The SAMR Model of Technology Integration

An Introduction to the SAMR Model of Technology Integration

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of this week's tech blog, I want to say Happy Anniversary to my wife, Jessica. She has been very supportive of me in my new role, and for that I am very thankful. I decided to create her a little 'techy' gift, that I think all will enjoy. See it in this week's "Tech This Out".

This week, I have spent some time reading about the SAMR model, developed by Dr. Rueben Puentedura. It is a way to self-assess your integration of technology into your classroom, and works similar to a ladder. There are 4 stages: substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition. Dr. Puentedura suggests that the most effective integration of technology happens in the modification and redefinition stages, also known as the transformation stages. Let's look at what each stage would look like.

Substitution

In this stage, technology does not enhance the learning process, but instead replaces an existing tool or model. For example: Students are asked to write an essay with paper and pencil. In the substitution phase, they would use a word processor to type their essay. The task is the same, and there is no added benefit to using the computer. 

When using technology in your classroom, you want to make sure that you are using it with a set outcome in mind, and not "just to use technology." In some circumstances, technology can get in the way when there is a simpler, non-tech way of obtaining the same outcome.

Augmentation

The augmentation stage is similar to the substitution phase, but with an added benefit involved for doing the task with the use of technology. For Example: Using a word processor to type an essay is substitution, but using the features such as changing font, spell-check, and alignment tools all are 'augmenting' the original task.

Augmentation improves the product, and possibly the means by which the product is attained. However, it does not always result in higher-level learning. 

Just to check if you are reading this, the first 2 people who email me the word "SAMR" will receive a prize (past winners are not eligible).

Modification

This is the first stage that really starts to change how students learn. Dr. Puentedura says that this is when the classroom "Transforms". 

The modification stage uses technology to change the outcome to one of higher level thinking (and learning). For example: Take the same essay assignment. Students could type the essay on Google docs, and then share with their peers and leave comments/feedback for each essay. The assignment has now been modified and the students are now evaluating and working collaboratively. 

Redefinition

At the top stage, students would be asked to do a totally new task, that would be previously inconceivable without the use of technology. An example in this stage would be to take the concept of the essay, and have students create a video with narration, music, etc. Then, students can publish their work and provide feedback in real-time.

When looking at your own lessons, and think of how you could incorporate technology to create new outcomes that would not be possible without technology. If you want some help on ways to take your students further with the aid of technology, book a time with me and I would be glad to help you meet your desired outcomes.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Don't forget to check out the video below :)

Hey, Tech This Out!...

Name: Plotagon

Type: Ipad App (maybe android too?)

Subject: Any

Grade: Grade 3+ 

What it does: You build your characters, you choose the scene, and you enter plot and dialogue. Plotagon turns it into an animated cartoon.

My Take: This was one of the most fun apps I have played around with yet. There are some MAJOR limitations on what it can do (all people are the same height, weight, etc./Only can have 2 people in the clip at a time/Cannot add props or visual text/Only on Ipad). However, if you are wanting an alternative to a quick skit, this could be your tool. The ability to customize each character, their voice, their mood/actions, etc. are what make this a useful app. It also creates a pretty professional looking product that makes people think you spent hours when really it took minutes.

Here is a video that I created using Plotagon for my wife on our anniversary. I am sure she will love me sharing this with everyone. 

*Events in the video may or may not have really happened the way they are portrayed* Also, thank you Joe Stellmacher for unknowingly co-starring.

Research Tool in Google Docs

RESEARCH TOOL IN GOOGLE DOCS

Today, I want to bring your attention to an underutilized tool that is available in google docs. The research tool (found under the 'tools' menu) is a great way to get information quickly and insert it directly into your google doc without having to open other tabs or leave your document. 

HOW IT WORKS

Let's say I am typing a report on Abraham Lincoln. In my report, I want to include the date of his assassination, but I do not know it. I can highlight the search term I want to use in my google doc ("Abraham Lincoln" or "Abraham Lincoln Assassination") and then select "Research" from the "Tools" menu. Immediately, a window opens to the right of my document that has information about Abraham Lincoln, including his assassination date, pictures, and links to websites with more information. 

