Education Technology Integration: Applying the SAMR Model for English Vocabulary Building 

Propagated by Dr. Ruben R. Puentedura, SAMR is a model that helps educators make informed decisions about integrating technology in classrooms to provide improved digital learning experiences for students, in addition to better learning outcomes. In this blog, we explore the application of this model on our product Glibzter English Vocab Magnet.

The four levels of education technology integration are Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition. As the educator progresses through each level, the role of technology becomes more transformative.

The first two levels of Substitution and Augmentation are meant to 'enhance' the learning experience while the latter two stages of Modification and Redefinition are meant to transform it i.e. by enabling teachers and students to perform activities that couldn't have been otherwise performed.

This 8 minute video by Analisa McMillan is the best I have seen to explain the 4 levels with utmost clarity and simplicity.

Glibzter's browser extension and web app - Glibzbter English Vocabulary Magnet works on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and other Chromium-based browsers while users access the internet via a laptop or personal computer (PC).  

It enables users to build and expand their vocabulary in English through real-time curation of words and phrases when they stream videos with English subtitles/ closed-captions on OTT Video on Demand platforms, and also when they read news articles from online news portals. 

Let's dive into how this product offering can be integrated into a classroom setting using the SAMR model of technology integration.

Think vocabulary building, and the image of a physical dictionary comes to mind. You come across a new word and the dictionary becomes a port of call for finding out the meaning. Likewise with idioms, phrasal verbs and connotations. Now imagine substituting the physical dictionary with an online dictionary app, say TheFreeDictionary.com. Or key in the word or phrase into the Google Search box to find its meaning, along with usage examples, pronunciation audio, synonyms, antonyms etc.

Application of Glibzter English Vocab Magnet for Teachers: In place of physical books, teachers can curate educational content such as YouTube videos (with subtitles / closed captions in English) and online news articles (e.g. Editorials, Long form news articles on a specific subject), and ask students to watch/ read them on their laptops/ PCs with Glibzter Immersive - English Vocabulary builder as a browser extension. 

When you come across a new word or phrase, say in a book, magazine or newspaper, you would ideally underline it, jot it down in a notebook, refer the dictionary (online or physical one), jot down the meaning along with the usage sentence/s. What if all this takes place automatically at the back end as and when you are streaming a video on YouTube with subtitles/ closed captions in English or reading an online article without you having to pause the video or break your reading tempo for jotting all these down?

The enhancement is in terms of automatic real-time curation of the most relevant words and phrases (e.g. 20 words and 15 phrases from a 1000 word article) and unhindered content consumption experience for the learner.

Application of Glibzter English Vocab Magnet for Teachers: Glibzter English Vocab Magnet browser extension will identify by highlighting to students, the most relevant words and also phrases from the curated YouTube videos and online news articles you provide them. The students can click on these selected words and phrases to get to know their contextual meaning (in English or in the native language chosen by the students) and how they were used as a sentence in the source video watched or source article read.

This is the phase where technology is used to design interactive and dynamic tasks that go beyond the limitations of a traditional classroom. (Source: 3P Learning.com). It would redesign the learning activity.

Application of Glibzter English Vocab Magnet for Teachers: Both the browser extension and the web app leverage the power of AI to enable students to not just acquire and expand their vocabulary but also to better remember the usage of English words and phrases through contextual assessments that test lexical skills as well as situational usage skills.

Redefinition is a phase where technology can make new learning opportunities, hitherto considered impossible, possible.

At present, Glibzter English Vocab Magnet caters to the 'What to Speak' aspect of communication. We have incorporated into our assessments, voice inputs and writing inputs. While we improve the assessments for contextual usage of words and phrases, there is a huge scope for creative and engaging ways to look at the  'How to Speak' component of communication.

Application of Glibzter English Vocab Magnet for Teachers: With these features, teachers can assess communication skills of students, be it in terms of vocabulary application but also in terms of confidence to verbally use the words and phrases in writing and speech.

This blog will be updated once these features are worked on. Until then, do share your views on this blog and our product offering Glibzter Immersive in the comments section below.