SAMR Model

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How SAMR Helps Teachers Take Their First Steps

@joe_edtech

I love working with teachers who work hard to integrate technology into the classroom, but I sometimes fear that our current systems of support discourage teachers as they are taking their very first steps. One of the things that has concerned me recently is that our best practice models, and rightly so, are teachers who have been working hard at integrating technology into their classroom not for days or weeks, but for years. The problem is that a fully functioning, integrated website, or a 1:1 mobile computing classroom can be intimidating for someone who is taking their first steps into 21st Century Learning Skills.

Enter Dr. Puentedura's SAMR model (blog linked here). Schools and districts have moved in legion to adopt the SAMR model of technology integration as their theoretical framework, and it has done wonders for teachers who are taking their first steps with technology integration. Why? Because no matter how novice someone is, they can still be on the chart somewhere. Furthermore, depending on the technology tool we use, it is fairly simple to move from the "substitution" step to the "augmentation" step.

Consider the teacher who takes a simple reading hand out and converts it from a Xerox copy to a PDF using a scanner. If the students now access that exact same reading on a Chromebook, the teacher has augmented the classroom experience. The students can easily manipulate the screen and zoom in on the text, making it easier to read.  Or they can highlight a word and look up the definition or pronunciation online. With the installation of a Chome Store App, the students can highlight the text and hear it being read while they read along.

I am very proud of the teachers at DHS and think they have gone over and above the call of duty to prepare for and begin using Google Apps, eBooks, and Web Store Apps in their classes. Their willingness to climb the SAMR Ladder will only lead to even more innovative teaching and learning environments.

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Have you used SAMR? Is there a different theoretical framework we should be looking at for teachers just beginning to integrate technology.