IMAGES

This tool works great when you decide you want to insert an image into a document as well. Instead of opening up another tab, highlight your search term and hit "Research" and immediately you have your choice of many images that you can just drag and drop into your doc. It will automatically create a footnote that cites the source for you (you can choose the format of citation).  Here is a quick video to see how it works:

Other Features

In the dropdown menu at the left of the search bar (letter 'G'), you can choose to search for the following:

• Everything: Text and images related to your topic from any source
• Images: Images related to your topic found on the web
• Scholar: Educational information related to your topic that you can read, add to your file, or cite in a footnote
• Quotes: Quotes related to your topic that you can add to your file
• Dictionary: Definitions, synonyms, and antonyms related to your topic
• Personal: Results from your personal documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and photos that you can open, cite, or link to from your file
• Tables: Data presented in tables related to your topic that you can open, cite, or export

I think students and teachers alike would benefit from knowing about this tool. Thanks for reading and have a great week! GO INDIANS!!!

HEY, TECH THIS OUT!!

WORD CLOUD GENERATORS

Name: Word it out, Wordle, ABCYa

Type: Sites

Subject: Any

Grade: Any

What they do: Take word lists or text and creates interesting looking "word clouds".

My Take: All three of these sites do basically the same thing. First, you copy a piece of text or a word list. Next, you paste it into a box, and select color schemes, fonts, and other settings. Then, the program creates a visually-pleasing arrangement of your words. Why would you do this? Maybe you are reading the declaration of independence in class, and there are some words that you want students to know. Putting the whole declaration of independence into the box, and using the built in features that eliminate certain words (and, of, the, it, a, etc.), will create a cloud that just has your base words in it (and some will make the most frequent words larger or standout). Another option is to take your weekly spelling list, word wall words, vocab list, etc. and create a different representation than a standard list that may get more attention from your students.

I found Word it Out to be my favorite, with ABCya second. Wordle works well and is quite popular, but requires JAVA which I didn't have on all my devices. I would recommend ABCya for the younger grades especially. They don't take long to create, so I recommend you experiment with all three to best fit your needs. Here is a sample using my digital literacy vocab words:

Links: 

http://worditout.com/word-cloud/make-a-new-one 

http://www.wordle.net 

http://www.abcya.com/word_clouds.htm

The Many Uses of Google Forms

The Many Uses of Google Forms

Before I get started on this week's topic, I wanted to say how great it was to work with so many teachers using the presentation apps that I went over in last week's blog. One of the reasons I took this position was to be able to work with a wider range of students and teachers, and I have seen some outstanding work involving technology usage in all three buildings. Awesome to see!

Now that I have you all warm and bubbly, I thought I should sneak in some techy stuff as well. The inspiration for this week's blog came about after a conversation I had with a first-year 3rd grade teacher in Redgranite (who I might mention has a very handsome oldest brother). She shared with me an 'outside-the-box' way she uses google forms in her classroom.

For those unfamiliar with Google Forms, I will give it to you in a nutshell. You can create a form using various question types and styles. The results can then be sent to a spreadsheet for better organizing or analyzing. Many teachers use google forms in our district for things such as assessments and surveys. Using a google add-on like Flubaroo (see this week's Tech This Out) makes grading a piece of cake. If you want more information on creating a form as a quiz or survey, you can ask me to help. 

Here are two ways to use google forms, that you may not have considered:

Rubrics
When you grade presentations, you might use a paper rubric to make notes on or to score the students work. If you are like me, carrying around a stack of papers (130 or more at the middle school) creates an instant organization issue. I would always get a first hour student's rubric stuck in the second hour pile, or it would take me awhile to enter the scores into the gradebook because the rubrics were not in alphabetic order so I was always using the arrow keys to go all over the gradebook to find a student, wasting valuable time that I could have been using to help my wife with the laundry or dishes instead... . Well, Google Forms can help make this process a whole lot easier. 

