Week 6 Blog Post – SMAR and Its Possible Application

I find the SMAR model very interesting and looked up more about it. Here’s one definition of SMAR: a framework for identifying the interaction of technology and pedagogy. Here’s the original video for your interest:

The video also shared some great tools and resources that could be used to apply the SMAR model on.

I find SMAR model interesting because it evaluates teaching in the four levels that also shows one’s own understanding of the technology in relation to pedagogy. When learning about SMAR model, I feel like I am also learning what technology has brought us and what we could make of technology and adapt it into learning.

I grew up with the change of technology, but more and more people are growing up having the kind of technology already in a “mature” stage with all the convenient sharing functions. Videos and photos can be taken and shared very easily. Learning to evaluate and apply SMAR model into teaching and content designing, is like learning how to adapt to the world of technology and accepting it as part of life, rather than something that needs to be kept out of class. So when we could share our moments of life with other people using cool functions on our cellphones, why can’t we do the same to share learning contents?

Getting the learners to use, create and share videos of learning contents that they found or created could be a good way of learning under the SMAR model. In this way, the learners are both learning using the technology and sharing their learning process and results which maximizes the learning.

One way I could think of that would get the learners to use, create and share their own videos in learning, is to have a forum that allows for discussion and sharing. On the forum learners would be given a topic and post learning resources they could find. Learners would be asked to comment on each other’s resources so as to learn from each other. Then they would be asked to make their own learning contents in forms of videos, blogs, etc. Then the learners would be asked to comment on each other’s post again to share feelings and reflect on their learning and designing of learning contents.