Frameworks for Integrating Technology into Education

 This week we're discussing frameworks for technology integration in education. Of the frameworks discussed, I find SAMR and Triple E to be the most intuitive. I elected to dive a little deeper into SAMR. 

 Reading the swimming pool analogy on Jaclyn B. Stevensons' website, I found the analogy a little hard to follow. However, the embedded video made it a little more clear for me. The SAMR model is a matter of progression, starting with technology merely replicating what can be done without technology, and "ending" (so to speak) with technology opening up entirely new possibilities.

One such possibility that Youki Terada puts forth is inviting the author of a book to virtually chat with a class after said class has finished the reading. The library I work at was able to do something like this a few months ago, in which Leah Johnson - the author of You Should See Me in a Crown - paid the teen area of our library a visit via Zoom, allowing her to chat with the teens in our library.

Image via Publisher's Weekly

 

Conversely, some of the things Terada describes as redefinitions seem more like substitutions, such as virtual pen pals or virtual field trips. I suppose the reason these might be considered redefinitions is because said pen pals and field trips could be something previously inaccessible, but that still strikes me as a stretch. I think that to truly redefine learning, you need to go further than that. 

It's difficult to imagine what a true redefinition would look like. Quadblogging may be an example, and I am grateful that Terada linked to this article. Having four teachers from across the globe work together to teach their students is almost certainly something that can't be replicated without technology.

In regards to the framework itself, SAMR does a good job of illustrating that the way technology integrates into learning is varied, and that technology can be implemented in many different ways and at many different levels.