There are two useful models that help us understand the sometimes overwhelming challenge of integrating technology in our lessons, TPACK and SAMR.
TPACK is a framework that combines three knowledge areas and it looks at how they work together to increase students motivation and to make the content more accessible to students. As you can see in the image these three knowledge areas overlap.
The SAMR model describes technology integration in four levels, and categorizes those levels into Enhancement and Transformation.
Enhancement includes Substitution and Augmentation, whereas Transformation encloses modification and redefinition.
Now, this it may seem abstract and difficult to apply in an everyday lesson but if you work hard, you will be able to put all this into practice. We had to create a didactic sequence, the content to teach was “love/like/hate + -ing” and the task needed to be presented by the use of a PowerPoint presentation and/or any other technological device.
We decided to prepare a PowerPoint presentation about an ideal trip to Mendoza in which we were going to describe the activities that we like/love/hate doing and which we can do in that province. We agreed on using videos from Google Earth to show our students the different places. The final task for our students was to make a similar presentation (not necessarily using PowerPoint) in which they can talk about where they would like to travel when they finish high school.
Analysing our sequence following the TPACK model, we needed an extensive knowledge of the content and topic that we were going to deal with. We presented that content in an innovative way adapting the now technological materials to our students’ background knowledge and needs with the aim of facilitating their learning process.
If we analyse our sequence following the SAMR model, we used ‘substitution’ when we replaced the use of simple pictures by the videos from Google Earth. We also took into account that students were not going to write their presentation’s script on pen and paper but they were supposed to use Microsoft Word or any other word processor as well as when they had to show their presentations, they had to do it using any technological devices (audio files, images, photographs, videos) that they know instead of a poster, leaflet, etc.
Designing a lesson that includes technology is a time consuming activity, it demands a good predisposition on part of the teacher, a great knowledge of your students’ previous knowledge and needs, and being acquainted with the technology you are going to use in your lesson. It may seem impossible but it is not! We think that including attractive presentations in our lessons might engage our students and might make them feel that learning the language is not only “filling in the gaps” or “complete with the correct form of the verb”.
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