Zoom on a Mac, Technology Integration in the Classroom with SAMR, Published Textbooks [issue 09] 2

Tekiota’s issue number 09 will explore:

1. How to zoom to a detail of your screen on your Mac.
2. Evaluating your integration of technology with the SAMR model.
3. A teacher publishing textbooks.

Zoom on a Mac

- TIP OF THE WEEK -
[icon name="fa-cloud-upload"] STANDARD 3: model digital age work and learning

Once you learn how to zoom on a MacBook, you can very quickly show your students a specific area of your screen. This is particularly useful to highlight small details while demonstrating something on your own computer or while projecting for the whole class.

After you enable this feature, you will be able to enlarge or reduce the area of your screen where you pointer is by holding the control key and scrolling up or down (a two-finger gesture on your trackpad).

Ctrl + Scroll gesture = Zoom on the area by your pointer

To enable this shortcut, you need to follow these steps:

1. Go to System Preferences > Accessibility > Zoom
2. Check Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom

The finger gesture for scrolling is demonstrated in the animation below. By holding the control key while you use the two-finger gesture will enable the zoom.

Enabling the Zoom on your MacBook

You are now ready to zoom in and out on your screen at the touch of a key.

The SAMR Model of Technology Integration in the Classroom

- TIP OF THE WEB -
[icon name="fa-slideshare"] STANDARD 2: design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments

The question is no longer if technology has a place in your classroom but how do you successfully integrate technology. A successful integration improves your students’ learning experience. However, this does not get accomplished by simply introducing technology into the classroom. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to comprehend the technology environment in which the learning takes place and to evaluate how you are using technology to enhance or -better yet- to transform the learning experience.

The best guidance on the path of technology integration comes from a model developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura and identified by its acronym SAMR: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition.

The SAMR Model of Technology Integration – Graphics credit Laura Pasquini via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

As represented in this graphic, the SAMR model of technology integration in the classroom offers a visual scale measuring the impact of technology on a task. At the most basic level, substitution, technology simply replaces an existing tool which was already present in your instruction. At the highest level, the task is completely redefined by the use of technology, allowing for previously inconceivable goals.

Our objective is to move from simply enhancing learning to transforming learning with technology.

This summative video from Common Sense Media clearly explains the key concepts behind SAMR: introduction to the SAMR model.

SAMR is a very nice lens through which you can evaluate what you are already doing in your classroom and perhaps enhance existing assignments.

The teachers in Jessica’s workshop defined successful technology integration by its ability to add value to the learning experience. Specifically, our very own grade 5 teacher Gene Chagaris sees radically positive results when her students know the end task and can use the technology naturally, by themselves, to get there. As a teacher, she can step back and provide feedback as they negotiate their personal paths towards the determined goal. In doing so, students use technology on their own to learn inside and outside of the classroom. Students learn independently while blending multiple skills.

All the teachers agreed that students learn best not when they are taught at, but when they are producing. To arrive at an authentic product from the student should, in conclusion, be the ultimate goal of an assignment in our schools today.

See Jessica’s presentation in the whole article on the SAMR model of technology integration.

Publishing Textbooks

- TIP OF THE HAT -
[icon name="fa-group"] awarded to pete rock
[icon name="fa-cloud-upload"] STANDARD 5: engage in professional growth and leadership

This week’s tip of the hat goes to Pete Rock who designed all the diagrams featured in a published textbook on IB economics. Unwavering in his philosophy, Pete created all the graphics for Ellie Tragakes’ IB Economics in a  Nutshell using free software.

IB Economics in a Nutshell by Ellie Tragakes with graphics by Pete Rock

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