It always amazes me that some schools can be so far ahead of other schools in their beliefs. I need to show my principal the video from Hebbville Elementary. I just convinced him to buy 5 iPads for our school of 200 students, and that was me pushing him and repeating the same answer every time he asked me what kind of technology I wanted in my classroom. We have Hebbville Elementary, a rural school in Nova Scotia that has a cart of 20 iPads...and they are working to get more...and my principal is tired of hearing me talk about the benefits of iPads!
My son is in grade three and last week he had to do a project on his heritage. There was a large written component to this project, and then he had to present it in some way. The teacher actually suggested using a cassette tape! I couldn't believe it! A cassette tape! I decided to download the Pictello app and I helped him to create his project presentation. It was pretty simple, he is only in grade three, but I thought it looked great and he didn't have to do another "good" written copy to pass in, which would have been brutal for me and him to write out again. So he presented his work on his iPad, unfortunately I didn't have a connector for him to connect to the LCD (and neither does the school), but he was still able to show it.
One of the presenter's at FETC discussed the SAMR model, so I was a little familiar with the concept as I began to read Ruben's blog and watch his videos. In terms of technology use, there are four stages: The bottom stage being Substitution, where the technology simply does the same task, The next stage up from that is Augmentation, where the technology acts as a direct tool substitute, with functional improvement, both of these stages are considered enhancement. The next two stages are considered transformation because the tasks are not being tackled in a traditional way. Modification of technology allows for significant task redesign, and Redefinition of technology allows for the creation of new tasks, that were previously inconceivable.
Right now I would say that most classrooms are still at the substitution and augmentation levels of the SAMR design. What do we have to do as classroom teachers, school boards, and the department of education to move from the enhancement levels to the transformation levels? The department of education needs to come on board and purchase technology for the schools that makes it easy to implement technology transformation. The school boards need to provide training for teachers and time to play and use the technology so that teachers are not afraid of it. Teachers need to be willing to try out new technology and find ways to integrate that technology into their traditional teaching methods. There are a few things that need to be in place for all of this to happen, but it could!
Right now I would say that most classrooms are still at the substitution and augmentation levels of the SAMR design. What do we have to do as classroom teachers, school boards, and the department of education to move from the enhancement levels to the transformation levels? The department of education needs to come on board and purchase technology for the schools that makes it easy to implement technology transformation. The school boards need to provide training for teachers and time to play and use the technology so that teachers are not afraid of it. Teachers need to be willing to try out new technology and find ways to integrate that technology into their traditional teaching methods. There are a few things that need to be in place for all of this to happen, but it could!
Pic Collage
Time to think outside the box! Check out all the ways to use Pic Collage in your classroom...Pic Collage is only as limited as your imagination!
Thanks Nancy! great ideas as always. Can you note the grade and outcomes these activities would meet? That would add some interesting info and tweak peoples imagination!
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