9 Diffit in Action: Personalized Learning Without the Burnout

Abstract

This chapter explores Diffit, a generative AI tool designed to help teachers efficiently differentiate instruction for diverse learners. Diffit allows teachers to save time on lesson planning while ensuring they can meet all students’ needs, including low-level learners, students with learning disabilities, and students above learning level. Throughout this chapter, insights into Diffit’s functions, practical strategies for integrating Diffit into the teaching practice, and an exploration of how Diffit reduces teacher workload and stress will be explored.

Figure 1

A Thriving and Stress-Free Teacher with Students Who Are Happy and Successful

Note. Marena Duffus (2024) generated this image using Canva Dream Lab. I dedicate any rights I hold to this image to the public domain via CCO.

Introduction

Education is a continually evolving field, often driven by the increasing complexities of students in the classroom. These growing demands put pressure on teachers to not only plan and assess lessons but also ensure that all students, regardless of their learning level, can access equal learning opportunities. Today’s educators are expected to meet diverse student needs, adapt to ever-changing curricula, incorporate technology, manage large class sizes, and differentiate instruction for students with varying academic levels. While educators often have a positive attitude toward student diversity (Maia and Freire, 2023, p. 11), the ever-increasing responsibilities of educators often result in teachers feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and struggling to balance their demands while providing the best education for today’s students. According to Agyapong et al. (2022), “Prolonged teacher stress negatively correlates with job satisfaction and positively correlates with intending to leave the teaching profession” (p. 1). In a study conducted by Skaalvik and Skaalvik in 2015 (as cited in Pozas et al., 2022, p. 2), differentiating instruction is seen as a significant source of stress for educators as they do not feel able to fulfill the obligation due to insufficient planning time. Regardless of the stress it brings, adapting instruction is critical to effective instruction (Parson et al., 2018, as cited in Van Geel et al., 2019, p.51).

Tomlinson (2014, as cited in Magableh & Abdullah, 2021) defines differentiated instruction as a teaching approach that involves tailoring instruction to meet the diverse needs of a student, small group, or whole class (p. 256). The goal is to ensure that all students, regardless of their skill level, are challenged appropriately and receive the support they need to succeed, promoting an inclusive and effective learning environment for everyone. According to Van Geel et al. (2019), “The key to successful differentiation is not the application of strategies, but the actual adaptation of teaching to thoroughly identified needs of all students” (p. 62). Pozas et al. (2022, p.2) refer to a study by Van Gee et al. in 2019, exploring the skills necessary for teachers to execute differentiated instruction effectively. In this study, Van Gee et al. found that lesson content, group composition, school support, and access to achievement data played a crucial role in an educator’s ability to differentiate learning for students. If successful differentiation requires the teacher to not only adapt teaching strategies, but also adapt the content or resources; it is understandable that teachers today experience burnout. As shown in Figure 1, using Diffit allows educators to successfully differentiate with the click of a button, affording them more time to spend on other teaching responsibilities.

Case Study

Diffit is a practical, user-friendly tool for educators seeking to streamline differentiated instruction. It rapidly generates tailored learning materials to accommodate varying student needs, making differentiation more efficient. The platform supports multiple content formats, including text and video, providing flexibility in how and what resources educators need to adapt. Diffit also allows educators to translate resources to 75 different languages, equipping english as additional language students with the ability to access the same content and learning as their peers.

There are five features that educators can use when looking to differentiate instruction:

 This feature allows educators to begin by entering a topic, theme, or question. Educators can then select the reading level, language, and type of resource Diffit will formulate to supplement learning. There is an option for teachers in the United States to align their chosen topic with curriculum outcomes in ELA, Science and History, and as Diffit continues to evolve, it would be beneficial for more curriculum outcomes for additional countries to be added in order to make the ai tool more accessible for teachers globally.

This feature allows educators to paste a link to an article, PDF, or YouTube video. After selecting the reading level and language, Diffit will generate supporting materials and activities and adapt the primary source to be more accessible to all learners, depending on the grade level selected.

This feature allows educators to input any passage of text, which Diffit then analyzes to generate differentiated learning materials. Teachers can paste in excerpts from articles, books, or other reading materials, and Diffit adjusts the complexity and content to suit different grade levels or learning abilities. This feature is handy for tailoring lessons to students at varying reading levels while ensuring they engage with the same core content.

