Blog Archives
Reviewing my 2014 “Bold” Predictions for Ed Tech
This is the second year in a row I’ve made some predictions about the upcoming calendar year. (Here are my 2013 prediction reviews) I do this for a couple of reasons. One is to stimulate my own thinking on what’s possible in education with technology. The other reason is to force myself to try something new in the upcoming year. These predictions are in fact “bold” and somewhat unlikely, but with the pace of change in technology you never know what is possible. Let’s take a look and see how my predictions turned out.
1. MOOCs rebound
Outcome – A little
Open to the world in 2015!
In the end of 2013, there was a lot of fervor around the quality of learning in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the amount of students that actually complete the course. I actually took a MOOC (on the Walking Dead of course) last year just to see what it was like. Like many of my 5000+ classmates, I didn’t finish the course. That said, I don’t hear quite as much fuss about these as I did a year ago so there seems to be a little bit of leveling in the Ed Tech community about these courses. This next year, I’m going to step it up and actually offer my own MOOC on Digital Parenting. (link here if you’d like to sign-up for free) I have some predictions for how that will go, but we’ll save that for my 2015 prediction post.
2. Textbooks become obsolete –
Outcome – Not yet
This one was really trying (and hoping) to step out there and change the way we think about textbooks in schools. The internet is our new textbook, but that is going to take time to change that traditional mindset in schools. This year we’ll be working with our teachers to build their own “textbook” and I’m hoping that’s the tipping point to ridding ourselves of the overpriced “Big 3” textbook providers out there.
YikYak reared it’s ugly head
3. A new social media platform will take off with teens –
Outcome – Yes….unfortunately
This prediction is not really that bold in retrospect. Kids have been social media platform hoping for the better part of 3 years now thanks to us “old people” getting on Facebook. Last year it was SnapChat and Instagram. This year it was YikYak and Whisper. Next year? Who knows. We’ve had a personal experience with YikYak here in our district this year and I’m hopeful that wherever they go next, it will at least be for a positive experience.
4. Wearable tech makes its way into the classroom –
Outcome – On track
Google Glass was supposed to be a harbinger of things to come in technology (and education). However, I still haven’t see the tipping point with this one. The fine folks over at Edudemic are doing their part releasing this “Teacher’s Guide to Google Glass in the Classroom” and here’s a handy infographic from TeachThought, but for the most part, it’s still too expensive to be used in everyday classrooms. With the release of the Apple Watch in 2015, the wearable tech space just got a little more crowded. That said, I’d be shocked to see a 1:1 Apple Watch school, though I’m sure it will happen. (imagine typing up your papers on that!)
5. Augmented Reality becomes reality
Outcome – True
I think with expansion of uses of Augmented Reality in learning (from NASA’s Mars Rover app to teacher fave Aurasma), this is an area of significant growth in education. And why not? With augmented reality you could take those boring textbook that has yet left the classroom and put a layer of augmented reality on top of it to make it interactive!
Scaring the crowd at SXSW
6. My SXSW presentation on “Surviving the Digital Zombie Apocalypse” will make someone sick
Outcome – False, but…
Someone did almost shoot me in the streets of Austin. Note to self: Next time you dress up like a zombie, make sure you aren’t in an open-carry state like Texas.
7. The classroom desk will truly die –
Outcome – Not yet
After being a #Student4aDay a few weeks ago, I really think we need to rethink what we are doing to students. I know what adults will say – “I sat in those desks when I went to school, so why can’t they?”. The truth of the matter is, these things are just a notch above being a torture device. It really makes you think…where are the most comfortable chairs in your district? Who do they belong to? I’m hopeful this will change in my lifetime, or at least before my kids hit middle school.
8. My “Giving Up Google” for lent experiment will be the stuff of legends
Outcome – WRONG
Unlike my giving up email for lent experiment in 2013, I only lasted 3 days without a search engine of any type. I ended up asking people for help on social media or calling people whenever I had a question I couldn’t find the answer too. (essentially outsourcing my Google search) Realizing I couldn’t lean on my friends and colleagues for 40 days (and have them remain friends and colleagues) I gave it up after the third day.