First, you can create a form that has all the criteria from your rubric, including a question that gets their name and hour (for easy sorting later). Next, as students present, you can sit in the back with any device (I used my iPad), and score their presentations using the form. The completed forms would then go to a spreadsheet, which could be easily sorted by name and hour for easy grade entry. You can create a formula on the spreadsheet that would tally up the points from each section and give a score or percentage. Using Flubaroo, you could send the graded rubrics out to students through email. Here are a few samples of rubrics using Forms:

Guided Reading, Writer's Workshop 
or Student-Teacher Conferencing
I don't have as much experience with Guided Reading as I do with using rubrics, but to my understanding there is a small group of students of similar ability working with a teacher on a given text. Part of this might include a teacher doing some formative assessment or note-taking on the students' skills. A google form could again streamline this process and allow a teacher to have all their notes organized into a spreadsheet. Here is an example of a form that might be used for this type of activity:

 Additional Resources
There are MANY ways to use google forms in your classroom, and many resources out there on how to use them. One of my favorites is this CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE STORY. Students could easily create their own after learning how to make a google form that uses the response to send readers to different pages. Here are a few more links on how to use google forms in the classroom.
81 interesting ways to use google forms in the classroom
32 ways to use google forms in the classroom

If you need help creating a google form, or analyzing the results of the form, please book a time with me and I would be more than glad to help. As always, thanks for reading and have a great week!


HEY...Tech This Out!

Name: Flubaroo

Type: Google Sheets Add-on

Subject: Any

Grade: Any

What it does: Uses your answers to a google form to grade student submissions. 

My Take: One of the most time consuming parts of teaching is grading work. This add-on can save you tons of time grading fill in the blank, multiple choice, true false, etc. questions. It allows you to grade the short answer/essay style questions, and then completes the scoring for easy grade entering. I have used this add-on tens if not hundreds of times, and I highly recommend it to any teacher that uses google forms. here is a short video I made on how it works:

Link: www.flubaroo.com or go to "Get Add-ons" from the Add-Ons menu in google sheets.

Class Presentations

Alternatives to Powerpoint Presentations

The next time you or your students give a presentation in your class, please consider some alternatives to the traditional slideshow style Powerpoint. Powerpoints are like the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches of presentations. They can get the job done, but there are way more interesting and satisfying options out there....like a MLT: a mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They're so perky. I love that. (First person to write a comment on the bottom and name the movie I just quoted gets a prize).

Lets start thinking more MLT and less PB&J, in both our own presentations and student presentations. There are much more dynamic and interesting ways to present material. Here are a few alternatives to consider:

PowToon

This site lets you create an animation that can tell a story. It is simple to use and combines the elements of a powerpoint and a movie-editor. I created a quick sample for you:

Emaze

Emaze is a presentation platform that makes boring slideshows look like they took hours to put together. They are great for presenting statistics as the built-in spreadsheet makes it SUPER easy to create interesting graphs and charts. A big knock on powerpoint presentations are that they are linear, taking you from one place to the next. Emaze allows you to add buttons on your slide that can take you to different slides or 'sections'. You can create interactive presentations with these buttons, or dress up a traditional powerpoint as I have done here:

At the very least....
There are powerpoint-like alternatives out there that can offer a little variety. Sliderocket and Prezi are two examples. Consider them like PB&J with a slice of banana (don't knock it till you try it).


Other Resources
You can view a list of 20 other options here. 

Bottom line...
The bottom line is to be open to trying something new. It is easy to use the same powerpoint again that you created in 2002, but it probably is time to update and try something different. Also, allow your students to be creative in presenting their material by giving them choices. I am always here to help you or your students during the planning and creation process, so please contact me if you are interested in using any of these presentation tools. Have an awesome week! (no Tech this out this week as I shared the presentation sites instead).

A Look at Some New BASD Resources

A Look at Some New BASD Resources...