This feature allows educators to input up to ten vocabulary words and select the reading level and language. Diffit will then create short reading passages using the input words for educators to use with their students.

This feature allows educators to generate over 150 different learning activites, categorized by research-based methods shown in Table 1. Educators can export these activities to Google Slides, Google Docs, PPT, or PDF and also customize all of these resources to tailor their students’ learning further and ensure they are providing the best fit for each student.

Table 1: Options for Activities

Note. All screenshots in the Case Study section of this chapter have been used with permission given by Diffit (2024).

In modern-day classrooms, the variants in student ability coupled with large class sizes and limited resources and supports available for educators and students create a nearly impossible task for educators to meet the needs of every student. Typically, an educator teaches to the middle or average ability, but in most cases, students working below grade level suffer and students above grade level are not challenged. Diffit allows an educator to reach the learning needs of every student efficiently without adding additional workload stress.

Responsible use of AI 

Future research and innovation for Diffit could focus on addressing current limitations to enhance its accessibility and functionality further. For instance, an area for improvement is expanding Diffit’s ability to differentiate below the second-grade level, which would provide valuable support for younger students and those with more intensive learning needs. Current classrooms have a large span of learning levels in students, and more differentiation may be needed than what Diffit can currently provide. Additionally, future development could broaden the range of outcome-based options available in smaller states or provinces in Canada, ensuring that all educators have access to as many resources as possible and increasing the subjects that Diffit can provide outcome alignment for. Diffit can provide outcomes for ELA, History, and Science only. As a new tool, Diffit is constantly improving, and updates based on user feedback will help it become more flexible and responsive to teachers’ needs.

Summary

Note. This video was created by Marena Duffus (2024) using the Canva design platform. Screenshots and screen recordings of the AI tool have been used with permission given by Diffit (2024).

Acknowledgements

It is important to acknowledge the willingness of Diffit for allowing screenshot images from the website and screen recordings of the app in use in order to create this chapter and summary video. The author of this chapter would also like to acknowledge the use of ChatGPT for assisting in helping formulate ideas for the chapter title and for the assistance in creating characters used in the vignettes. Grammarly was used in helping refine the  writing through the feedback provided by the AI. Lastly, the author would like to acknowledge Paula MacDowell and fellow ETAD 873 students for their hard work and creativity in creating this collaborative textbook.

Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)

Marena, Duffus  https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3404-6969

Marena Duffus is currently completing a Master of Education specializing in Curriculum Studies. Her research interests centre on the improvement of student resiliency in Canadian schools and how the use of pedagogy can inform more holistic education practices. She has worked as a core middle school teacher for 12 years.

References

Agyapong, B., Obuobi-Donkor, G., Burback, L., Wei, Y. (2022). Stress, Burnout, Anxiety and Depression among Teachers: A Scoping Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 1-42. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710706

Black, A., & Gutkovich, V. (2024) Diffit for Teachers (no version) [Large language model] https://web.diffit.me/

Goldman, S.R., Taylor, J., Carreon, A., Smith, S.J. (2024). Using AI to Support Special Education Teacher Workload. Journal of Special Education Technology, 39(3), 434-447. https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434241257240

Magableh, I.S.I., Abdullah, A. (2021). The Impact of Differentiated Instruction on Students’ Reading Comprehension Attainment in Mixed-Ability Classrooms. Interchange, 52, 255–272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-021-09427-3

Maia, V., & Freire, S. (2023). Understanding Teachers’ Mindset Regarding Differentiated Instruction: Issues Related to Curriculum Planning. International Journal of Inclusive Education. 1-16.  https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2023.2245831

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (version 4o) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat 

Pozas, M., Letzel-Alt, V., Schwab, S. (2022). The Effects of Differentiated Instruction on Teachers’ Stress and Job Satisfaction. Journal of Teaching and Teacher Education, 122, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103962

van Geel, M., Keuning, T., Frèrejean, J., Dolmans, D., van Merriënboer, J., Visscher, A. J. (2019). Capturing the Complexity of Differentiated Instruction. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 30(1), 51–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2018.1539013