SAMR

As the tech lead in my school, I have the unique privilege of helping my colleagues utilize the technology at our fingertips in their classrooms.  I see a wide variety of interest, skills, and ideas from the other teachers, and that's not a bad thing.

I spent many years as a regular classroom teacher, and technology integration was one of my passions.  However, I realize that teachers do battle on many different fronts. Technology integration is not always at the top of everyone's list. Since it was my passion, I approached every lesson and every unit asking the question, "How can I best use computers or iPads here?" Not everyone asks that question, but that probably means they are asking an equally important question that I'm not thinking about.

However, I think most of us can agree that the world has changed in many ways since we were students.  Technology permeates every aspect of our lives, with most people carrying more computing power in their pockets than what we used to have on a given city block when we were in school. That must change some aspects of how we teach, if for no other reason that we need to prepare our students for the world they are in and will enter as adults.

A good place to start in the tech integration journey is to see where you land on the SAMR model.  After all, knowing where you are is the first step in growth. The SAMR lodel is a quick and easy way to gauge how you utilize educational technology and what you could do with it.

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This video is a great explanation of the SAMR steps.

This interactive picture also helps to understand how we can use various tools differently depending on where we are on the SAMR ladder. Hover your mouse over parts of the picture to see lesson ideas.

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As you can see in the graphic, there is a line between Augmentation and Modification. Essentially, if you are teaching below the line you are using new teaching tools to teach old-school concepts.  If you are teaching above the line, you are using technology to teach students 21st century skills, things we never considered possible when we were in school.

Today it is possible to push students to create new things using technology.  It used to be that we would study distant lands with textbooks and encyclopedias.  Now we can actually interact and collaborate with students who live in those distant lands.

It doesn't take much online research to see that many teachers who regularly use the Modification and Redefinition rungs on the ladder feel that everyone should hoist themselves above the line. That may or may not resonate as truth for you.

Is it wrong to use today's technology to teach rote skills? Are you using technology tools to focus on personal fact collection or interpersonal idea dispersing?  In order to use the "above the line" rungs well, you need to have rote knowledge and skills. Without knowledge wedged tightly in your brain you cannot access that knowledge to apply it, create with it, and collaborate using it.   

However, with the tools available in our schools today, we can help students do more than memorize facts in isolation.  We can turn fact machines into true idea-creators.  First, we must assess where we are on the ladder as teachers.  Then, we must find ways to take steps (whether they be slow and steady steps or great and massive leaps) up the ladder.  

Vicki Davis (aka "The Cool Cat Teacher") recently put this quote on her Facebook page. "I don't want my students to buy the apps - I want them to make them." Climbing the SAMR ladder opens up a morphing of focus from students consuming media to students creating media.  As we begin to open up the doors to full uses the educational technology at our fingertips, this can become a reality in many schools across the country and the world. 

I would argue that the SAMR ladder is not something to scaled, like Everest, in an effort to reach the top because it's there.  Every teacher, every school, must weigh many factors when planning lessons, units, and school years. The SAMR model does not necessarily consider philosophy of education, learning objectives, state standards, individual student needs, and availability of technology.  As my wife once pointed out to me, it's not always about the technology. It's about teaching students to learn in the way that is best for them.  With that said, teachers should be mindful of integrating technology in a way that is beneficial for students. 

We can make this happen. Every teacher should assess their spot on the ladder, then strive to take a step higher.  Those of us who find ourselves a step or two above our colleagues shouldn't berate them for being technological slackers.  Instead, let's reach a hand down to help them feel comfortable in the next step of the journey.  Perhaps, you find yourself on one of the bottom rungs and are starting to see some potential for growth in this area. Seek out a colleague or two that can help you or look for online resources, like this one, that can give ideas for teaching 21st century skills.

Then, we can work as a team to help the students grow the way they ought. 

Nearpod Review Revisited

In the spring, I was asked by a member of our administration to review a new app called Nearpod, so my wife and I sat down one evening to play with the new toy. You can read that review here if you're interested in what I had to say. I didn't necessarily give them a bad review, but I wasn't enthusiastic about it either.

Since I published that post, two things happened.
1. It has become my most read post ever, and not by a little bit either. It has more than double the hits my #2 post has.
2. I've noticed that other bloggers and Tweeters are using Nearpod, making me realize I've missed something.

I don't like this.  I don't want to be known as the guy who doesn't like something, especially when other people use it and like it.  Are people using my post to avoid Nearpod?

