It's Time to Connect with Students... Using the SAMR Model

I have always been a geek about technology, but I also worry about limiting screen time with my elementary students. In an attempt to make every second count on screens, I try to explain to my students that in my classroom, they are primarily producers of technology, not consumers. I do not want them to passively consume technology, but instead interact with the online world around them. Break down physical barriers and perform tasks that were previously inconceivable without technology.

Let’s look at how the research phase of project based learning can utilize technology to climb the SAMR scale. Instead of doing all of the research in the library, students can research their essential questions online. This is the substitution phase of the SAMR scale. However, students can use search engines to narrow down their searches to more quickly find exactly what they’re looking for which takes this to the next level: augmentation. Modification is the phase in the SAMR model where the real transformation occurs. Students can manipulate technology to do research that simply cannot be done in books. They can interact with the information and collaborate with their classmates to aggregate all resources and evidence that support their claims. Finally, technology redefines the learning experience when students can share their findings with an authentic audience and do something about it.

Whether we are teaching in-person or online, technology plays a critical role in education today. Project based learning allows our students to communicate, collaborate, critically think, and be creative problem solvers. There are endless connections between the PBL mindset and utilizing technology in the classroom. You absolutely can teach project based learning without technology, but in that scenario, you are confining your students’ voices. Technology gives your students an authentic audience.

All eyes are on education today. The world is a different place than it was a few months ago, and we have been forced to evolve. Nothing compares to face-to-face in-person instruction. Educators won’t be replaced by robots. The human connection is too authentic to replicate. It is time to create that connection with students online.

I apologize in advance for what I’m about to do, but I would like to use a BUNCH of songs from the Frozen 2 soundtrack to make my point… 

This time in history has forced us to be more flexible and confident with navigating uncharted waters. We have been forced, “Into the Unknown,” and are constantly working hard to do, “The Next Right Thing.” So if you find yourself feeling, “Lost in the Woods,” try to focus on proactive solution-driven measures you can take to connect with your students through a screen. Teachers will do anything to support student learning, because, well, “Some Things Never Change,” even if that means that they will spend their evenings and weekends working to learn new technologies to climb the SAMR scale and give their students opportunities to think critically in any environment. My only hope is that, ultimately, “This will all make sense When I Am Older.”

Sources:

Gorman, M. (2014, September 15). Essential Connections of STEM, PBL, and Tech
Integration... What Would Dewey Think? Retrieved July 15, 2020, from https://21centuryedtech.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/essential-connections-of-stem-pbl-and-tech-integration-what-would-dewey-think/

Puentedura, R. (2020, April 01). Ruben Puentedura on Applying the SAMR Model.
Retrieved July 15, 2020, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/node/4141326

Puentedura, R. (2020, April 01). Ruben Puentedura on the Impact of the SAMR Model: Page 2. Retrieved July 15, 2020, from https://www.commonsense.org/education/videos/ruben-puentedura-on-the-impact-of-the-samr-model?page=1