As someone who likes to believe they are technologically adept, I am still barely scratching the surface of its impact on education. Growing up, I remember when the first computers started getting brought in to my high school library, and how big of a deal it was. Nowadays, students all have computers that are ten times as fast, and fit in their pockets…
The SAMR Model is designed to allow educators to incorporate technology into the classroom. The goal is to infuse technology into lessons in order to provide scaffolds, or to provide more opportunities for academic achievement. SAMR stands for: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefintion.
As shown above through a sketch by Sylvia Duckworth (@sylviaduckworth), the model follows a progression that teachers will follow as they begin to incorporate technology into teaching and student learning. I am still familiarizing myself with the model, and cannot be 100% certain whether a method will fall under one category or another. However, the important thing to understand is that as you move through each level, technology becomes more interwoven in education, and starts to become the foundation for new activities that were never before possible.
This ThingLink provides a bunch of great information on what each level entails, including words associated with that level and activities one can use. Candace M also made a short video that breaks down the different levels of the SAMR model.
Substitution: Substitution is the first stage, where new tech replaces old tech. An example could be students printing out a worksheet, filling it, and turning it in.
Augmentation: Augmentation involves the same task, but the technology being used increases its functionality. This could be something like students taking a quiz on Google Forms rather than with pen and paper.
Modification: Modification allows educators to completely redesign certain parts of a common classroom task through technology. An example might be students writing an essay about the theme of a novel, and then creating an animated video to summarize their paper. Then, a link could be made available to an audience, including others students and parents.
Redefinition: Just as it sounds, this is where educators are able to create new tasks that were not possible without technology. An example would be students (potentially on the other side of the world) collaborating on a video presentation through an online platform.
As I grow more comfortable with technology and its place in the classroom, I hope to start redesigning tasks that I would never have thought of before entering into this field. Without sounding too cliche, it is definitely the way of the future, and I fully accept technology’s growing role in education.
Every Day Im Calculating 