PBL and SAMR

Image used courtesy of Discovery Education

PBL stands for Project-Based Learning.  Project-Based Learning is a theory of learning that asserts students learn best when they are engaged in using a variety of new and practiced skills to create something that demonstrates their learning.  SAMR is an acronym (substitution, augmentation, modification, redefinition) for a scaled model to help teachers leverage use of technology in the classroom. Combining both of these ideas together can lead to electric innovations and impactful discoveries in the classroom.

PBL is all about giving students the opportunities to apply skills directly and create something unique with new learning.  There is a discovery aspect involved with PBL because the students must grapple with new skills and fit them into their own lives.  Taking notes and reading about things can only provide a surface understanding. PBL helps students truly meld new understanding into their own personal perspectives, thus taking ownership of the learning.  There is an increased value in students discovering new things as opposed to having new things shown to them.

Technologies have always helped push our ability to discover.  As the technologies our students have access to get better, the discoveries students are able to make become much more expansive.  In conjunction with that, the range of student expression also evolves. The SAMR model, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, is a simple model that helps teachers evaluate their approaches to learning and the inclusion of technology to enhance or transform the lesson.

One of the easiest connections between SAMR and PBL is that both encourage application.  Through the project-based nature of PBL, students are compelled to use new skills to demonstrate learning.  These kinds of authentic assessments have much more gravity than a test or quiz. Students directly apply their learning; they are working new skills and making them fit with their own previous understanding.  The upper levels of the SAMR model (modification and redefinition) show a complete transformation of the learning as well. Technology takes the learning experience and makes it new and unique to the student expression.  Redefinition in particular allows technology to push the bounds of learning to a place that could not be reached otherwise.

Image used courtesy of Discovery Education

PBL and SAMR also encourage collaboration.  The very nature of a project evokes small group activities, constant contact, and high levels of targeted communication.  PBL projects are not small endeavors, but rather multifaceted and often complex. They require groups of students to work together to create something that they could not do individually .  Similarly, the highest level of SAMR (redefinition) cannot be attained without strong levels of collaboration. Often times, redefinition involves including another community that, without technology, could not be contacted.  Technology’s most impactful advancement has been its ability to connect groups (like schools from different countries) together in real time.

The final connection between PBL and SAMR is how the technologies and the projects require students to rely on higher order thinking skills.  This is how learning becomes incorporated into a student’s mind and increases retention. Students are making choices about what shape their learning takes, and they have agency in those decisions.  The likelihood that students will maintain their understanding and have a solid foundation upon which to build more understanding is much greater when using PBL and SAMR together.

Image used courtesy of Discovery Education

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is another acronym that represents a range of content that relates most strongly with creating new products.  This field of study most easily engages students with the application of new skills. Students learning about physical and chemical changes, for instance, can perform experiments in the lab to truly get a hands-on experience.  STEM connects directly to SAMR as a learning pedagogy; they both share technology and are focused on the use of it to push boundaries.