Technology in Education: The SAMR Model

debrief and lesson planning meetings: How did my instruction help students self-reflect, learn something about themselves, and/or about others? What was the lesson within the lesson? Why is this important to life? What will/did your students become wiser about? What are the vital life skills you are mapping onto the lesson (music from the world, critique, empathy, taking action, making the world a better place)? What assumptions and biases about race, power, equity, access/inclusion, and/or oppression came up for you when teaching (or preparing) this lesson? What does this make you wonder about your teaching practice and beliefs? (To learn more about this type of debrief, please see the Mohamm book below.) Key: As a supervisor, how can you support the mentor in being open to learning from the teacher candidate? Bringing the mentor in on these debrief questions will also help both mentor and teacher candidate to work together.

JEDI work takes daily practice to develop, much like our musicianship skills. Facilitating debriefs at student teaching seminars for the colleagues to learn from one another is a wonderful way to help the teacher candidate grow this mindset. As Supervisors and teachers, engaging in conversations around these topics in the lunch room with teachers from other subjects, at CASMEC with other music teachers and attending professional development are great opportunities to continue to grow as a music teacher. One of my favorite PD resources in this area has been the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California Race and Equity Center. Another fantastic resource is Boston University’s Race, Prison, Justice Arts program. Wanting a great book to read this spring? Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Mohammad (2020) is magnificent work in this area of study. Taking time to chat with your teacher candidate on a regular basis about what they are doing and why in the classroom is a great way to connect and demonstrate how to be a lively part of our professional learning community. As we work to right the injustices in the world, starting in our own music classrooms, remember to keep your time with your students sacred and pass on that mindset to your teacher candidate. We model checking our assumptions and meeting our TK-12 and college students where they are. Music Education Professors, Supervisors and Mentor Teachers are the most important part in developing our new music teachers. We are grateful for this incredible, intentional work. I look forward to seeing you all at CASMEC and continuing the conversations and learning from one another. Music means well-being for my students to me. Whether older or newer terms are used, the objective of bringing music to all TK-12 students with social justice is the focus lens.

References

Bandura, A., & National Inst of Mental Health. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory.

Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Carreón O. (2021) Moving Towards Justice…Now! CTERIN

STENT 2021 Summer Conference: Supervisors of Teacher

Education

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.

Muhammad, G., Love, B. L., & Scholastic Inc. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic

Technology in Education: The SAMR Model

by Holly MacDonell CMEA Music Education Through Technology Representative

As teachers we use technology all the time, even without teaching a class called Music Tech. And no matter how much technology we use, we should be able to describe how the specific technologies we use aid teaching and learning.

At one end of the tech spectrum, there are those that have been using internet DAWs and composition software since they were first available. At the other end, there are those of us that didn’t use a computer during classes until the shelter-in-place order in 2020 required you to learn Google Classroom. Along various points in the middle of the spectrum are countless games and tools that are different combinations of useful and fun.

How do we decide the benefits of a specific technology, and whether or not it is useful for our own needs? The SAMR model can guide the decisions about how the use of tech may improve student learning and understanding.

The SAMR model, created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, divides technology into its degrees of application. Categorizing ‘levels’ of technological use aids teachers in making decisions on which technology is needed, or how a technology can expand an assignment or project further, ultimately creating connections that weren’t possible without the specific technology.

Substitution-Technology acts as a direct substitute, with no functional change (like a pdf article read from a screen, for instance, rather than from a piece of paper). Augmentation-Technology acts as a direct substitute, with functional improvement (like the active links within an article that can add more understanding or context). Modification-Technology allows for significant task redesign (like a student comment thread devoted to discussion of an article or piece of art). Redefinition-Allows for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable (like students from around the world all commenting and replying to comments on an article or piece of art).

Whether showing a video (or assigning a video using EdPuzzle to check for understanding at specific points), viewing a slideshow (or using PearDeck to make the slideshow interactive), or assigning a melody project (with Chrome Music Lab’s Melody Maker, or BandLab’s DAW), different aspects of the SAMR model may be highlighted. The simplicity of the SAMR model is practical and helpful, allowing for thoughtful decisions about tech use which enhances all sorts of teaching and learning.