approach reaches through assessment to achieve a frame-work of rules. Based on the results achieved, the content flow is altered to meet learners’ needs. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)
5. Model-Based Differentiation: This approach generates ideas on how the content could be differentiated because it is based on a model of didactic practices and data mining techniques. Its ease-of-use represents an important advantage. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)
6. Language-Based Differentiation: Distance learning offers training without spatio-temporal constraints so that learners are heterogeneous in terms of culture, language, competence, and so on. For this, language can constitute differentiation criterion. Language-based differentiation is intended to differentiate content or process according to the language chosen. The content delivery is done either by means of a content repository in different languages or by using translation technologies. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

Differentiated instruction requires an advanced knowledge of learner in order to coach and guide him towards the most appropriate learning path; adding that it organizes different learning situations to cover the recognized needs. The main goal of differentiated instruction is to support constructive learning by proceeding from quantity education to quality education⁸. Furthermore, its intention is focused on individual paths and cooperative learning that ensure a better understanding and acquisition of knowledge. (Tahiri, J.S., et al, 2017)

The concept of differentiated learning challenges the notion of sameness and recognizes the reality of diversity among learners. It acknowledges that every student is unique, with varying abilities, interests, prior knowledge, and learning styles. Instead of treating all students the same, differentiated learning advocates for customizing instruction to meet the needs of each individual.

I would like end this update with a Philippe Perrenoud’s quote used by Tahiri, J.S., et al (2017), to differentiate is “to set up a work organization and instructional features that lead to an optimal situation. This organization uses all available resources and works on all parameters in order to establish the most productive situations for each learner”⁹.

References and Suggestions for Further Reading:

Tahiri, J. S., Bennani, S., & Khalidi Idrissi, M. (2017). diffMOOC: Differentiated Learning Paths Through the Use of Differentiated Instruction within MOOC. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 12(03), pp. 197–218. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v12i03.6527

1. Burns, R. (1971). Methods for Individualizing Instruction. Educational Technology, vol. 11, no 6, p. 55-56.

2. De Peretti, A. (1985). Outline of a Theoretical Foundation for Differentiated Pedagogy. Sèvres's Friends, p.117 (Original language is French).
3. De Peretti, A. (1987). Differentiated Organization of Education and Allocation of Multiple and Complementary Roles (Original language is French).
4. Meirieu, P. (1989). Differentiating Pedagogy. Educational books (Original language is French).
5. Robbes, B. (2009). Differentiated Instruction: Historical, Problematic, Conceptual Frame-work and Methodology of Implementation. Philippe Meirieu’s website, History and Actuality of Pedagogy (Original language is French).
6. Florence, S.L. (2013). Differentiated Instruction, Active and Cooperative Pedagogies. University of Aix-Marseille (Original language is French).
7. Cornet, B. (2005). Differentiated Instruction (TFE), available on: http://www.enseignement.be/index.php?page=23827&do_id=2456 (accessed: November 2016) (Original language is French).
8. Looi, C.K., Wong, L.H., So, H.J., Seow, P., Toh, Y., Chen, W and Soloway, E. (2009). Anatomy of a Mobilized Lesson: Learning my Way. Computers & Education, vol. 53, no 4, p. 1120-1132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2009.05.021
9. Perrenoud, P. (2000). Differentiated Instruction: from Intentions to Action (Original language is French).