So that wraps up 2014. Some interesting outcomes there and I already have a few in mind for 2015. What are some things you predict for the next year? Comment below and if I use it I’ll give you full credit!
Eye-Opening Reflections on the #Student4aDay Challenge
My pre-requisite selfie (with hoodie) before I started the day.
I’ve been blessed to experience amazing professional development from around the world. I’ve had incredible, powerful conversations with people in my PLN via social media that help me learn and grow. All that said, yesterday’s #Student4aDay Challenge was the most eye-opening and possibly most life-altering experience for me as an administrator in a public school. What follows is my reflection on the day and some major “Aha’s” that I hope will guide both the future of professional development for our teachers but also the lives of our students. For those of you that want a play-by-play recap of the day, check out the hashtag #Student4aDay on twitter.
About the challenge:
I blogged out my predictions and a little bit of the background for this challenge in this post, but the gist is I wanted to “be” a 10th grade student for a day. My main goal was to see what student life is like in this 1:1 mobile world at a highly successful place like Westlake High School. I was also curious about how they interacted with the teacher and each other, the desks they had to sit in, how they used technology, and generally, what their day felt like.
My Schedule:
I “borrowed” this schedule from one particular student who agreed to let me shadow her. However, because we had a pre-scheduled site visit, I needed to do take both 4th and 5th period off. It worked out well since World History had a sub and were going to just watch a video. I also had a AP US History teacher request I visit her class at 7th period instead of going to choir. Since I was feeling under the weather and my singing voice was not up to snuff, I took advantage of the opportunity to see her Humanities course in action.
Predictions Recap:
I made 5 predictions (or hypotheses) about how the day would go. Here’s how they turned out:
1. Kids will be on their phones between classes – SOMEWHAT TRUE – There were a few kids texting or listening to music or even talking on their phones (rarely), but for the most part, kids were talking to each other. They were having conversations about a certain class, a movie, a game, or what they were doing after school. I assume some talked about relationships too, but they tended to quiet down when I got close.
2. My lack of a healthy singing voice will hurt me in choir – FALSE – Since I swapped out Choir for US History, this one never came to pass.
Desks not meant for large humans
3. The desks will hurt my back- TRUE – I suffer from mild back issues, but sitting in these torture contraptions was getting to be down right painful by the end of the day. I found myself fidgeting in them, turning to the side, slouching over, and generally just constantly shifting from one “cheek” to the other.
4. Technology use will be a mixed bag – TRUE – In the English class it was extremely hands on, with the teacher using Nearpod to engage student questions about Catcher in the Rye and even have us draw what we thought Holden Caulfield looked like. Of course, the two computer lab courses heavily used technology as well. Most classes used the projector at a minimum, however one class, Geometry, had a long term sub and so he was relegated to only using the dry erase board. No technology (except for calculators) were allowed out in that class.
5. My “real job” will affect my job as a student – I did miss 5th period for a meeting and during US History I was asked to help trouble-shoot with a Nearpod issue. I tried to claim I was just a regular high school kid, but the class cleverly remarked that most kids could help troubleshoot technology, so I should too. Well-played…..
Class I was best at:
Interactive Media – of course! The class was at the end of a Photoshop project designing a an advertising poster for the college of their choice to recruit students. I observed several students working collaboratively on their posters (and some procrastinating). I came up with my Matthew McConaughey -University of Texas concept (pictured left) and nearly finished it within the 50 minute class period. One of the quotes of the day came when a fellow-student called out another student for procrastinating to which she responded with “I’m not a ne’er-do-well!”
Class I was worst at:
Chemistry – This was a mixture of style and content. I’ve always been a big fan of science and when I think about my favorite high school teachers, science usually comes to mind because it’s so hands-on. However, this particular class on this day was a review class, so it was very direct-teach over concepts I haven’t had to remember since…frankly….the last time I was in high school chemistry. (Quick! What’s Avogadro’s number?) The students had been over this more recently, but my memory was shaky. So much so that I failed the 2-question quiz over a couple of simple molecular concepts. 😦
Outcomes (or “AHAs”):
I could probably write a blog post on each class I was in and the overall student life. However, I’m going to try and summarize what I discovered during this day in four major “AHA” moments.
