The Blair Finch Project
Click this image to access more of our reviews and notes on software programs, websites, and apps to see how we fit them into SAMR. Remember, though, that almost any of these tools could function at the S, A, M, or R level depending on how you use them!
It's just that. Substitution is merely using a tech tool as a substitute for a another classroom task. The task has not changed. For example, some students draw simple rhythm notes on a dry erase board or paper while other students could draw the rhythms on a drawing app like doodle buddy below. A teacher could simply show a PDF in Preview/Adobe as a visual instead of writing the lyrics on the dry erase board. Instead of asking students to watch the clock and keep track of the time they have left for a project, a teacher could project the free app, Stop, Go! Here the teacher can input the amount of time there will be for a project and the program will alert students when the time is up. The program will also move from a green light to a yellow light when time is starting to run out just like a teacher would do when time is almost up. Tech tools as a substitution are great. Kids love to use the tech tools. It changes up an everyday activity into somethine novel. Not to mention, kids are easily motivated by a cool tech tool.
Substitution
Wouldn't it be nice though if the tech tool could offer something more to the lesson than just a substitute or a motivator? Don't get me wrong, substitution is a great way to integrate tech into the curriculum. Kids are highly motivated by cool new tech tools and the novelty of the new activity is valuable in the learning process however teachers don't want to spend all their time integrating tech tools solely as substitution. So, the next step would be Augmentation. Here there is some functional improvement to the task that wasn't there before the tech. For example a teacher could create an interactive xylophone to use in class. What sets this tool above sustitution is that you can touch each bar and the pitch will sound. No paper visual can do that! Another example would be to insert performance videos into a Pages/Word document. Here students can view their performance in the document and reflect on their own performance by typing a summary of what they saw and heard.
Augmentation
Modification
Once you get into the Modification stage you have crossed a line into a new way of integrating tech into a lesson. Here the task has been redesigned quite largely by the use of the tech. Now this task can't be recreated without the tech.
For example, students might view other classroom performances in a video form and on the same document offer constructive feedback. Here students are able get feedback from their peers. With out the tech, it would be hard to perform for multiple classes and collect constructive feedback that could be read in one document.
Once students get the feedback from their peers in other classrooms or schools they can read the feedback and decide what they want to do with the new information. They might disagree with some comments they read but they always have the flexability to review the video in the same document to see if they see what some of their audience members saw.
At this level, the lesson will not look anything like it did previously without technology. A new task is now possible, such as global publishing, collaborating, and authentic learning experiences that reach the rest of the world.
An example of this is an interactive playbill. The original task for students preparing a musical was to create a backstory for their character to present in class. Students always did well but their work was never seen beyond the walls of the classroom. To redefine the task, students were videotaped explaining their characters and also took a headshot. The app Aurasma then layered their video over their headshot so that when the pictures were printed in the playbill, anyone with a smart device could scan a headshot and see the face come to life to tell about their character. A relatively simple project, but the task became an authentic performance task because it informed the audience of information for the show in a way that was never possible before.
Click on the "Aurasma/Augmented Reality" button in the Apps tab for examples of the interactive playbill.