An Investigative Report on the SAMR and TPACK Models of 21st Century Classroom Technology Integration

     Hola del nuevo, everyone!🙋‍♂️

     As with any and all technological advancements, there comes a point where educators from all over the world must change their ways of thinking and doing things within their classroom environments by properly learning about, training themselves upon, and sharing out on the same in order to establish and apply authentic, meaningful content for their students, families and communities at large.

    This is where classroom technology integration comes into play.

     Please be sure to slowly stroll your scroll of a computer, phone or tablet screen as I take you through two of the premier models of 21st Century classroom integration through an intensive investigation--one which I hope will guide all of us to a decisively positive and progressive outlook that puts 21st Century learning at the forefront of global human advancement for years to come!

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     For 21st Century technology to be precisely integrated in formal classroom settings, there is a dire need for 21st Century educators to thoroughly establish an optimized framework of analysis for effective technological assessment, selection and utilization (Kharbach, 2024).

Enter The SAMR Model.

                                                       

                                            (EducatorsTechnology.com, 2024)

     Since its very inception in 2006 by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, this model highlights the need for educators to select, evaluate and integrate educational technology through the following four conceptual levels:

[[[The Substitution Level]]]

     As part of this particular level, educators substitute an analog technology (like a piece of paper📜or a typewriter) for a digital one (such as Google Docs📄or Microsoft Word📎) without changing the fundamental functions of the same (Kharbach, 2024).

[[[The Augmentation Level]]]

     On this particular level, educators use a digital technology to functionally increase the value of the learning task on-hand.  For example, Microsoft Word📎can be utilized to write papers through its expanded features like page setup, spell-check and text-formatting (Kharbach, 2024).

[[[The Modification Level]]]

     During this particular level, educators use a digital technology to greatly modify a given learning task.  This can be seen in having students produce engaging podcasts with multiple forms of multimedia such as audio🔉, images 🖼️ and video 📹 (Kharbach, 2024).

[[[The Redefinition Level]]]

     Throughout this particular level, educators use digital technology to create brand-new and unique learning tasks that were not previously available to participants.  This concept could be completed through using Google Meet to coordinate a live percussion ensemble concert performance or a virtual Spanish restaurant tour from the other side of the world (Kharbach, 2024).

     In the modern-day academic field, the SAMR Model has multiple purposes--including the blending of low-tech and high-tech means to promote 21st Century technology integration; the proper enhancement of both teaching and learning through student engagement between all four levels; the reflection on the part of educators to adapt and improve student learning through changes in digital technology; the strong encouragement of educator collaboration for a shared professional development on ever-changing technologies; the diversification of technological tool functions to meet the needs of different student populations; and the optimized measurement of technological impacts through real-time data collection (Kharbach, 2024).

     Overall, the SAMR Model provides educators with a highly-structured approach to embedding 21st Century technology integration within lessons through the administration of faculty-guided best practices for effective learning transformations that benefit educators and their students alike (Kharbach, 2024).

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     The TPACK Model, on the other hand, is a much more complicated framework of 21st Century classroom technology integration that was developed by Matthew J. Koehler and Runya Mishra of Michigan State University in the year 2006 (Townsend, 2024).

                                                    (TPACK.org, 2012)

     Instead of showcasing different conceptual levels in the form of boxes as shown in the SAMR model of technology integration, the TPACK Model is displayed as a Venn diagram--with the overlapping of content, pedagogical and technological knowledge--into the following seven interconnected contexts of knowledge:

(((Content Knowledge)))

     This particular context involves the knowledge educators have on a specific subject area that they are teaching to students that is unique to what is being taught.  As an example in the world language classroom, this could involve content like exclusive regional dishes and sports of Spain (Townsend, 2024).

(((Pedagogical Knowledge)))

     Within this distinct context is "the how" of what educators learn.  This could very well come in the forms of different ways educators manage their classrooms, formulate lesson plans and deliver announcements to students, faculty and staff (Townsend, 2024).

(((Pedagogical Content Knowledge)))

     As part of this particular context, educators tap into their knowledge of different methods and theories to complete certain academic tasks within a given subject area.  In the percussion ensemble classroom, this could include different demonstrations of how to grip drumsticks, how to play rudiments and how to read sets of music notation (Townsend, 2024).

(((Technological Knowledge)))

     For this singular context, educators use their knowledge of digital resources and tools like Nearpod for the completion of academic tasks such as creating interactive Spanish lesson plans and modeling both proper and improper forms of writing samples (Townsend, 2024).

(((Technological Content Knowledge)))

     As the amalgamation of two intersecting contexts, this newly-formed context pertains to educators and their own understanding of both the benefits and limitations of digital resources and tools completing certain presentable tasks.  In this case, a digital flashcard maker like Quizlet may help students gamify their unit vocabulary learning in the world language classroom through intentionally-layered repetition, but it would be in under a limited set of provided modes for a very limited amount of time (Townsend, 2024).

(((Technological Pedagogical Knowledge)))

     With this second amalgamation of two intersecting contexts, this other newly-formed context speaks to how educators use their own understanding of both the beneficial and restrictive means of digital classroom management and lesson planning resources and tools in accomplishing academic tasks set forth.  A digital classroom management program like ClassDojo, for example, may be able to provide students with a class role like being an attendance taker, but can also be distracting away from the lesson at-hand through its high volume of sound effects for marking down negative and positive classroom happenings (Townsend, 2024).

(((Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge)))

     And for this final amalgamation of three intersecting contexts--where educators utilized a balanced, structured framework to o\effectively demonstrate how to combine best teaching practices with 21st Century instructional technology and subject matter expertise through robust lesson plans as viewable on an Early Literacy Nearpod Lesson like "Rhyming Words" (Townsend, 2024, p. 4).

     Overall, the TPACK Model of 21st Century technology integration assists educators in making sound classroom decisions for all participating parties through a diverse range of content, pedagogy and technology-related approaches, resources and tools in modern-day academia (Townsend, 2024).

References

Kharbach, M. (2024, May 4). Understanding the SAMR Model for Teachers. Educators Technology. https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2023/05/samr-model-visually-explained-for-2.html

Townsend, J. (2024, August 5). Tpack model explained with examples for the classroom. Nearpod Blog. https://nearpod.com/blog/tpack/

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     Between both of these modeled frameworks of 21st Century classroom technology integration, I personally feel that the SAMR Model would be more likely to be accepted within my public school district over the TPACK Model due in large part to its inherent simplicity of explaining how no matter where individuals are with their own understandings of technology, they are very much capable to transition from using low-tech means of completing fundamental tasks into utilizing elevated, high-tech means for accomplishing both simple and complex tasks once thought impossible.  In other words: everyone has the opportunity to rightfully level up their learning!⬆️

     To educate my public-school staff on the SAMR Model, I would establish a dedicated team of educators from multiple disciplines to host at least four interactive professional development sessions that are committed to guiding everyone through each level--presented one-at-a-time through in-depth "sandboxing" of different forms of digital resources and tools that cover a myriad of subject areas.  That way, all these sessions compliment one another while everyone on staff builds up their knowledge bases and proverbial academic toolboxes to voice concerns; share experiences; and offer assistance and support for both fellow educators and students alike to more consistently produce positive and progressive 21st Century skills paired with new bases of knowledge over the course of an academic school year.

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     That's all for now, musers!  Please be sure to check out both of these 21st Century technology integration models in your personal time so you can give them the old college try of understanding "the why!"