AHA #1 – The schedule is overwhelming
From the amount of time you have (50 minutes) in class to the amount of time you have in passing period (6 minutes), the day flew by without much time for deep thought or reflection. I realize that giving teenagers too much transition could spell trouble, but I barely had a second to digest what I had learned before abruptly moving to the next subject. And in the classes (like English and US History) where we were starting to have a good, deep discussion on a topic, we were interrupted by the bell. I can really see the benefits of having some sort of hybrid block-schedule after a day like today. In the end, I was completely exhausted at the end of the day and, strangely enough, just wanted to go home and play video games.
AHA #2 – The technology may have changed, but the kids haven’t
Sure they were on their phones during passing periods and occasionally they’d listen to music when done with an assignment, but for the most part, the kids were kids. Typical teenagers with angst and hopes and dreams (channeling my inner-Caulfield here). In the chemistry class, there were one or two students that tended to answer every question, while the rest of us (including me) blankly stared at the board. In between classes I even got into a spirited conversation with a 16-year old about how good the latest Tell Tale Walking Dead game is. The girls giggled and the boys sighed at times, but in general, the kids were respectful and attentive no matter what the subject. (save for a couple of girls I noticed texting under their desks during Geometry). One kid did try to use his camera on his phone to take a picture of notes on the board to which another kid called him lazy. His response was priceless – “That’s not being lazy, it’s being efficient.”
AHA #3 – How much of this content will be relevant in later life?
My Chem1 Quiz results
I can understand that taking courses like Geometry and Chemistry and Business Infrastructure Management give you the ground work for some basic life skills. However, I can honestly say I’ve NEVER used Avogadro’s number (6.02×1023 for those of you dying to know) in my real life. In fact the last time I used it was 24 years ago when I was a sophomore taking Chemistry. Why do we feel compelled to still teach the “4 core” subject areas every year in high school? Is it because this is what we’ve always done? I can see it being useful to those with a real interest in Chemistry or Calculus or Poetry but why force it on every student?
AHA #4 – It’s still really all about the teacher (and their style)
I’ve written in the past that technology is the “Great Amplifier” when it comes to teaching. It can make a good teacher great and a bad teacher terrible. In the classes I felt most engaged were the ones where technology was “invisible” in a sense and the focus was on the content and the discussion. I can tell you almost verbatim things I learned about Thomas Nast political cartoons based on the student discussion but I can barely remember what mathematical equation I was told in Geometry. The biggest difference in those classes was both the style in which the teacher facilitated discussion but also the physical configuration of the classroom. Desks in rows tends to imply that it’s all about focusing on the teacher (always exceptions to this too, as I discovered in the tremendously engaging English class). Desks with the ability to turn or face each other made the center of the room the focus, a place where ideas could be shared and discussed without judgment.
All in all, I have learned a lot from this day, much of which I hope to apply and help steer changes in the classrooms and schools for kids in the coming years to make it more about student-centered, personalized learning. It’s been an eye-opening experience that I hope others in my district (and in other districts) will attempt. I even reached out to some law-makers on Twitter to invite them in to do the same. It was both a humbling and frustrating experience that I was honored to be able to attempt and it will live with me forever.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go home and play some video games.
How I looked (and felt) at the end of the day
Editor’s note: Tracie Simetal took on the #student4aday challenge as well and live-blogged her results on this Google Doc. Kudos to Tracie and any other administrators willing to take this on!
Update: The Austin American-Statemen ran a report on this experiment and posted it here: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/administrator-spends-eye-opening-day-as-student/nkHWG/
How Modern Technology Could Have Changed These Classic Movies
What would Starling do with an iPhone?
