SAMR and Smartphones in the Classroom

The public school classroom has changed significantly over the past 20 years and change will continue in the future; possibly at an even faster rate. Change in the public school system happens, but not at the same rate as technology in general, this has positive and negative effects. For some change never happens fast enough and others don't embrace change at all, but feel threatened by it. Students need the skills required to navigate the future they will inhabit and it is the job of  public schools and teachers to wade through all the new or current technologies and implement the technologies that have the most educational value.
My last post mentions SAMR, a framework to integrate technology into the classroom. The acronym SAMR stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition. Substitution refers to technology as a direct substitute for a tool already in use. Augmentation is the step that substitutes the tool with functional improvement, but not necessarily improvement in student outcomes. Modification increases student outcome by allowing for a redesign in the tasks based on current standards. Lastly, redefinition is the game changer. This allows for completely new tasks that were not possible before. This will improve student outcomes and widen the standards.
 When looking at smartphone usage in the classroom the SAMR model is useful. We need tools in the classroom that promote creative and critical thinking, collaboration and communication which is part of the 21st Century Skill model. Classroom usage of the smartphone fits into modification and redefinition. The smartphone is a telephone, but more than that, it is a computer, and for some people their primary Internet device. A computer can also be used as a phone with applications like Skype. The line of differentiation is blurring.
With a smartphone in each student's hand the world becomes the classroom as physical proximity is less important. Do students need to meet in a classroom each day for 7 hours? What if their assignments required Skyping or using FaceTime to meet with the class briefly and the rest of the day was spent in exploration of the current lesson. I realize this is less about smartphones in the classroom environment and more about an evolving environment, but technology has come so far in the past 20 years; where will it be in 20 more? Jason Markey, a recipient of the 2014 NASSP (National Association of Secondary Principals)Digital Principal Award said, When we look back on this era in our history, I believe only then we will understand the power of the web as one of the greatest equalizers of opportunity in our society . . . So if this is the case, we should encourage and build a culture of participation in a conversation and celebration of our schools online.
Today this conversation includes smartphones, what will the conversation be next year and will educators and administrators resist the effectiveness of the tool based on the worry about misuse? Stay tuned.

 References:

 Holland, Beth. "Teaching the Essential Skills of the Mobile Classroom." Edutopia. N.p., 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. 

http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/02/03/BuildingTransformationFrameworksPractices.pdf 

"SAMR in 120 Seconds." YouTube. YouTube, 30 May 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. 

 Whitby, Tom. "A Mobile Dilemma." Edutopia. Edutopia, 29 Jan. 2014. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.