Thursday, April 6, 2017

SAMR - Redefinition

We are officially back from Spring Break!! It was a much needed break and I'm feeling ready to finish the year strong.

As I've stated in prior blog posts, I'm on the hunt for examples of how educators have used the SAMR model with educational technology to change their practice.



I stumbled upon Matt Miller, educator and famed author of Ditch That Textbook, discussing the importance of using technology to transform the learning in the classroom in a blog post, 10 Ways to Reach SAMR Redefinition.

To start, it's difficult to reach the transformative stage of Redefinition with technology where everything the students produce is a "new task, previously inconceivable." I know many teachers, myself included, who use Google Apps to have students type an essay and turn it in using Google Classroom. Although, the task of typing an essay online is really just substitution on the SAMR model, but I would also argue the ability to provide instant feedback on a permanently saved document has real value and couldn't be done before this type of technology. We could also take the task one step further by sharing the student's essay to a wider audience through a blog or podcast. Then we're moving towards the redefinition stage.

Here are some of my favorite "Redefinition" ideas from Matt Miller that I hadn't thought about before reading his blog:

 “Aid the community” competition: Students from various countries engage in a project to tackle an issue in their communities (i.e. reducing the carbon footprint of their communities). Students share ideas on a wiki, discuss ideas together via video chat on Skype/Adobe Connect/Google Hangout, and partner with researchers at local universities or companies. They share the findings of their yearlong endeavor in a documentary on YouTube. (Source: ECISD Technology)

 Global perspectives: Students connect with a class in another part of the world to discuss a historical event — preferably one that affects both their own countries. Students write — in shared Google Documents, blogs, wikis or any other writing tool — factually about the event and then share opinions about it. They can compare how it’s perceived in different parts of the world. (Inspired by this post.)

Read more from Matt Miller's blog: http://ditchthattextbook.com/2014/04/03/10-ways-to-reach-samrs-redefinition-level/