There are some movies I just love watching over and over again. I consider these types of movies “classic”. When I say classic, I mean a movie published before inventing of the smartphone in 2007, so it doesn’t necessarily mean going back to some black & white film or “talkie” from back in the day. However, lately I’ve been amused while watching some of my favorite movies. I start to think about how different it would be if they just had the internet or a smartphone.
What follows are some of my all-time favorite movies and a particular important scene that could have been severely altered if it took place with today’s modern technology. But rather than stop there, I’ll also offer the “2.0” version that could retain some of the major plot points despite modern technology. This isn’t all for entertainment folks…stick around to the end to see some classroom ideas for getting your kids to reflect on this as well. [SPOILER ALERT – If you haven’t seen some of these films, I give away some major plot points]
Cujo –
This movie adaptation of a Steven King classic has many of the modern horror movie tropes: Damsel in distress, lack of resources, no one else around to hear, etc. A majority of the film takes place with the mother and child trapped by a large rabid St. Bernard in their Ford Pinto. Unable to escape, they are terrorized throughout before finally making a narrow escape at the movie’s end.
Cujo TODAY –
Discovering they are trapped in a non-working Pinto, Donna takes out her cell phone and asks Siri for help.
“How can I help you?”
“Contact a local dog catcher”
“Let me find that for you.”
Movie ends.
Cujo 2.0 –
She’s trapped in the car, asks Siri for help only to hear repeatedly “I’m sorry, I didn’t get that” because of the growling dog in the background.
Silence of the Lambs –
In one of the more tense scenes, Agent Starling is trapped in a basement looking for Buffalo Bill. He kills the lights and dons a pair of night vision goggles adding to the tension.
Silence of the Lambs TODAY –
Agent Starling, shocked when the lights go out, calmly pulls out her phone and turns on her flashlight app, blinding Buffalo Bill and helping her save the day.
Silence of the Lambs 2.0 –
Her flashlight app requires an update to iOS8 that doesn’t work with the crappy wifi in the basement.
The Godfather –
When the family sets up the meeting between Michael and Sollozzo, a stressful sequence follows while the family tries to discover where the meeting will take place so that Michael can have a gun planted there. They discover the location right as Michael’s about to walk out the door and they are able to plant the gun in time.
The Godfather TODAY –
Michael shares his Apple ID (KidCorleone@gmail.com) with his brother who uses iCloud and the Find My iPhone feature to locate where Michael is at. Michael doesn’t have to find a gun behind a toilet because now the gunman can just come in and mow everybody down.
The Godfather 2.0 –
Michael forgets to enable Find My iPhone…essentially keeping him off the grid. Luckily his brother discovers that Sollozzo is at Louis’ Restaurant when he inadvertently checks in on Foursquare and posts: “About to get my grub on (location: Louis’ Restaurant, Bronx)”
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner –
A great movie about early stereotypes and beliefs around interracial marriage, young Joey is excited to tell her parents all about her new fiance, John Prentice, only to be thrown into the turmoil around their prejudices when they discover the color of his skin.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner TODAY –
Joey’s parents may have still been shocked, but if she had created an Evite to the dinner invitation, they would at least have had a warning by seeing who was on the guest list.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner 2.0 –
Instead his face on Evite, John Prentice just uses the default avatar, thus hiding his identity.
The Sixth Sense –
In one of the most quoted lines of all time, Cole Sear reveals that he “sees dead people.” This unbelievable declaration drives through most of the film and really throws the viewer for a loop when the final plot twist is revealed.
The Sixth Sense TODAY –
Rather than tell people he sees dead people, Cole starts taking “Selfies with Dead People” to prove he’s not crazy. (or “Cray-cray” as the kids today say it)
The Sixth Sense 2.0 –
He’s unable to post the selfies to Instagram because he’s not 13+, thus rendering his evidence useless since we all know if it’s not on Instagram, it can’t be real.
Psycho –
Norman runs the Bates Motel, a place that seems to have perpetual sudden vacancies and an inn keeper that doesn’t seem to be all there.
