STEM

The SAMR Model

When and how our students are using ICT technologies is a key consideration of all schools currently, and the SAMR model serves as a basis for teachers to consider the different ways technologies can be applied and used in the classroom. All students at Murrumbeena PS are consuming quality digital resources which are curated for them by teachers, and this will remain. Young people need guidance in accessing and navigating the vast number of digital resources available in the world.  Through consuming digital media with and alongside their teacher and peers, they can cultivate the skills to access it efficiently and the good taste to decide which products are worthwhile consuming, and which are not. However, much of this digital content is merely substituting for content that previously already existed in a non-digital form. The SAMR models extends and develops this concept, by asking teachers to consider if the technology interactions they implement with students are extending beyond consuming products others have made, to students creating digital products and solutions for themselves. It defines students’ technology use as taking one of 4 forms, elaborated upon here below.

Substitution and Augmentation are both useful to students as they develop through years F-6. Substitution provides an entry-point for students to gain the foundational skills needed, and Augmentation is a huge part of what makes technology so engaging to young students. Yet neither is aspirational.  If technology is only used for substitutive purposes, it becomes an expensive white elephant, and augmentation sometimes robs students of the chance to learn for themselves.   Throughout this year, the STEM program will be driving the use of technology for Modification and Redefinition, and we look forward to sharing with you how this develops. Like learning an instrument, these skills take time for students to grow, but what could be a better time to get started than the world of technology that we live in today.

Please contact: - Oliver.Johnson@education.vic.gov.au with any questions you have about the STEM program. 

BYOD Chromebook Program

Oliver Johnson

STEM