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I think it's important
for teachers to evaluate

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their teaching strategies.

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From my perspective--
speaking now, you know,

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as somebody who has taught
for many years--

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there's an aspect of saying,

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"Well, how can I do this
better?"

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What led me to develop
the SAMR model

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was some work I did
back in the mid-'80s.

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I was a graduate student
at Harvard at that point

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and working on
rethinking aspects

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of the undergraduate
introductory science curriculum.

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And at that point I could see
that some of the tools we had--

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for digital storytelling
and so on--

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could really make a change.

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But it wasn't clear that
this was anything intrinsic

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to a given tool,

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and, rather, a question of
different types of practice

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associated with this.

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So that's what triggered the
desire to research the topic

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and eventually led
to the SAMR model.

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It's very important for people
to feel comfortable

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with the tools
to evolve their practice.

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So it's just fine
for people to say, "Look,

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"I'm going to start doing
what I already do

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"at the substitution
to augmentation levels,

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"incorporate the tools,
enhance my current practice,

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"and when I'm comfortable
with that,

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"move on
to incorporating elements

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at modification
to redefinition."

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That's a perfectly valid
approach.

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In fact, to be honest with you,

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I think it's the approach that
would work for most teachers.

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There are many things
that work just fine

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at substitution
to augmentation levels.

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For instance, assume
I'm teaching a course in poetry.

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It's fine if I decide
as an educator

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that I'm going to create, say,

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an e-book that incorporates
the poems,

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some readings of the poems,

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maybe some critical elements
to allow the students

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to read different
interpretations and so on,

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which would take it roughly
to, you know,

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a, an augmentation level,

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But it's not necessary to say,

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"Well, now what do I do
with this book

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"so that the very act
of reading the poems

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is at the modification
to redefinition levels?"

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You know, that's just fine.

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You can say, "Well,
what else in my practice

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"of teaching literature
am I going to incorporate

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that is at the modification
to redefinition levels?"

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The difference between
augmentation and modification

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is whether you're
essentially reproducing

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what you were doing before
in your practice,

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or you're significantly
modifying it

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but keeping the heart
of the matter.

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So let me give you an example.

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Suppose that I'm teaching
geography, okay.

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If I'm using maps, digital maps,
to teach geography,

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and I say to students,

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"Well, I want you
to create maps of..."

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Let's say
they're studying Egypt.

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"I wanted to create maps
of Egypt

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"that outline archaeological
sites that you're interested in

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and that also outline areas that
were important agriculturally,"

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and you start to see, "Well, do
these in two different layers,

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"so you can see correlations

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"between the two of them,
et cetera.

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Link the archaeological sites
to resource on the sites."

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All of that is quite wonderful.

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Now suppose that you're saying,

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"Okay, I'm using digital maps.

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"But now I'm not just going
to ask the students

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"to replicate
what I would have done

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"with traditional paper maps.

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Instead, I'm going to say, "I
still want them creating maps,

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"because it's important for them

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"to develop the understanding
of geography.

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"But I'm going to ask them
to create the maps

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"in such a way that they're
interacting with each other,

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"so that they create the
digital maps in shared sites,

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and they use them as gateways
to each other's knowledge."

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So now, one student is
very interested

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in the archaeology aspect,

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and that student focuses
on things

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like, "Where were the temples?"

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Okay?

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Another student is
very interested in commerce,

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so they focus on
"Where were the trading ports?"

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And they create their maps.

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You have them engaging
in a deeper conversation

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where you're using
the digital maps

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as a gateway for a
social practice of exploration.

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In effect, you're asking your
students to become geographers

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and use the maps to talk
with each other,

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integrate each other's
discoveries,

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build a practice
that is mediated

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by the social use of the tools
in a networked environment.

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That will take you up
to modification,

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because while you still have

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some of the heart
of the matter--

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make sure the students
understand these concepts

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by developing maps about them--

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you've significantly modified it

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by changing it from something
they would do individually

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to something they would do
socially, where, in effect,

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they're acting as peer mentors
to each other.

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Really good use
of the technology

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at the modification
to redefinition levels,

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allows students to engage
in exploration

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of areas that
they might not have otherwise.

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Let me give you an example
from some of my own practice.

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I have a background
as a chemist,

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and in particular
one of the fascinating things

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that we can do
with the technology

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is we can bring students
into how chemists think

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at a much deeper level,

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even at the beginning
of their studies,

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than we otherwise could.

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Because we have tools
for visualizing molecules,

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we have tools for simulating
and visualizing interactions,

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reactions between molecules;

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and we have the tools
for students to say,

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"Well, can I take
some experimental data,

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"and not just play with
a couple of toy experiments,

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but actually do
some real analysis

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based upon what
I've understood?"

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One of the things I see
happening in classrooms

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that are very successful
at incorporating tools

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at the modification
and redefinition level is

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I see students taking charge
of their own education.

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Those are classrooms where
the students aren't just waiting

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for something to happen.

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They're the classrooms
where students say, "Oh wait,

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"we've been doing this,

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"but I also want to do
this other thing,

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and I can see a better way
of doing that."

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And there's
a certain excitement,

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a certain ownership
of the learning.

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There's a certain joy
in figuring out,

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"Gee, I could do this
in a different way

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and bring something different
or new to my students."

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And I think keeping
teaching practice

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as something enjoyable,
lively...

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You know, the reason
that so many teachers

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become teachers
in the first place,

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keeping the passion alive.

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So, again,

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a continual reexamination
of practice

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allows me, as a teacher,
to make the best possible use

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of the technology
to accomplish my goals.