Psycho TODAY –
A series of bad Yelp reviews about the blood stains and peep holes drive travelers away from the motel. One yelper reveals “I’ll never go back here again. The owner guy’s mother can be heard hollering at him day and night. #soannoying”
Psycho 2.0 –
Norman’s mother creates a bunch of fake Yelp accounts and sways the rating and feedback to be overwhelmingly positive. One such dummy review states that “long, hot showers are a must” in the spacious bathrooms with tear-away curtains.
Breakfast club –
From IMDB – Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought. A major point of this movie is Mr. Vernon checking on them to make sure they are obeying and sitting quietly not talking to each other.
Breakfast club TODAY –
The kids happily agree not to talk to each other, because that can just be plain awkward anyway. Instead they friend each other on SnapChat and have loads of “private” conversations without Bender ever finding out.
Breakfast Club 2.0 –
Shermer High School has a strict policy banning any and all cell phone use. The kids are now faced with an uncomfortable decision of having actual conversations rather than burying their faces in their phones.
When Harry Met Sally –
This classic Rom-com shows the main characters (Harry & Sally [Spoiler]) continually running into each other throughout their lives. These cause amazingly funny and quaint scenes where they share anecdotes of their previous lives and eventually lead to their following in love with each other.
When Harry Met Sally NOW –
After college, Harry and Sally stay connected via Facebook. While this means they can always keep up with each other, it also means that those charming little anecdotes can’t happen because they can always respond with “Oh yeah, I saw you posted that on Facebook.” They stay friends, but never fall in love.
When Harry Met Sally 2.0 –
Sally doesn’t believe in social media and isn’t on Facebook. However, her friends convince her to get on Match.com and her profile keeps matching her with the same guy over and over again, who turns out to be….her old acquaintance Harry.
Educational tie-in:
While this is fun to think about and ponder, how could we apply this to learning? What if a classic fairytale got a modern reboot? Or how about contemplating how a major historical event would have changed if we had modern technology? You could even reverse it and try to get the kids to imagine a recent event and what would have happened if the same event happened in the 1950’s. Lots of potential here….post your ideas in the comment section below.
SAMR Swimming Lessons
You want me to do what with technology?
I’ve received lots of great feedback on my SAMR Swimming Pool analogy (Taking a Dip in the SAMR Swimming Pool). This was an idea originated by Greg Garner’s take on Dr. Ruben Puentedura’s often referred to “SAMR ladder” and then “remixed” if you will by me. Well…it’s time for another remix because after reading that original post I realized something.
I got it wrong.
I focused on the teacher’s role in the pool the entire time and didn’t think about the students as much. So I’ve decided to take another stab at this and was motivated by my recent trip up to Minnesota for iPadpaloozaMN. They asked me to make my SAMR Swimming pool analogy into an entire 50-minute keynote! Talk about pressure! So, here goes. A remix on the SAMR swimming pool with all new analogies and concepts.
The Baby Pool (Substitution)
While parts of the original analogy still apply, it’s not just about what the teacher is doing with technology. Sure , you still need to test water when it comes to tech. Some teachers feel the temperature and decide it’s too cold to enter. Let’s say you feel the pool is comfortable and safe to enter. You step into the pool and your 25 students enter the pool with you. All the sudden you notice something, you are happy that it’s only so deep. Because it never goes below 1 1/2 feet deep, the kids can safely walk and splash around with the tools. They don’t need log-ins or email addresses. You can control where they go and if any of them are acting up or playing rough, you can just kick them out of the pool (take away their device). A baby pool is fun for really young kids (ages 5 and under) however, older students will quickly get bored in here and want to stretch the boundaries a little. The same thing happens when you take out a device that has access to the entire world and then limit it to just note-taking or e-reading.
The Shallow End (Augmentation)
Wading deeper into learning…
After some time wading in the baby pool with technology, you feel like you can handle having all your students enter the main pool. They start out around the steps and work their way into waste-deep or even chest-deep water. You give them some freedom to go online (but only to certain sites) and you let them use a couple of different apps to help show they understand the learning objective. Kids can start to be a little more creative here. They can now do headstands under water. They can make a powerpoint presentation. They can play games like water volleyball. They can take a quiz on Socrative. You get the idea.
