iPad: Toy or Tool?

When people hear that we have iPads in our classrooms, one of the first questions they ask is, “So, you let kids play around all day?”  It’s true, an iPad can be used as a toy.  It offers many fun apps for kids to play with, but our goal at school is to use the iPad as a tool, not a toy.  How do we do this, you ask?  We strive to follow a pedagogy that Dr. Ruben Puentedura developed called the “SAMR Model.” 

 

Examples of each level:

Subsitution:  Students read a textbook online.  There is no significant improvement.  Students are simply subsituting a paper textbook for a digital textbook.

 

Augmentation:  Students read a textbook online, but they have the ability to look up the definitions for words they don't understand via the internet.  They can also click on embedded links that offer video illustrations of the concepts they are reading about.

 

Modification: Student use a document sharing site, such as Google Docs, to share the writing assignment they are working on.  By doing this, other students, teachers, and audience members can offer feedback on the student's work.  This type of online collaboration is an example of Modification.

 

Redefintion: Students collaborate to create a video project answering an essential question in social studies.  Using the device, students are able to contact experts in the field, research using online databases, and collaborate with classrooms around the world.  Students can collect their findings and use different multimedia tools to synthesize their learning.  Students then have the opporutnity to present their project to a global audience and seek feedback.

 

As educators, our goal is to reach the modification and redefinition models.  We use iPads to open up opportunities for learning that our students might not be able to experience otherwise. 

 

Another great example of the SAMR Model is the "Padagogy Wheel."  This wheel combines the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy and the SAMR Model.  Within each level it also provides examples of apps that can be utilized!  The author also offers a PDF version of the wheel that can be printed in poster size. 

 

~Valerie