How will you instruct students with varying abilities?
As their next Distance Learning Specialist, your interviewer needs you to be cognizant of scaffolding material to meet learners where they are at and, at the same time, challenge those who need an extra push. A virtual classroom of students is full of varying abilities, and you will be responsible for meeting the present needs, whether that means supporting struggling learners or challenging more adept learners. Talk about strategies and methods that you might employ for the range of abilities in your students.
"You're always going to have students of varying abilities, whether that is in-person or in a virtual setting. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and I know I need to be prepared to help struggling students while also challenging students who catch on quickly to new skills and information. I often mix ability levels when I put students into groups so they can learn from each other. Sometimes, I form groups of similar abilities to check in with students who require more support, and more advanced students can move on to challenge activities together. Other times, I break the class into two groups and instruct each group separately, depending on their needs. Sometimes that means reteaching yesterday's lesson with one group while moving on to more complex or new information with the other group. I also utilize independent work time to check in with individual students. A mixture of all of these techniques helps me target specific groups of students and give everyone what they need."
