Frameworks for Technology Integration- A Self Evaluation

 Intro to Technology Integration Model……..

Integrating technology into one's curriculum is complex. Technology integration models were designed to help teachers think about how they use technology in meaningful ways in their lessons and curriculum.  There are many different models, but I am going to focus on one model. The SAMR model. 

SAMR is an acronym for substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition (Puentedura, 2003). The SMAR model's purpose is to be used as a planning tool and to give insight into how technology can and should be used to help/create better designed learning activities for students. 

Video explaining SAMR 

Image created  by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, Ph.D. http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/

 

(Schrock, http://schrockguide.net/samr.html)

 

Image created by Jonathan Brubaker (@mia_sarx)

(Schrock, http://schrockguide.net/samr.html)

Examples of  SAMR in Art Education…….

 

Assignment: Art/Painting  Traditional Method: Students would draw or paint an image using pencil and paper, brushes and paint. Lesson with integrated technology: drawing or painting the image digitally. The biggest difference is that the piece of art is made digitally. Now I am not saying digital is better, but working digitally does offer some things that cannot be done with traditional art supplies. 

• Substitution: Students could use a drawing/painting program to create the painting. Apps such (Microsoft Paint, Photo Paint Instant, Photoshop) 

• Augmentation: Students complete a google form questionnaire to show prior knowledge of art concepts or check for understanding. 

• Modification: Have students scan a  hand drawn sketch to draw on top of digitally or create a painting or drawing and scan it in to be used for a background.  

• Redefinition: Collaboratively work on a piece of art digitally using online apps. (like Twiddla) or create a digital portfolio that is shared online.  Another activity could be to take virtual field trips to museums around the world. 

Reflection of My Own Practice…… 

 I do not consider myself a tech guru but do consider myself pretty tech savvy. I use technology everyday in my job as an educator. I use it to communicate with colleagues, students and families, and to create lessons and assessments. But as a teacher I know that learning is a lifelong journey and there are always areas upon which one can improve. 

When searching for information on SAMR. I found this quiz on Uquiz to help gauge where I personally was on the SAMR scale. When looking at my own technology integration in my teaching in comparison to the SAMR model; my results showed I was on the Modification part of the ladder.  To help me achieve up the ladder I need to grow in Redefinition the most. 

Image Source: Blogger Author 

Also to help me see where  I stood on the SAMR model, I broke down my own teaching/lessons following the 4 SAMR categories: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition.. 

S--Substitution

I feel that this is an area that I do very well. Everything that I once would have hung up on the board or made copies of and cut and pasted together to make a project poster board in my first years of teaching, I now put on google slide. Books that I would read in person I try to find animated versions of them to show to my class or even find videos on Youtube of the artist we are studying. 

A--Augmentation

An example of this in my art room is having students take digital images of their works and posting them into a google form to share. I also use google forms to give pre and post quizzes or project reflections so I can gauge understanding. 

M--Modification

In my own lesson planning and instruction, I make demo videos of the current project/steps and load them to my Schoology Page, YouTube channel, and embed them into Google Slides. This is so that my students can watch them if they are a day behind the rest of the class or if I want them to work on a project at their own pace. Now that we have students that are home for longer periods of time, I find that it allows my at home students to be able to keep up to speed with what we are doing in class. 

R--Redefinition

While I have created digital art shows for the buildings in which I teach that allows the art that we create to be shared with the world, I feel that in this area I don’t offer as many opportunities for students. This is partially because of how frequently I see my students. I see them once every 5 days for 50 minutes–so only for a total of 16/17 times a year. The majority of my focus is on creating and exposing them to hands-on art projects. Over this school year, I hope to incorporate this form of technology experiences for my students. 

Conclusion of Traditional Vs. Technology Integration……. 

This breakdown of my use of technology in my curriculum using the SAMR model really lets me see areas in which I succeed and areas where I fall short and need to improve.  As an art teacher, I believe that some artistic processes are just better experienced hands on rather than through a digital medium. For example, the true “clay experience” of hand building a pot can’t be truly duplicated in an app by using pottery apps like Let’s Create Pottery Lite or Google Arts and Culture 3D Pottery.  These apps are fun and a great way to expose students to culture and the concepts of clay but can’t give that hands-on experience one gets from forming the clay in your hands. However, displaying art digitally on a site like google sites is a great venue,  allowing a wide variety of people around the world to be able to view one’s art.  

Technology can be a great asset in education and learning, but I believe it shouldn’t take over and be used for all learning experiences within the classroom. Digital tools like I mentioned above in the last  2 years in education have been valuable tools as we quickly moved to all online learning due to the pandemic of COVID. They provided a great digital artistic experience to online learning. But as we now move back into our traditional classroom, we need to find that balance. It is my belief that a great 21st curriculum has a fine balance of technology and hands-on experiences that allow students to build positive learning connections that are meaningful. 

Additional Resources: 

Google Drawing Activities: 

https://ditchthattextbook.com/10-engaging-google-drawings-activities-for-classes/

Video sharing tool for students and parents: 

https://www.educreations.com/features/

Cited Sources: 

What is the SAMR Model and what does it look like in schools? Our Social Voice, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC5ARwUkVQg

Google Arts and Culture.  “3D Pottery.” Retrieved September 8, 2022 from https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/3d-pottery/nwHg1D0riJ1ltA?hl=en

Google Play. “Let’s Create! Pottery Lite.” Retrieved September 8, 2022 from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.idreams.potterylite&hl=en_US&gl=US

Google Sites.  Retrieved September 8, 2022 from https://sites.google.com/new

Schrock, K. (2022, February 5). Kathey Schrock’s Guide to Everything  Retrieved September 8, 2022 from https://schrockguide.net/samr.html

Uquiz. Retrieved September 8, 2022, from https://uquiz.com/quiz/d9Lyo2/samr-model

Walsh, K. (2015, March 30). Twiddla - Online Collaborative White Board that's quick and easy to use. Emerging Education Technologies. Retrieved September 8, 2022, from https://www.emergingedtech.com/2015/03/twiddla-online-collaborative-white-board-quick-easy/amp/