27 March: Inspiration Session (1) Strive for Transformation

by Stephanie Hamilton (Apple, Inc)
It's about...

• A shift of focus (from teacher comfort's to how technology is used): from ACOT to SAMR
• ACOT: Apple Classroom of Tomorrow - focused on teachers' comfort with technology
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• SAMR, a model for 21st Century Learning (by Dr Ruben Puentedura, University of Maine) that looks at the type of technology used and its effect on student learning.
• It emphasizes the importance to move from the enhancement stage to transformation stage.
• SAMR is a continuum

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Our Observations and/or Takeaways...
From Kwai Yin:

• The SAMR model provides a clearer idea how learning with technology "looks" like in a classroom, in the hands of a teacher (at varying level of ICT integration into teaching and learning).
• We could adopt this to gauge where we are, based on the teachers' intended use of technology in class. On the other hand, are our learners already at the transformation stage?
• Implication: The need to narrow this gap - not to move the learners' level down (there's no point of return), but to level up the teachers to the tranformation stage.

From Irfan:

Personally, the SAMR model that was highlighted in the keynote is not necessarily something new. If I can remember, we do have something similar, and its called...the ICT Baseline Guide. :)

Nonetheless it is rather refreshing that such a similar model or concept was brought up during the seminar, as it somewhat gave a certain degree of reaffirmation that the model that we are adopting over here in Singapore, and SST in particular is not to far away from the idealistic outcome. But more important than a strict adherence to what is and what is not in the model, more importantly is how then can our teaching, and the students' learning be levelled up to the transformational stage!

It would thus be interesting as to how this constant need to 'strive for transformation' is something that we, as teachers in SST, must constantly be doing, be practising, and in fact must perhaps be part of our DNA...the DNA of teacher and teaching in SST. And it is in this constant desire to be constantly striving for that transformational stage is our leveraging on 1-to-1 platform be something that perhaps we can latch on and work on even harder, to make A difference, in our students' learning experiences.


From Kin Chuah


I really like this simple model to assess my personal ICT lessons. Where am I for my ICT lesson? Was that my intention when I planned my lesson? If not, what modifications could I make to my lessons? etc...etc...


Great to have a cool tool to use.