Empowering Differentiated Instruction Through Technology


As a 9th-grade History teacher, I’m constantly looking for ways to better support the diverse needs of my students. Many of them come from bilingual households, have varying levels of academic readiness, and respond to instruction in very different ways. 

To meet those needs and create more personalized learning experiences, I rely heavily on technology. The right tools allow me to differentiate not just what I teach, but how students engage with it and how they show what they know.

Here are five platforms I use (or plan to implement more deeply) that have made a real difference in my instruction and student engagement.


1. Quizlet


Quizlet allows me to create digital flashcards, vocabulary decks, and review games tailored to each unit or student group. Quizlet Live is especially helpful for collaborative review before assessments.

Ease of Use & Practicality: Setup is quick, and there are pre-made decks for nearly every topic imaginable. Students can jump into a review session in seconds.

Cost & User-Friendliness: Free to use, with a premium version available. Very intuitive for both teachers and students.

Cross-Curricular Ability: While I use it for vocabulary and concepts in World History, it can be used across any subject that involves terminology or definitions.



Differentiation: I can assign different sets to students depending on their level or modify terms to include sentence stems, visuals, or scaffolding for bilingual learners.

Instructional Strategies: Vocabulary review is a huge part of my differentiation plan, especially for ELLs and students with IEPs. Quizlet gives them a low-stress way to build and reinforce academic language.

Promoting Ownership: Students use the decks to self-test and study at their own pace. Some even build their own decks, which helps reinforce their understanding.

2. Quizizz


Quizizz is a game-based review and assessment tool. It’s great for real-time engagement and self-paced review.

Ease of Use & Practicality: It only takes a few minutes to create a quiz, and you can easily import questions or edit existing ones.

Cost & User-Friendliness: Totally free with many features available right out of the box. My students enjoy the interface and are always excited when we use it.

Cross-Curricular Ability: Works for any subject. I often use it to review historical events, primary sources, or AP-style questions.

Differentiation: I use it to assign different question sets based on student readiness. The audio options help support emerging readers.

Instructional Strategies: I often use Quizizz for bell ringers, review days, and quick checks for understanding.

Promoting Ownership: Students can track their own scores, retry quizzes, and even compete in groups. They like to see their progress and learn from mistakes in real time.

3. Nearpod

Nearpod transforms my direct instruction into interactive experiences. I can add polls, open-ended questions, and embedded videos into slide presentations.

Ease of Use & Practicality: I’ve used it for live lessons and student-paced work. It helps break up long lectures and keeps students active.

Cost & User-Friendliness: The free version has plenty of tools. I often adapt existing lessons or build short ones from scratch.

Cross-Curricular Ability: While I focus on history, Nearpod is flexible enough for math, science, and even SEL.


Differentiation: I can embed audio instructions, videos, or extra scaffolding. Students who struggle with text can still engage with visuals or recorded instructions.

Instructional Strategies: Think-pair-share, exit tickets, and class discussions become more manageable when I use Nearpod for structure.





Promoting Ownership: Students are more engaged when they interact with the lesson in real time. The anonymous response features also make shy students more likely to participate.

4. Canva for Education


Canva helps students visually demonstrate their learning by creating posters, timelines, infographics, or slideshows.

Ease of Use & Practicality: Templates make it easy for students to get started. It’s great for group projects or creative assessments.

Cost & User-Friendliness: Canva for Education is free and simple to use. Students can drag and drop elements without needing any design background.

Cross-Curricular Ability: It can be used for everything from science reports to persuasive writing.


Differentiation: Some of my students struggle to express ideas in writing but thrive when given creative freedom. Canva gives them that outlet.

Instructional Strategies: I often assign projects that allow students to summarize learning visually or build historical profiles using images and key terms.

Promoting Ownership: Students love choosing their own fonts, colors, and layouts. It makes their learning feel personal and gives them a product they’re proud of.

5. Kahoot!


Kahoot! is another quiz-based platform that turns content into competitive, fun games.

Ease of Use & Practicality: I can create or find a Kahoot! on nearly any topic and launch it live with minimal prep.

Cost & User-Friendliness: Free and student-friendly. The competitive nature keeps them on task.

Cross-Curricular Ability: Works well across all subjects.


Differentiation: The pace can be adjusted, and I often build two versions of the same quiz—one with hints or sentence starters for students who need them.

Instructional Strategies: It’s perfect for review before quizzes or for quick comprehension checks.

Promoting Ownership: Students ask for rematches to improve their scores, and some even offer to build their own Kahoots as study guides.







Canva for Education. (n.d.). Canva. https://www.canva.com/education 

Kahoot! (n.d.). Kahoot!. https://kahoot.com/

Nearpod. (n.d.). Nearpod. https://nearpod.com/

Quizizz. (n.d.). Quizizz. https://quizizz.com/

Quizlet. (n.d.). Quizlet. https://quizlet.com/

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