However, as the water is a little deeper, there is also a little more risk. Someone may fall and drown. You quickly realize that the boundary into the deep end of technology is only a little rope with some buoys on it. But, rather than stop and go back to the baby pool with the kids, you decide to let them stretch their wings. Kids can of pretty much any age range that can swim a little (3yo-18yo) can interact in this part of the pool with some monitoring. You notice they enjoy it much more as there is more to do and you enjoy it more because you know that if someone falls down, they can still stand up safely and breathe. Maybe they don’t need to go to the deep end….
Pool breaks (No technology)
Just like the pool, you need breaks from technology or your fingers will get pruny. Every so often you need to take 10 minutes or so to just get out, walk around, eat a snack and reapply sun-screen. Don’t forget that no matter how great all this tech-integration is, we all need breaks from it from time to time. Some of the best brain breaks are just 5-10 minutes of playing charades or doing a silly dance. While they may fight to get back into the pool, plan these into your technology integrated lessons. The students may not notice it at first, but these breaks spur creativity and interaction essential especially when going into the deep end.
The Deep End (Modification)
Eventually, you realize you have now spent quite a bit of time talking about boundaries and rules with your kids. They are all now very efficient at swimming with technology and are aware of the risks that are out there. You decide it’s ok to send them past the rope with a mission or project in mind without many restrictions except the basic pool rules. As a teacher you realize it’s no longer feasible to be in the pool with the kids as that would be incredibly exhausting trying to tell each of them what to do (sage on the stage) so you elect to go into the lifeguard’s chair and keep an eye on things as well as offer motivation (guide on the side).
You begin to notice some things very different about this part of the pool. Kids can now swim all the way to the 12-foot bottom and touch. They can hold their breath for 2 minutes without much struggle. They can focus on an assignment much longer even with all the access they now have. They start to invent games like sharks and minnows. They start to create Explain Everything examples of how they understand an objective. They start to get in and out of the pool and dive in off the side (as it’s now deep enough). They quickly transition from paper to device back to paper when needed. As kids need to be pretty efficient swimmers, you wouldn’t want any too young (6 or less) in this part of the pool without a floatie. As a lifeguard, you need to make sure they don’t drown and occasionally might need to blow the whistle when they’ve been in the pool too long, but overall the kids are really enjoying the rigor and fun that comes in this part of the pool.
The High Dive (Redefinition)
Kids can not only swim completely independently now, they are also starting to do things you didn’t even imagine when you entered the pool.
They can stay under water for 20 or 30 minutes at a time without batting an eye.
The pool no longer has a bottom.
They see the high dive and quickly decide to go off of it. They begin to design gravity-defying dives that involve their friends doing
Taking the plunge with technology!
coordinated back flips. Not only that, they show their teacher how they collaborated and achieved the dive but also how it identifies mastery in their learning.
The students have now become the lifeguards and invent the rules they feel are appropriate for all the swimmers. Your role is that of a swimming or dive coach as well as pool owner. (mentor in the center) You want to make sure the water is clean and the internet is filtered appropriately. You set some limits as too how long kids can swim in the pool before a break but the kids enforce it. Your pool is now one of the most popular places in the city and kids are building their own crazy slides, games, and zip lines that make it an enriching and engaging place to be.
None of this was possible when you first stepped foot in that baby pool, but without those initial steps you could have never gotten here. Without letting the kids have some level of autonomy with technology, they would have never gotten to the point where they felt they had some ownership in their learning. Just remember, now that they can jump off that high dive, it doesn’t mean this is where they always have to be. Some days the baby pool is all they can handle. Other days, maybe it’s the shallow end.
No matter where they are around your pool you can rest easy in the work you have done to get them at this point.
Now go let them swim.
