Giving Compass' Take: 

• EdSurge explores a method of classroom technology implementation — Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) — and how most tools for personalized learning don't touch on all four categories.

• The author presents four questions to consider when assessing edtech, and how we must be careful with the SAMR model not to go overboard on bells and whistles while leaving out the "personal" aspect of personalized learning.

• Here's how to build a strategic plan for edtech interoperability.

Developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, the SAMR Model aims to guide teachers in integrating technology into their classrooms. It consists of four steps: Substitution (S), Augmentation (A), Modification (M), and Redefinition (R).

In the lower steps of this model — Substitution and Augmentation — technology integration is seemingly less sophisticated. Word processing software or tools that provide access to information digitally, like PDF annotators, generally fall into these categories, as the technology substitutes or augments the learning experience, allowing for some functional improvement in the task without a fundamental change in the task itself.

The latter two steps of the model — Modification and Redefinition — are categorically different. Here we see technology used in a sophisticated manner that either modifies tasks significantly or redefines them to achieve something unimaginable. Google Docs is an excellent example of this: by allowing learners to collaborate and communicate with one another through a web-based word processing document, time and space are no longer factors in a collaborative enterprise, as the technology removes those barriers for students.

The problem with many personalized learning tools is that they live mostly in realm of Substitution or Augmentation tasks. While there may be some functional improvement with regard to delivering content and collecting assessment data, there is little to no redefinition of the learning experience, which still sees students simply consuming and regurgitating materials, albeit through more efficient digital means.

Others, however, could argue that the learning experience is, in fact, redefined.

Read the full article about what the SAMR model may be missing by Paul Emerich France at EdSurge.