The compentent and secure use of digital technologies is an important prerequisite for a successful participation in today's society. That is why we are obliged to prepare our students for the possibilities and risks that come with using new technologies in everyday life. In order to allow a critical examination of the topic, it is important to incorporate the new technologies directly into the lessons, allowing the students to handle the tools themselves and to actively use the

technologies in order to take advantage of the possibilities they propose. This not only involves replacing old technologies with new ones without changing the content, but adjusting the content to the media with which we convey it. Finding a captivating introduction to a lesson is never easy. So why not make use of the technologies we are given today? One way of implementing digital tools into the classroom as we know it, is by applying Ruben Puenteduras SAMR model.

As described by Ruben Puentedura in the video above, the SAMR model helps teachers to applicate and evaluate the use of digital tools when integrating them in a learning environment. The purpose of the model is to give a basis for using the tools and helping to determine how those can not only substitute but augment the presented content. The ultimate goal is to introduce tools that redefine learning and to create new teaching methods, rather than using technology to substitute previous methods. As this task can be rather overwhelming at first, Puenteduras model gives teachers an orientation on where they stand. He describes it as step by step instruction to gradually achieve more and more learning progress with the help of the new technologies.

SAMR is short for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition which mark the four different steps of the model.

Substitution is an easy start to finding and implementing new technologies into the classroom. A common task can be made

more interesting by changing the tool it is presented with. Instead of offering a printed text or worksheet, you can work with a tablet, laptop or even smartphone. Now to get get to Augmentation you'd have to add another step by having a functional improvement through your tool. So if the students were to fill in blanks, you could use a software, that automatically checks the spelling or makes suggestions on how to formulate a sentence.

Whereas Substitution and Augmentation strive to enhance and alter the tools that are already being used, Modification and Redefinition seek to transform the whole approach. When applying Modification, tasks are meant to be recreated and reinvented by using digital tools. Redefinition however seeks to throw everything that is already known over board and to invent something completely new that was unthinkable before the new tools were introduced.

Using said methods for lesson planning can be quite the challenge. But as described earlier, introductions are a vital part of each lesson. If you dont manage to catch your pupils' attention right at the very beginning, you are unlikely to do so at a later point. Now, in order to implement digital tools into lessons seamlessly, a secure handling and knowledge of their advantadges and issues is needed. Only if the teacher is well aquainted with the tools they use, a sensible integration can be ensured.

In order to implement digital tools ideally into the classroom setting, the hardware must be a given. Only if the students and school are adequately equipped, the tools can be applied properly and used to their full potential.

If the hardware is available, even the start of a lesson can be planned stimulatingly.

Especially Kahoot! can be an ideal introduction into new topics and can help evaluating what level of knowledge the students have.

For example, to introduce new vocabulary or to test the students on their vocabulary knowledge, you could use a kahoot! quiz. By linking the new words with pictures, their meaning becomes more comprehensible and the fun factor of a quiz encourages students to concentrate on learning the newly introduced words.

Introducing a History Lesson

A simple history lesson can be made ultimately more interesting by implementing digital tools. For example if you start a new topic and want the students to show interest and participate with full commitment, invite an expert, e.g. via Skye. You can reveal the topic of your lesson and give the students a few moments to gather their thoughts and what they would want to ask the expert. Following the preparation, you set up the call with the expert and the students can ask him/her questions and write down the answers they get. Views and info provided by experts can also be implemented by opening a chat room, where each student is able to write down

their question. This can help them structuring their questions more and take away the insecurity of talking to someone unknown.

The questions and answers gathered in the expert discourse can then be used as basis for the following teaching unit. To mark the completion of the unit, the expert can be invited again, to share thoughts, see the student's progress and clarify possible questions.

For more ideas about this and other ways of implementing digital tools in the beginning or course of a lesson, follow the links and videos posted below!