Boost learning outcomes by transforming student learning tasks

As a teacher, you are probably very interested in how you can more effectively integrate technology into the learning tasks of their students. The most important words in this goal are: more effectively. Every teacher I know does use technology in a variety of different ways and they do promote and model its use for students in the service of learning. However, teachers often want to know what to do next and how they can better use technology to improve learning and boost outcomes.

In order to do that, educators need a way to analyze what they are expecting their students to do with technology during learning tasks. There are a variety of ways to approach this that but the simplest I have found is to think about task outcomes in terms a model called the SAMR Model. This model can provide a language for their analysis. It organizes specific technology use into four tiers according the following chart:

The SAMR Model (used with permission: Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura, author of the SAMR model. Click on image for original slide source.)

In general terms, the lower two tiers describe how technology is used in the learning task in ways that do not alter the task; the technology only enhances the task. The upper two tiers describe how technology can be used in ways that do transform the learning task into an activity that will have a greater impact on learning.

In the following video, Dr. Puentedura provides an excellent introduction to the SAMR model and the TPACK framework, which is also a useful tool for teachers to use during the planning and designing of learning environments and tasks for students.

The SAMR model is useful as a tool to help educators analyze how technology is used in specific learning tasks and how it relates to students outcomes. It needs to be applied specifically and within the context of the educational objectives from the curriculum you are using. It was not designed as a set of categories that describe technologies, or software, or Web 2.0 tools, or applications, or any task taken out of a specific learning context. For example, graphics such as this one can be misleading; it would appear from this poster that I could simply choose the Skitch app and be assured that I was modifying the task. The reality is that, depending on the original learning task I am considering, I could use Skitch as a substitute to the task, or to augment the task, or modify the task, or to complete redefine the task… it all depends on how the app is used and what learning context and task I am talking about.

Further Reading

• Ruben R. Puentedura’s Weblog
  
• As We May Teach: Educational Technology, From Theory Into Practice
• TPACK Explained
• Transforming Educational Technology Integration
• SAMR Examples Prezi