Elementary Example of SAMR


Enhancement to Transformation:

Example

Elementary School

 

 

Substitution Tech acts as a direct tool substitute, with no functional change (Enhancement)

 

As part of the study of “communities” students make a picture book of their community using digital cameras. Using a word processor, they write captions for each picture, insert the picture into the word processor, and print them out to make a book that they place in the school library.

 

Augmentation Tech acts as a direct tool substitute, with functional improvement (Enhancement)

 

As part of the study of “communities’ students make a digital picture book of their community. They use digital cameras to capture community photos and enhance them in a paint or digital editing program. The “book” is put into Photo Story and shared over the local access TV station as well as placed in the school library on CD for others to view.

 

Modification Tech allows for significant task redesign (Transformation) 

 

After going on both walking and bus tours of their community during which students take many digital pictures and video, students create a virtual museum of their community. Working in teams, students select their favorite landmark of building and do further research on the site.  They interview local citizens recording their interviews in digital recorders.   Next, using Audacity voice editing software and music from free music sites on the Internet, they create podcasts and vodcasts on their site and with permission, include excerpts from their interviews. The podcasts, vodcasts as well as digital pictures are incorporated into the virtual museum using a tool like Thinkport (http://museum.thinkport.org/) or other site.

 

Redefinition Tech allows for the creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable (Transformation)

 

Students have volunteered to give a virtual tour of their community to the new employees of a significant new employer in their town.

 

After touring the community on foot and by bus taking digital pictures and video as they go, students use Google Earth to identify important locations. Upon viewing the finished map showing the important student-selected locations, students discuss their findings, sharing such things as which locations might be most important to new employees and why.

 

Students select a location and, working with a parent partner (or other significant adult), gather additional information on their location, including the history and present use, by conducting interviews with family members, relatives, and/or neighbors who have information about their selected site. Interviews are recorded in a digital voice recorder. In order to keep their teacher as well as other teams up-to-date, the student-parent teams blog about their research in a secure blog site that the teacher has set up.  With their parents and/or teachers assistance, students organize their information in Bub.ul.us, an on-line visual organizer.

 

An image of the map showing all the selected locations in Google Earth is uploaded into a private secured VoiceThread Student-parent teams take turns recording information, adding visuals and, with permission, snippets of the interviews that provide information on their location into the VoiceThread project.

 

The Google Earth tour of the student selected “special locations” in their community and the VoiceThread are presented at a special showing to the employees of the new business.  Parents, town officials and interested community members are also invited and receive a Tweet from their school that has developed a sizeable Twitter following. The student presentation is shared over video conferencing with the company headquarters which is located in a different state several hundred miles away.