Diving Deeper with the SAMR Model

    In the ever-evolving landscape of education, teachers are constantly seeking innovative ways to engage their students and deepen their understanding. Enter the SAMR model—a framework that encourages educators to transform their teaching practices to higher levels of engagement and learning using technology integration. Here is a run-down on the basics of the SAMR model:

    By moving beyond simple Substitution and incorporating Augmentation, Modification, and occasionally reaching Redefinition, teachers can empower students to utilize their skills for research, share their knowledge with peers, make connections, and develop a well-rounded understanding of the world. Beyond the model shown above, here are some simplified key points and examples that may help in understanding each stage of technology implementation: 

• Substitution = Doing old things in old ways
• Examples: Replacing a manual GPS with a smartphone's GPS app; replacing a hardcopy of a dictionary with Google's "Define" function 

• Augmentation = Doing old things in new ways
• Examples: Replacing hardcopy books with eBooks where the user can highlight sections, define vocabulary, and share the source with others; replacing paper maps with Google Maps where the user can see ratings for their destinations, images, fastest routes, hours of business operation; replacing the chore of handwashing dishes to using a dishwasher

• Modification = Doing old things in better ways
• Examples: Replacing hardcopy books with audiobooks so that the user can listen while completing other tasks, or so that a user who struggles with reading can engage audibly; using Google Drive rather than handwriting/printing numerous drafts of an essay, reducing paper waste and allowing the user to simply make changes rather than rewriting the same work multiple times

• Redefinition = Doing new things in new ways
• Examples: Transportation by airplane rather than by car or train, gaining access to the rest of the globe rather than being landlocked; using Venmo for payments rather than cash, increasing convenience while also reducing the risk of pickpocketing

    By guiding students through the research process and providing technological resources, teachers can foster critical thinking and information literacy skills. The shift from substitution to augmentation allows students to take ownership of their learning and explore topics in new ways. To further elevate engagement and understanding, teachers can facilitate opportunities for students to share and teach their research to their peers. This not only enhances their presentation and communication skills but also promotes collaboration and new perspectives for understanding of the subject matter. Peer teaching encourages students to explain concepts in their own words, reinforcing their understanding and fostering a supportive learning community; therefore, fitting into the category of redefinition.

    Making connections is another crucial aspect of the SAMR model. Teachers can help students see the bigger picture by encouraging them to explore how their research and learning connect to other material or topics. By drawing parallels, students develop a holistic understanding of the subject matter and its relevance in various contexts. Engaging in conversations with individuals from different cultures and perspectives further broadens their horizons, challenging assumptions and nurturing empathy. 

    To achieve this, teachers can introduce redefinition by stretching the boundaries of traditional classroom experiences. Inviting guest speakers into the classroom, organizing virtual Zoom calls with experts from around the globe, and encouraging students to create their own unique renditions of projects are just a few ways to foster a deeper connection to the real world. These experiences inspire creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, transforming students into active contributors and shaping their understanding of the subject matter on a profound level.

    Incorporating the SAMR model into lesson planning allows teachers to embrace the transformative power of technology and pedagogy. By gradually moving from substitution to augmentation, modification, and occasionally reaching redefinition, teachers empower students to become active learners, critical thinkers, and global citizens. With this approach, education becomes a dynamic and enriching journey, propelling students towards higher levels of engagement, understanding, and success.

With support from Generative AI

Crossing the Canyon

The implementation of higher level skills into lessons is the key to student growth and SAMR offers such a useful insight into what this looks like. Being able to recognize the benefits or potential drawback of technology uses allows for constant evaluation regarding what is best for our students. Simply replacing traditional methods with technological ones offers minimal benefit to a lesson and often is more a hindrance to learning. Evaluating our own teaching techniques using SAMR allows us to continually be improving and crossing the monumental canyon standing between enhancement and transformation. Being able to reach a kind of technology usage that reinvents what it means to learn is how we truly transform a classroom. Of course the stages of SAMR are sequential and not everything we do will be categorized as ‘redefinition,’ but striving to hit these higher order of learning is how good teachers become great teachers.

We can't live longer, but we can get more time

I think the best way to look at technology is as a means to give more quality time with students. SAMR gives good context to this. Even if a technology is not revolutionary — if it doesn’t “redefine” an aspect of education — it can still achieve the goal of getting more time with students. If an activity is enhanced with technology as a substitution or augmentation, the technology would hopefully make the activity more efficient. The activity could also give some independence to the students, which would then free up the teacher from instruction to interact with the students individually.

