The SAMR MOdel

The SAMR Model by Dr. Ruben Puentedura was created to help educators implement technology into their teaching to help create meaningful learning experiences. The more innovative the technology, the higher it would rank on the SAMR Model. SAMR has been related to Bloom's Taxonomy, so if an activity is in the Redefinition stage, for example, students would be using higher order thinking skills to achieve their learning goal.

Here are some great resources to help learn more about the SAMR Model.

The App Map

The App Map provided an evaluation rubric for teachers to use when exploring new apps. There were four different categories: Multimodal Features, Literacy Content, Intuitiveness of App Navigation, and User Interactivity. The person filling out the rubric could rate the app on a scale of 1-4, 1 being the least beneficial and 4 being the most innovative and beneficial for that learning goal. Israelson (2015) gave specific criteria for each scale number (p. 344-345).

There were two steps to The App Map. The first step included the teacher planning for a literacy app. The teacher would outline the learning activity’s goals or objectives, decide what literacy skills were being targeted, then identify the specific learning needs of the students. Teachers then evaluate the literacy apps by matching 12 literacy app types with “...research-based early literacy skills instruction they best support through specific learning affordances,” (Israelson, 2015, p. 345). Step 2 is then where the teacher decides which categories the app fits into. Some apps may fit in multiple categories, therefore allowing them to be used for many different learning goals (Israelson, 2015, p. 345). Teachers then use a four point rubric to rate the app. The four research-based categories are: “multimodal features, literacy content, intuitiveness of app navigation, and user interactivity,” (Israelson, 2015, p. 346).

Find out more about The App Map and find the App Map rubric by accessing Israelson's article.

Israelson, M. H. (2015). The app map: A tool for systematic evaluation of apps for literacy learning. The Reading Teacher, 69(3), 339-349. DOI:10.1002/trtr.1414

Dimensions of Participatory Literacy

Rowsell and Wohlwend (2016) responded to Israelson’s App Map by creating a rubric that is “...based on participatory literacies,” which allowed for participants or students to “...interpret, make, or share digital multimedia to connect with digital cultures,” (p. 197).

This evaluation of apps was made considering “a child’s whole experience” to go beyond time spent in school and included their time in the community and at home (Rowsell & Wohlwend, 2016, p. 198). This rubrics goal was to use a “child’s lived experiences to make them active participants” in literacy and 21st century digital literacies (Rowsell & Wohlwend, 2016, p. 198). This rubric was created to teachers could “focus on dimensions that lead to deeper inquiry and more immersive learning to consider how an app makes learners feel, think, share, and connect,” (Rowsell & Wohlwend, 2016, p. 204).

Rowsell and Wohlwend’s (2016) Dimensions of Participatory Literacy Learning rubric included six dimensions of participatory literacies and how they allow children to interact with the apps. These research-based dimensions were created to be used with a radar chart that allowed the evaluator to have a visual to compare different apps and how the user interacts with them. The dimensions include: Multiplayer, Productive, Multimodal, Open-Ended, Pleasurable, and Connected (Rowsell & Wohlwend, 2016). The evaluator gave each dimension a score 1-4, 1 being low, 2-3 medium, and 4 high. The rubric gave descriptions of each dimension and each score, relating to the App Map’s process (Rowsell & Wohlwend, 2016; Israelson, 2015).

To find out more about this rubric, check out Rowsell and Wohlend's article.

Roswell, J. & Wohlwend, K. (2016). Free play or tight spaces? Mapping participatory literacies in apps. The Reading Teacher, 70(2), 197-205.doi:10.1002/trtr.1490