Using Puentedura’s (2011) SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition) framework as a guide, let me take you on a four-part journey through my adventures in digital storytelling over the last fifteen years.

At the first school I taught in, every student had a portfolio on a Mahara-based platform and it was expected that we use it to showcase their digital literacy skills. While we were trained up alongside the students on how to use the LMS, and on how to set up a task for them to complete, we were encouraged to simply stick to the apps and end products recommended by the external provider.

One task we set up was for students to create a picture using Sketch.io to produce an array using the shape and stamp functions, to record the algorithm underneath either via the textbox or pencil function, and upload it to their portfolio. The story was that they were hosting a party and would need to make sure the food was lined up neatly on the trays and check nothing was missing before taking it out to the guests.

Really, students could have done this offline in any number of ways to demonstrate competency – doing it digitally did not add anything to their ‘toolbelt’ mathematically speaking, the task did not ask them to demonstrate anything beyond their existing skillset in Sketch.io, and there was no opportunity for collaboration, or feed forward – those vital markers of aiming to increase student engagement (Shrock, 2013) – only a ‘badge’ to acknowledge completion from the teacher.

The Substitution stage has been defined as where ‘tech acts as a direct tool substitute, with no functional change’ (Puentedura, 2011) or ‘doing the task in the traditional way, with technology’ (Department of Education, 2018). As a result, I would contend that while this type of teaching and assessment was a gentle introduction (developmentally speaking) for me as a teacher, we could most definitely do better in terms of effect size for students.

References

Department of Education (2018). SAMR Explained. ARC Learning. https://arc.educationapps.vic.gov.au/f8fd324d-a297-4752-9487-88c59003ef48/SAMR%20Curriculum%20Examples.pdf.rsf

Puentedura, R. (2011). A brief introduction to TPCK and SAMR. Hippasus.  http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2011/12/08/BriefIntroTPCKSAMR.pdf

Shrock, K. (2013). SAMR Model Musings. https://blog.kathyschrock.net/2013/11/sarm-model-musings.html