SAMR is an acronym for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition. This model of technology integration was developed by Ruben R. Puentedura, Ph.D. who began researching this topic because he wanted to ensure that the use of technology enhanced teaching practice. The SAMR model provides a technique for moving through degrees of technology adoption to find more meaningful uses of technology in teaching and move away from simply using “tech for tech’s sake”.
In the following video, Candace Robertson explains SAMR in less than 2 minutes (remember microlectures from last week?) with a writing example:
but SAMR has been used within various disciplines to rethinking how technology is used for teaching, in communications with students, in collaborations, as well as for assessments and course design.
While critics have debated the theoretical underpinnings of this model. It has been widely adopted in education, including by the creators of Canvas, who used it, along with Bloom's taxonomy, to inform the development of functions and tools within Canvas. This chart (created by Instructure, the developers of Canvas) explains how they envision how Canvas functions can be used at each level of the SAMR model as you teach:
Screenshot of Google Spreadsheet that describes how to use the features in Canvas in alignment with Bloom’s Taxonomy and the SAMR model.
Click on the image above for access to the sheet.