References:
Taking Making Into Classrooms: A Toolkit for Fostering Curiosity and Imagination
Canva for Educators (sign in using your district email to unlock free features!)
Category: Pedagogical Practices
Implement pedagogically context-appropriate sound practices linking assessment for/as/of learning, planning for learning, instructional strategies and approaches to engage all students in relevant and personalized learning
Questions for you:
- Do you have any resources or PLN connections to help me achieve this goal? Who is currently doing this work?
- What does it mean to you to apply an anti-oppressive analysis to technology integration and lesson design?
Get the link to this Canva Infographic here. You may use this as a template and edit to suit your personal learning goals!
ADST: Design Thinking
In minute 3:37 of Sandra Averill’s overview of the BC K-9 ADST curriculum, I hear something that clicks into place for me:
“My concern is that we will take a traditional approach to this non-traditional curriculum.” (3:37, Averill)
Unlike traditional models of teaching, ADST is not intended to be a unit that we begin and complete. Instead, it is a model of thinking and learning that is woven throughout the curricula. The moment we apply constraints to the ADST process, we are limiting and moving away from the purpose of exploration, individualized learning, collaborative design, and growth mindset.
Sandra describes the ideal ADST process as “meeting the same learning outcomes, but arriving there through different materials.” (7:40, Averill)
Immersion, problem-solving, creating, big-picture thinking, uncharted territory, expeditionary learning, inquiry, context, life-improving, inspirational, stages of a project, skills for life… these key words help to define how ADST can transform the idea of what it means to be a teacher and a student in the 21st century. It starts with a problem and moves almost immediately into several questions to help define and meet that problem.
“I feel that schools shouldn’t just be about learning about problems, I think they should be about solving them. Because, if you aren’t learning about solving problems, then what will you do when you’re out of school?” – Liva Pierce, King Middle School, Maine School Engages Kids With Problem-Solving Challenges
As students move on to future grades, they may forget the particulars of the content they have been taught. That is to-be-expected. We retain what is relevant, interesting, and useful to us. What does not go away are the life skills: communicating with others, defining and tackling a problem, approaching an unknown with curiosity and wonder.
Imagine the products of an educational system that focussed on life skills over content, relevancy over ease-of-delivery, inspiring and empowering students to follow their passions over the more traditional “sage-on-the-stage” method of delivering content.
I’m curious, what is preventing more teachers and schools from adopting the problem-solving approach to learning? How can those barriers be addressed by the school librarian?
References:
Applied Design Skills and Technologies K-9, published by Sandra Averill through Issuu.com on Oct 22, 2017
ADST Design Thinking K-9, uploaded by Sandra Averill through Vimeo.com on March 24, 2020
Maine School Engages Kids With Problem-Solving Challenges, a PBS NewsHour piece on Youtube, uploaded on May 6, 2013
Exploring integrating SAMR into the classroom? Here are three resources I have found to be most helpful, accessible, and critical of the process:
A full break-down of SAMR in the classroom, with suggestions and ideas for implementation: https://www.edutopia.org/article/powerful-model-understanding-good-tech-integration
A critical look with some excellent questions to ask yourself: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-10-18-what-the-samr-model-may-be-missing
Lesson inspiration, critical questions, and scaffolded ideas: https://www.emergingedtech.com/2015/04/examples-of-transforming-lessons-through-samr/
SAMR: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition. This model, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, helps guide teachers into using technology to both enhance and transform their classrooms towards 21st century digital integration. I see it every day in my district (SD61):
- Students using Google Suite to complete assignments and share live with teacher and classmates for ongoing feedback, collaboration, and comments,
- Teachers using FreshGrade or Google Classroom to connect with both students and households in order to share day-to-day happenings in the classroom rather than waiting for PT meetings or report cards,
- Inviting students to submit videos, audio recordings, and graphic images in the stead of a traditional poster board or essay, or
- Digitally connecting to classrooms around the world to broaden global citizenship, worldview, and perspective… just to name a few!
In the library, the implementation of SAMR is also visible:
- Digital curation and cataloguing,
- Virtual libraries, with links to free e-books, podcasts, apps, websites and more (check out my district’s incredible e-library for Elementary Schools here),
- Green screens, smart boards, and tablets for exploring content creation, and
- Robotics centres for coding and ADST exploration.
If you would like a fun project to do with your students, in the classroom or library, I’ve created the Time Capsule activity below as a fun way to kick off the year with identity exploration, reflection, goal-setting, and creative expression. This would be so fun to re-open at the end of the year!
What are some ways your library technology fits the SAMR model?
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