Imagine you’re a teacher with a room full of 20 students — each one reads at a different level, a few were born abroad and speak little English, half of them tell you they “hate reading,” a handful struggle with learning disabilities.

How could you tailor instruction to each of these students’ needs? How would you help each of them grow to the maximum of his or her potential?

This is the reality for many (if not most) of the teachers in America. And with classrooms like this — with many individual students and one teacher — helping struggling students catch up is one of the most fundamental challenges teachers face, writes Vanderbilt professor Ted Hasselbring in this month’s Educational Leadership magazine.

In the article, Dr. Hasselbring, the senior author of Scholastic’s READ 180 program, gives five reasons why technology is a game-changer for teachers and for students who struggle with reading.

1. Technology is adaptive.

2. Technology is good at facilitating repetitive practice.

3. Technology is available anytime and anywhere.

4. Technology is superb at gathering and processing data.

5. Technology is motivating.

He expands upon each of these reasons in his article. But I do love this quote:

We need to use every tool possible to help teachers and students be even more successful. Just as soldiers wear sophisticated armor to protect them during battle, swimmers use ever more specialized suits to reduce drag in the pool, and car companies build hybrid and electric models to reduce both emissions and drivers’ fuel costs, teachers can use certain applications of technology to help with many of the things we struggle with in learning and teaching.

Teachers: How is technology helping you better work with struggling students?