TLDR? Skip to bottom to find Higher Level Thinking Tech Activities
Vacaville Unified has gone Google for three years now! It has been a transformative time throughout the district. Teachers and students have worked on becoming proficient with the tools available to them through many of the G-Suite applications.
Many of you are already familiar with the SAMR model of tech integration in Education. See chart below.
At the highest SAMR level classroom tasks and technology exist not as ends but as supports for learning. Collaboration becomes necessary and the tech simply facilitates the communication. Questions and discussion are increasingly student generated.
I really like Kathy Schrock's integration of the SAMR model and Bloom's taxonomy together.
Now that our students are familiar with the Chromebooks and the basic G-Suite applications the next step is to help our students reach the higher levels of learning. These higher levels involve Creating, Evaluating, and Analyzing Content.
We have several applications already loaded on the Chromebooks to help with these kinds of activities.
- Screencastify is an Chrome extension preloaded on the Chromebooks which allows students to create video tutorials or narration of a Google Slides presentation. Use Screencastify to voice dub over a video. See how HERE
- Google Forms is a an awesome way for students to collect data for research projects.
- WeVideo is in the apps section of our Chromebooks. This is a simple drag and drop video creation program. (30 day free teacher trial - then $199/year for teacher account. Students can use 5 min/ month for free)
- Google Sites can be used to provide students a platform to create and share multimedia content.
- Google Drawings are a great way for students to create annotated diagrams.
- MindMup is a free mind mapping tool also available in the apps section.
I've included some ideas and examples of Higher Level Learning below. Of course, we always welcome your input and would love to share what you are doing in your classes.
Higher Level Tech Activities
Original Resources Found Here
Lesson: Writing a Short Paper
Original Assignment: A hand written paper.
- Substitution: A Word Processor replaces a Pen/Pencil in a Writing Assignment.
- Augmentation: A Word Processor and text-to-speech function are used to improve the writing process.
- Modification: The document created using the Word Processor and text-to-speech function is shared on a blog or Google Classroom where feedback can be received and incorporated to help improve the quality of writing.
- Redefinition: Instead of a written assignment, students convey analytic thought using multimedia tools such as Screencastify or WeVideo.
Lesson: Geography & Travel
A modification of an idea found at https://edofict.wikispaces.com/SAMR+Examples.
Original Assignment: An overview of a location consisting of hand written content supplemented with compiled cut-and-pasted magazine clippings.
- Substitution: Use presentation software (like Powerpoint or Prezi) to construct a presentation providing information about a selected locale.
- Augmentation: Incorporate interactive multimedia – audio, video, hyperlinks – in the presentation to give more depth and provide more engaging presentation.
- Modification: Create a digital travel brochure that incorporates multimedia and student created video.
- Redefinition: Explore the locale with Google Earth; seek out and include interviews with people who have visited the local.
Lesson: Understanding Shakespeare
Taken from: https://edofict.wikispaces.com/SAMR+Examples and modified.
Original Assignment: Read a Shakespeare play in traditional printed format.
- Substitution: Read Shakespeare texts online.
- Augmentation: Use online dictionaries, study guides, history sites, to supplement reading.
- Modification: Use multimedia resources like text, audio, and video tools to jointly construct knowledge, learning, and understanding of a portion of a play, or a character, as a group project.
- Redefinition: Answer the Question, “What did the culture of the time have on the writing of Shakespeare’s plays” my using a Concept Mapping tool and constructing a mind map demonstrating key elements through words and images.
An Assessment Exercise
Idea taken from: https://sites.google.com/a/msad60.org/technology-is-learning/samr-model and slightly modified. In this example, we take a simple form of assessment and evolve it into a collaborative group project.
Original Assignment: Take a quiz, answers handwritten in a printed form.
- Substitution: Distribute the quiz in a Word Processor file format and have student fill in answers on a computer.
- Augmentation: Use a Google Form to deliver and complete the quiz. “There is some functional benefit here in that paper is being saved, students and teacher can receive almost immediate feedback on student level of understanding of material. This level starts to move along the teacher / student centric continuum. The impact of immediate feedback is that students may begin to become more engaged in learning.“
- Modification: As an alternative form of assessment, students could be asked to write an essay around a relevant theme. The written essay could then be narrated and captured as vocal recording.
- Redefinition: “A classroom is asked to create a documentary video answering an essential question related to important concepts. Teams of students take on different subtopics and collaborate to create one final product. Teams are expected to contact outside sources for information.”
Lesson: Art/Painting
Original Assignment: Drawing a picture using traditional brush, paint, paper. Of course, there is a a big difference between doing this “by hand” in the traditional manner and doing it digitally – digitally is by no means “better”, it is just different and opens up some interesting possibilities.
- Substitution: Use a digital drawing/painting program (like MS Paint) to draw/paint a picture.
- Augmentation: Use a tool that allows the creation of your masterpiece to be “played back” (like Educreations, for example).
- Modification: Pull a background image to use as a “canvas” – you could even scan something hand drawn and use that.
- Redefinition: Create Artwork Collaboratively using a Collaborative Online Whiteboard.
Lesson: Learning Fractions
Original Assignment: Show understanding of fractions on a worksheet by coloring in blocks.
- Substitution: Use an Excel Worksheet to let students “color in” the blocks.
- Augmentation: Use Google Sheet to let students “color in” the blocks, where the teacher can offer feedback directly on Google Sheet.
- Modification: Use Google Sheet and direct students to online examples and supplementary learning materials for areas that they might struggle with.
- Redefinition: Use a Fractions App instead (There are several available in the Chrome Web Store).
Lesson: Phys Ed – Learning To Hit a Baseball Well
Original Assignment: Learning how to hit a baseball by watching and listening to a Coach or Phys Ed instructor show you and then trying it yourself.
- Substitution: The coach/teacher videos the training exercise and uses this as the lesson.
- Augmentation: The coach/teacher videos the training exercise and provides links to other training content (videos and articles from other coaches, etc).
- Modification: The coach/teacher videos the training exercise and “flips” the lesson, having students watch it as homework, and using class time to practice and reinforce techniques.
- Redefinition: Students watch video examples and practice the techniques, then the coach/teacher videos them hitting balls and provides feedback about their technique.
