Updating Your Classroom Technology Using The SAMR Model
All the various sorts of classroom technology have the same goal in mind: to aid in the education process and enhance student learning. How teachers and school administrators work toward that goal can take many different paths. We’d like to highlight one process that has become a popular tool among today’s educators known as the SAMR method.
SAMR is a 4 step process that helps teachers integrate new technology in the classroom. The first two steps deal with utilizing technology to make your current educational setup more efficient. The last two steps focus on transforming the classroom structure with your new equipment. Here’s a short description of the intent behind each stage.
Substitution
In this first stage, your new technology is subbed in without making any significant changes to the learning environment. Replacing an outdated whiteboard with an interactive smart panel fits here because instruction can resume as before just on a different medium. Another example is a student writing an essay in their notebook vs. on a laptop computer. This step simply makes everyday classroom tasks a little easier but otherwise still function in the same manner.
Augmentation
This step mirrors the first though it utilizes more beneficial features of your new classroom tech. The student using a laptop from the example in step 1 can now publicly share their essay via google docs for other students to review. Their classmates can leave comments and feedback digitally for the student to review at their convenience. This expedites the peer review process without making significant alterations.
Modification
These final two steps are where tasks are redesigned to embrace the possibilities of new classroom technology. The simple exercise of writing an essay can transform into publishing a blog article for the entire world to see. Through their classroom laptops, students can research a topic, write about it and respond to commenters from around the globe. This method allows for a much deeper discussion than a typical classroom could offer on its own and makes for a more substantial learning experience overall.
Redefinition
In this final step, you seek to maximize the power of your new interactive classroom technology. You can do so by creating new tasks that wouldn’t have been possible before your upgrade. For example you can turn your front of the room smart panel display into an interactive learning environment. Multiple students will be able to simultaneously collaborate and work on problems while having access to major internet resources.
