Post #2: Self-Evaluation of SAMR Model

How often do you stop to reflect on your teaching practice? This week I've had to think about my technology integration in the classroom. There a number of models that teachers can use to evaluate themselves with regards to technology use in the classroom. After exploring three of these models, I find the SAMR model to be best for me to evaluate myself as an educator. The SAMR model is an acronym that stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition and was created by educational researcher Ruben Puentedura in 2010 (Terada, 2020). This model is perfect for me as it is very easy to understand and to compare my teaching practice. It's important to focus not on what SAMR is, but instead on what it does. Walsh & Walsh (2015) states that "The SAMR model provides a technique for moving through degrees of technology adoption to find more meaningful uses of technology in teaching and move away from simply using edtech for tech's sake" (8 Examples of Transforming Lessons Through the SAMR Cycle). As a teacher progresses through the levels of SAMR there should be "a focus on the bigger question of what the highest quality technology integration actually looks like" (Terada, 2020). I will describe each of the levels, and provide evidence of my educational practice to justify my placement in that level. 

Image source: Personal photo of Blooket results. Sometimes students even beat Mr. Hill!

SUBSTITUTION: This is the first level that teachers integrating technology into their educational practice achieve. Terada (2020) describes this level as not providing a functional change to content, merely a change in the way that content is delivered. I have provided my students with digital versions of paper assignments and artifacts that hang on my wall. My students have digital access to the classroom rules, their locker combinations, and any other newsletters or announcements that go home to parents and families. I find this to be very beneficial as many students lack organizational skills and frequently lose paper documents. The digital copies are housed in their Google Classroom and they have access to them throughout the academic year.

 AUGMENTATION: Terada (2010) describes this level as incorporating interactive digital enhancements and elements like comments, hyperlinks, or multimedia. The content remains unchanged, but students can now take advantage of digital features to enhance the lesson." I have long added gamification to my educational practice. I give digital quizzes through Google Forms, and my students play Kahoot as a daily review. I recently found a website I like even more than Kahoot, and that is Blooket. Blooket is free (for now) and offers a wide variety of games for students to choose from. I have also given students opportunities to demonstrate mastery through digital platforms. In the past I have used Google Slides and had students work in cooperative pairs to create a multimedia deck on a particular topic.

Image source: Personal photo of Sam Mihara delivering his talk on life at Heart Mountain at Brooks Middle School. January 2023.

MODIFICATION: Terada (2020) describes this level as educators using a learning management system to handle classroom logistics. Even before the pandemic I was using Google Classroom to completely run my classroom. This was even before every student had their own Chromebook. If there is one good thing to come out of COVID it is that funding was provided to move forward many districts' technology adoption timelines. Students are free to post comments and ask questions digitally, and simultaneously while the lesson is in progress. This is the level I believe I feel comfortable spending most of my time. I do dip my toe into the redefinition level from time to time, but I need to be more intentional in creating these experiences for my students.

REDEFINITION: Terada (2020) describes this level as a transformation in the way education is delivered to students. Activities that were once considered unthinkable are available through the use of technology. Last summer I spent a week at Heart Mountain Wyoming studying Japanese American Incarceration during World War 2. I met a dynamic survivor name Sam Mihara and we had dinner together. He offered to come and speak to my students and provide them a first-person account of live in an American concentration camp. He arrived in January 2023 and gave a riveting talk on life in the camp. The students followed up with dozens of thought-provoking questions.

Image source: Personal photo of Sam Mihara posing with the sixth grade students at Brooks Middle School. January 2023

Bibliography

Terada, Y. (2020, May 4). A Powerful Model for Understanding Good Tech Integration. Edutopia; George Lucas Educational Foundation. https://www.edutopia.org/article/powerful-model-understanding-good-tech-integration

‌Walsh, K., & Walsh, K. (2015, April 20). 8 Examples of Transforming Lessons Through the SAMR       Cycle - Emerging Education Technologies. Emerging Education Technologies. https://www.emergingedtech.com/2015/04/examples-of-transforming-lessons-through-samr/

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