Frameworks of Educational Technology

            Educational frameworks are incredibly beneficial. Some benefits of educational frameworks are consistency across schools, clearly defined learning, and better quality teaching. Educational frameworks help students make sure they know exactly what they are learning and ensures that all students have the same curriculum and educational opportunities. 

One type of framework is called TPACK. This framework suggests that pedagogical knowledge, technological knowledge, and content knowledge helps teachers level up their teaching quality. Pedagogical knowledge is how the teacher teaches and what methods or strategies they use. Content knowledge is what the teacher is teaching. This could be through the use of facts, principles, concepts, or procedures. Technological knowledge is how they can take their teaching to the next level by layering in technology. By blending these three types of knowledge together, teachers can make lessons for our students more meaningful and interactive. 

The second type of framework is called the SAMR Model. This framework states that using substitution and augmentation can enhance your teaching, but in order to transform your teaching you need to use modification and redefinition. Substitution is using technology as a substitute that has no functional change. Augmentation is using technology as a substitute but it has a new function for the students. Modification in technology allows for a significant change to the task design. Redefinition in technology allows the students to have completely new creations of new tasks. Creation, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking are all part of the redefinition stage because they are transforming what learning looks like for students. As teachers, we cannot be in the redefinition stage of this framework for every lesson. It is good to find a balance and have an equal flow between all four stages. This allows for the students to have transformation and enhancement in their learning while the teacher does not get burnt out. 

Learning about these frameworks has altered the way I will use technology in my classroom. One way it has altered how I will use technology in my classroom is by layering it into my lessons purposefully. The TPACK framework showed me to gather what information and teaching strategies I wanted to use for the lesson and then see ways that technology could advance the lesson to help students memorization and understanding. The SAMR model showed me that you can do more than just a simple, easy game for the students after the lesson. If you use technology to its fullest potential, you can redefine students' learning.