SAMR Model

The SAMR model is a framework for evaluating how classroom technology is used, developed by researcher Ruben Puentedura in the mid-2000s, describing four increasing levels of technology integration arranged as an acronym: substitution, where technology directly replaces an older tool with no functional change, such as typing an essay that could have been handwritten; augmentation, where technology replaces the older tool but adds a functional improvement, such as spell-check; modification, where technology allows a task to be significantly redesigned, such as students collaboratively editing a shared document in real time; and redefinition, where technology enables an entirely new kind of task previously inconceivable without it, such as publishing student work to a global online audience for feedback. Puentedura grouped substitution and augmentation as enhancement of existing practice and modification and redefinition as transformation of practice, presenting the model as a way for teachers to reflect on whether a given use of technology was merely replicating older, non-digital tasks or genuinely changing what students could do. The model has been widely adopted in teacher professional development on educational technology, though it has also drawn academic criticism for presenting the four levels as a strict hierarchy without strong evidence that higher levels reliably produce better learning outcomes.