SAMR Swimming Pool 2.0
Taking a Dip in the SAMR Swimming Pool
Dr. Ruben Puentedura in Boston – Nov 2013
I recently got to watch the SAMR master himself, Dr. Ruben Puentedura take the stage at iPad Summit Boston. His SAMR model research is based on years of observing one-to-one technology integration in Maine’s Student Laptop initiative (now called MLTI as we love acronyms in education). At it’s simplest form, the SAMR model states that when you introduce technology to an environment, like a classroom, generally the first thing the user will do is figure out a way to use technology as a Substitute for an existing task. As you “climb up the SAMR ladder” you see a shift of pedagogical practice from teacher-centered to student-driven. This is exemplified by the “R” in SAMR which stands for Redefinition – or, simply put, when technology allows for a creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable.
SAMR “Ladder” Model
When researching our own 1:1, I kept running into this research and the more I delved into it, the more I understood and realized that in reality, it’s not a ladder at all that we are trying to climb, but something a little more nebulous and fluid. The problem with the “ladder” visual is teachers may think they have accomplished all they need to once they reach the “R” in SAMR and don’t know what to do next. This part of the visual really troubled me when talking with parents, teachers and administrators. Enter our middle school Ed Tech, Greg Garner (@classroom_tech). His approach to SAMR was simple: It isn’t a ladder that we should try to climb, but instead a pool that we need to be swimming in.
I loved his analogy because I felt it provided a better reality of what happens with SAMR in a classroom on a day-to-day basis. It even inspired me to make this clever graphic (see below).
So with full credit to Greg, here’s a quick overview of what I think it means to swim in the SAMR Swimming Pool:
Enhancement Shallow End –
You have to be comfortable wading in the water before you can venture into the deep. The ideas behind Substitution and Augmentation are that you are swimming in the pool of technology integration, but you don’t have to wear yourself out treading water. As a teacher, you know you can always just stand up and breathe. These tasks are simply technological extensions of your everyday teaching and if things get really messy, you can always step out of the pool and still get a majority of your goals accomplished. Sure, it won’t be as stimulating or engaging, but learning and traditional teaching can still happen around the edges. (just NO running!)
Similarly, like when entering a pool that’s not at the ideal temperature, teachers sometimes need to walk in slowly, allowing their bodies to adjust to this shift. Some can just jump right in, knowing their bodies will eventually adjust, and at the same time knowing they can just stand up and jump out if they need to. Others need time, going in step by step slowly and at times gasping when their body enters the depths of new pedagogical practice.
This idea of touching their toe in the water of technology integration is not new. A majority of our teachers want to test the water several times before fully submerging in it. If something should go wrong and they get water up their nose, it could be weeks before they are comfortable venturing back in. Eventually, they will get comfortable wading in the shallow end and want to venture out past the rope into the depths beyond basic technology integration.
Transformative Deep End –
Once you cross the rope, you will not be able to stand up (except maybe hopping on your tiptoes for a little while). Someone venturing into this end of the pool, must have confidence in their teaching and know that they can tread water at times, but when things are going right and redefinition is happening, it’s almost like you can walk on water.
This doesn’t happen everyday, but without the practice of stumbling around in the shallow end of the pool, teachers can drown by trying to go into the deep end too quickly. They need to think about the purpose of swimming there. Some may decide to jump off the diving board straight into the deep end and learn how to integrate from day one with a particular learning objective. Others, elect to take swimming lessons (Professional Development) and use the occasional swim noodle (instructional technology integrators) to help them stay afloat. In addition, they will want to make sure that a lifeguard (Principal) is on hand should they begin to really struggle and possibly blow the whistle when they need to take a break.
The bottom line is without time, practice, support, and motivation, rarely would a teacher elect to venture into that deep end of SAMR. The amazing thing is, once a teacher does enter that realm, they may realize that they aren’t swimming alone. Swimming in the transformative deep end doesn’t mean the students are on the side of the pool cheering you on. It means they are in the pool with you – working, collaborating, problem-solving, and creating their future with you at their side.
