The effects of SAMR on education

     Nowadays, technology is a crucial part of children's lives. Just think to yourself, when was the last time you left home without a phone? I know that if I left my house without my phone, I would almost feel like I left a part of me behind. This is the reality of majority students. This is one of the reasons that they check their phones every five minutes. Understanding that this is part of student's culture is crucial to an educator. If we know that students depend on their technology, how can teachers expect students to be in a no technology zone for a large part of their day? It is no wonder that phones in class has become one of the most widely discussed topics in education. Since we know that student's respond extremely well to technology, it is silly that schools choose to keep their no tech in class rules. In fact, since tech has become a part of student language, more tech should be implemented in class. One way to do this is by implementing SAMR strategies into class. The reason I advocate for this is because it can improve the effectiveness of a lecture. Just picture this, students can either read their textbooks and write a paper about a topic which can be a boring task. Instead, students can make educational movies to express their understandings. This would not only be a lot more fun, but it would also be far more memorable and helpful to measure understanding.
     Personally, as a future history and citizenship teacher, technology has forever redefined how I will approach my materials. In my class, we will be reading articles and bits and pieces of several books that address the historical theme of the day. The way tech has redefined my strategy is because I will now be able to break down the classroom walls through video calls.  I believe students could learn far better if instead of just reading the news, I could now Skype a person who is an expert on the subject to teach instead.