SAMR vs. TPACK

Today I find myself reflecting more philosophically on the distance learning process, specifically models of technology integration. Two commonly referenced models are SAMR and TPACK. SAMR is a more technology-centered approach that places tool use on a spectrum from substitution to redefinition. TPACK emerges from the work on Pedagogical Content Knowledge and adds technology as a third facet. Its sweet spot is the overlap among content, pedagogy, and an appropriate technological tool.

TPACK speaks to me as an educator much more than SAMR. When I reflect on SAMR individually, or with other teachers, I find myself feeling "less than" at times...blaming myself for using a tool to "substitute" something I would normally do without technology rather than using a tool that could "redefine" my classroom, in a simpler way. When I take this same logic to the world of TPACK, my reflective practice becomes much more nuanced, and the art of teaching begins to emerge. I notice that, at times, in order to appropriately overlap the TPACK Venn diagram a specific content, aligned the correct technology, requires "augmentation" as a form of tech integration. Conversely, for the same overlap to occur with a different piece of content and pedagogy, "redefinition" emerges via the tech.

The point I am trying to make is this: I believe that if we look at tech integration through a lens of SAMR entirely, we miss the MORE IMPORTANT practice of reflecting the content we are delivering and the methods for which that delivery will take place.

A few years back I delivered a Keynote Presentation at the Fall CUE conference where I tried to make this point with out diving into the nerdy depths of models in education. In the talk I urged educators, and myself, to reflect on the authentic pedagogies that work in OUR classrooms, for OUR students, given OUR gifts as educators. Then, once pedagogies identified, build in tech tools that fuel your pedagogical tendencies. An "Ed Tech Mission Statement" if you will. Click here for the talk, and if this post spoke to you, please share with other teachers. Tech integration should always happen in response to our pedagogical strengths, not the other way around.

Plan like it's 1980. Revise like it's 2020.