I made it a goal at the end of this summer to sit in on a Nearpod webinar and find what I'm missing. It turns out that I just never found the time to get around to it.  School and family keep this guy busy, and I just never got to a webinar.

That leads to me last week when Edward Zelarayan from Nearpod contacted me and offered to do a live, one-on-one talk with me about Nearpod and its newest version. I've written about this in the past, but I love the personal interaction with app developers! Many of them are willing to bend over backwards to get their apps in classrooms. Edward was no exception.  I appreciate him taking an hour out of his schedule, days before a major update, to get me up to speed.

For those of you not familiar with Nearpod, here is the basic concept...

• The teacher has a presentation loaded on his or her iPad. The students connect to that presentation with a PIN number.
• The teacher and the students work through the presentation together.  The key is that the student has the presentation in their hands rather than have to see it on a screen.
• As you progress through the presentation, teachers have craftily inserted questions, polls, or drawing slides to gauge student understanding and involvement.  These answers go directly to the teacher iPad, which can be shared with the class if desired and downloaded to the teacher's computer for viewing later.

I reviewed Nearpod Version 1.  Nearpod Version 3 is about to be released, and I got a glimpse of what's out there, and I am excited to see the changes.  Since my personal views on Version 1 are in the public, let's look at what I like about Version 3.

1. More lesson options! At the time of my review, there were very few lessons in the teacher library to use. That has changed.  There are plenty of choices now.  
2. Lesson creation is easy.  Seriously, while doing our chat, Edward made one up in a matter of minutes. Sure, he's the expert, but it really was drag and click. I realize it would take me longer to make my first lesson or two, but the process was relatively easy.
3. Internet! It will be possible to put a website within a slide so students can browse within that site, and only that site. Students will have the capability to find some information, rather than have all the information in the lesson given to them. They also will be denied the ability to check email or play Poptropica.  
4. If a student hops off the presentation for some reason (to play Blockwick?) the teacher knows.  
5. I got a very eBook feel when I was involved in my Nearpod experience. I know it's more of a presentation software than a book software, but as we know lines get blurred in today's technology.  

All of us in education know that we all have different styles, philosophies, and methods. Feel free to name the ends of the continuum using the labels you want to use, but I look at it two ways.  One type of teacher brings information to the table to tell students what they need to know.  The side of the continuum has teachers who help students find information so they can report on what they are learning.  I lean most heavily into the latter category.  I rarely use presentation software, so Nearpod is not for me.  (However, while typing this review, I thought of a couple of lessons where it would be a good idea.  Direct instruction can be good at times.) 

What I wrote about in the past, and I'll reiterate here, is that Nearpod would be great for an educator who unpacks the information for the students. Here's why...

1. It's as easy to use as PowerPoint, maybe more so.   I also think it's more interactive than PowerPoint. While asking questions is possible using PowerPoint, Nearpod makes it a natural part of the lesson flow.
2. Nearpod gives you immediate and accurate feedback from each student.  A teacher knows whether each and every student understands the content of the lesson.  
3. Nearpod gives even the most shy student a chance to interact with the teacher.
4. There are many teachers out there who have been handed iPads by their school and have no idea how to start using them.  This is a great way to get the feet wet.  
5. You can teach students remotely.  I have no idea where Edward was sitting when we had our chat, but we certainly weren't in the same room, much less the same state.  However, we were Nearpodding the whole time.  It is entirely possible that one teacher could be working with students in multiple locations at the same time. 
6. Customer support.  Let me say it again.  Edward was so eager that I know all about Nearpod that he did a one-to-one chat with me days before a major update.  If he's willing to do that for me, he's willing to do anything to help you.

Here are two things I'm going to start working on after publishing this post.

1. I am the Tech Lead at my school, which means that part of my job is to help other teachers learn how to use technology effectively.  I'm going to work on creating a professional development to introduce Nearpod to some of my colleagues who are fearful of their iPads.
2. I am going to start working on Nearpod presentations for my students.  Here are some topics that came to mind: order of operations, reliability of a web site, founding of the 13 colonies.

How can you use Nearpod in your class?  Share your Nearpod stories in the comment box.  I'm interested in learning more!

PS As I sat and pondered this between typing and publishing (in church. Shh! Don't tell the pastor!) I also thought about the possibility of students creating Nearpod presentations.  Is it possible? I don't know, but that would open up huge possibilities for me.  I'll have to look into that.