On the other hand, technology can be implemented in a way that does not achieve this goal. Sometimes when it is just substituted in, it does not fulfill a purpose beyond what the original activity did without technology. In that case, the substitution might just be more work, and might in fact decrease the quality of learning and interaction. If this is the case, the technology does not meet the goal of getting more quality time with students and should not actually be used in that way. Technology should be implemented in a judicious, intentional manner. 

SAMR is Super!

 A major takeaway for me from class today was the use and importance of SAMR in the classroom and integrating technology into student learning. Through utilizing substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition, we can identify the enhancement of learning that technology brings, as well as what value is being brought to the students through the use of that technology. 

In my schooling experience, technology was usually frowned upon, with laptops being banned from my elementary and high school classes, and in college only using the laptops to follow along with presentations or type papers. Phones were the enemy of my teachers it seemed. It wasn't until this graduate program that I was able to see the potential for technology enhancing learning, and specific ways we can implement it using tools such as FlipGrid, SeeSaw, Google Maps, and so on. 

In using the SAMR model of tech integration, we can begin to see the circular routine of learning, making sure to use all models to help our students retain information. We must continually think about where things fall in the model, and then reimagine those things in other models as well. Through this, it is important that we also think about how technology is impacting ourselves and our students and continually moving through the cycle. 

Here,There, and Everywhere!

There are so many different ways I am going to integrate technology into my classroom, and I cannot wait! After these two days of class I have so many different ideas and plans I want to bring into the 4th grade classroom I will be student teaching at this fall. I would like to integrate research for the students on a topic, say in history or social studies. I then want to assign ( or allow them to pick a country of their interest!) students a country to look through the lens of and present that to their peers, potentially in a classroom Jigsaw activity or make a presentation/movie trailer for the information they want to share with us. Another way I would like to redefine technology in the classroom is to, have the students research a critical world issue, gain knowledge on it and then FaceTime or Skype someone from that country and get their opinion on it / interview them. Not only are they gaining technological skills, but they are also gaining communication skills within a global perspective.

Two more ideas that I would like to integrate are the YouTube video and the pictures as a story activity. Just like we learned today in class, when there is a visual put in front of us we will retain the information 65% more than if there was not. I want to put photos up on the screen and have students think of a story and how it relates to the content we are learning, or about to learn. If I do this activity before a unit I can attain an understanding on the level of what the students know before starting the unit. If I do this activity after a unit I can help understand how much the students learned or if there are any misconceptions in the room I can clear them up for them. I hope to incorporate student choice and allow them to have autonomy in the classroom as well as redefining learning with the SAMR Model.

The possibilities are endless with technology!!

Lastly, I want to ensure that I reflect on the most important thing I learned in class today......LOVE YOUR STUDENTS. 

Research Paper? Why not WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE?

I am really enthusiastic about the idea of having my student's participate in creating Wikipedia. Most students hate writing long research papers. "What's the point?" they espouse. "Why does any of this matter?" Two questions which can be handily answered once their research paper becomes a Wikipedia article. Their work will no longer be just for the sake of a grade (and their own mastery of the content and developing their writing skills) but an opportunity to contribute to the largest global knowledge database in history!

Before students can be set loose on Wikipedia, however, we will spend some time reading examples of Featured Articles, Good Articles, all the way down to Stub articles, so that they can get a sense for what is expected of a Wikipedia contribution. Once they understand what they are shooting for, they can browse a list of Stub articles in need of punching-up, based on the content area of the course. For example, in a US History course, students might peruse this list of American Old West Stubs or this more general list of US History stubs. They will find a Stub article that interests them, and then do independent research and writing to expand it into at least a C quality article. If none of the Stubs interest them, they can try to find a topic in American History that hasn't even been started on Wikipedia.

This assignment would fall into redefinition on the SAMR scale. Before the internet and Wikipedia, there would be no chance for high school students to be published in an international encyclopedia, let alone the most widely utilized encyclopedia in the world. If Wikipedia were to cease to exist, this assignment would be impossible (though, theoretically, we could start our own Wiki-like encyclopedia). Hopefully the real value of their work and the opportunity to write for a global audience will help motivate my students to work harder and research more thoroughly than they might have done so if they were only writing a research paper for class.