What does a tech integration coach do all day?
The answer is simple and only takes two words: Fantasy Football.  

Just kidding. Really, I have been spending most of my time creating some resources for you. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the new technology website that you can access on the school district website. If you haven't checked that out, I encourage you to do so. Let's take a look at some of the other resources that are now available to you...

BASD Tech Chat
I mentioned this a few weeks ago as well, but now it is up and running. BASD Tech Chat is a place to pose and answer questions about technology. Please respond right on the tech forum rather than through email so others can see your response. Participation hasn't been real high, so to encourage that, the first 3 people to post a question or response on the BASD Tech Chat will receive a prize! You can access this through our tech website which is off of the BASD site under district information.

Educator Effectiveness Website
Another project I have been working on is creating a resource for those who are going through the educator effectiveness cycle. This site is now live and can be found under "Staff Access" on the BASD website. It contains all the expectations and due dates that you would need. It also has samples and templates for you to use, as well as how-to videos to upload artifacts to My Learning Plan. Everything on this site is tailored to the BASD educator. If you have anything that you or your department uses (rubrics, surveys, etc.) that you want me to post, I would be glad to put it up. Just send it to me.

New Tutorials to Check Out:

I have been trying to create many tutorials on the function of some basic google apps. I will continue to add more down the road. You can always find the latest tutorials on the tech website. If you need help with any of the following, please check out these new tutorials I made this week:

Creating/Utilizing Folders in Google Drive

Easy uploading of Documents and files to Google Drive

Creating and Using Shared Folders on Google Drive

Creating a graph in google sheets

*as always, feel free to request for a tutorial to be made through the tech website.

Finally, the best new resource that is available to you is.......ME :)

I have been in some classrooms already, but because I have been so involved with creating these other resources, I haven't been out and about as much as I would like to. A big part of my job is to be available to help you in your planning and delivery of lessons that can utilize technology. 

Let's say you are doing a science lab that collected data and you want me to show your class how to create different graphs and analyze data: Perfect! Sign me up!

Perhaps, you are wanting students to do a presentation, but you don't want to do the standard poster or powerpoint: Talk to me! I'm all over it!

Maybe you have a lesson that you have done for a few years, but want a way to bring it to the 21st century: I have ideas that can help!

I don't have all the answers, but I will work hard to find them. The more I can help you and get to know your technology needs, the more I learn and can pass on to the next teacher. I understand it is hard to ask for help and can be uncomfortable to bring in some new punk to help teach your class. However, that is exactly what we ask of our students (ask for help when you need it, use resources that are available to you) because we can't be expected to be experts on everything. You can reserve a time slot with me by going here or by going to the tech website. I can't wait to help you achieve your goals. 

Thanks for reading this week. Don't forget to post on the Tech Chat for a chance to win a prize! Have a great week!

HEY...Tech This Out!!!

Name: Snagit

Type: Chrome Extension

Subject: Any

Grade: Any 

What it does: This extension takes screenshots and saves them right to your drive. It makes a folder in your drive, and stores all your screen shots there. You can take full screen shots, or selective.

My Take: In my position, I use screen shots (pictures of my computer screen) all the time. I make handouts and how-to sheets for my students and for teachers. I think this extension would be useful for teachers at any age. Having trouble copying and pasting? Take a screen shot and now you have an image to paste anywhere. Students can also use this to help show you things on their screens. It helps show the process of what they do if they can take screen shots along the way. Perfect for making portfolios of their work! 

Snagit also features a video capture function that I have not used. I use a different program that I will write about in a future post. 

The advantage of using Snagit over keyboard shortcuts (cmd+shift+3 for whole screen capture on mac or cmd+shift+4 for selective capture) is that it saves it directly in your drive versus your desktop. This makes for quicker editing. From drive, you can edit the screenshot and draw arrows or add text.

To get Snagit you can go to the chrome web store and search for it. It goes on your chrome web browser and puts a little icon just to the right omnibox(address bar).