Teaching with Technology: Step 3

Do you want to use technology to substitute for a method that you currently use? Or, do you want technology to provide your students with learning objectives only possible as a result of the use technology? The SAMR model can guide you in this decision.  

Substitution 

• Take what you were doing in your classroom before, and do the same thing with a different tool.
• Example
• Old assignment: Write an essay in a blue book on symbolism in Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome.
• New assignment: Use Microsoft Word to write an essay on symbolism in Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome and submit it to Canvas. 
• Benefit: Students are gaining experience in using computers and basic software skills.
• Drawback: Does not require the student to learn higher level computer skills or the soft skills of the higher level of Bloom's taxonomy. 

Augmentation

• Use the technology to enhance how students were doing tasks. Certain features of technology tools can help students complete a task either faster or the technology tool facilitates acquisition of more information.
• Example
• Old assignment: Same as above - essay on symbolism in Ethan Frome.
• New assignment: Write the essay in a Google doc in Canvas. 
• Benefit: Students are using web-based tech tools, therefore, building more up-to-date technology skills. You can track the changes of that document to understand the student's writing process. The document does not need to be uploaded to Canvas. 
• Drawback: Student is not building knowledge on the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy. 

Modification

• Technology changes the task, so the object of the task remains the same, but students can accomplish new goals.
• Example
• Old assignment: Same as above - essay on symbolism in Ethan Frome.
• New assignment: In pairs, write an essay in Google Docs available via Canvas. 
• Benefits: Students learn how to work in groups, peer edit, use collaborative writing technology tools. New knowledge and experience is gained with slight modification to the assignment. 
• Drawback: More detailed procedure is required in the assignment write-up. 

Redefinition

• All of the old tasks are replaced by completely new tasks that could not be accomplished without the use of technology.
• Example
• Old assignment: Same as above - essay on symbolism in Ethan Frome.
• New assignment: In groups, create an outline, storyboard and video/audio mashup to convey the meaning of the symbolism in Ethan Frome. 
• Benefits: Students use a combination of hard and soft skills to create a project otherwise not possible without technology. Students learn from each other. Their understanding of curriculum goals and technological goals expands. 
• Drawbacks: More scaffolding of the assignment is required. Total time devoted to assignment increases. 
• A debated benefit or drawback: students are pushed out of their comfort zone by requiring the use of technology tools. 

The SAMR model was developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, Ph.D. in 2006 with the Maine Department of Education to help faculty meet goals of their learning technology initiative. (from: http://digitallearningteam.org/2012/06/07/the-samr-model-enhancing-technology-integration/)

Since the creation of the model, teachers, instructional technologists, and leaders in the field of instructional technologies implemented this method and reported their experiences. Kathy Schrock, Educational Technologist, Arcadia PT Faculty member and former Director of Technology for Nauset Public Schools, Orleans, MA created a guide to the collection of resources on the understanding and implementation of the SAMR model. The guide is available at: http://schrockguide.net/samr.html.