PBL + Technology Through the Lens of SAMR

One of the challenges in education today is how to meaningfully integrate technology so it doesn’t feel added on, but truly amplifies learning. Project-Based Learning (PBL) and technology work together with the SAMR model to show how technology can evolve from simple substitution to transformation. When we add STEM or STEAM to the mix, the connection becomes even richer—because STEM/STEAM inherently demands integration, inquiry, repetition and real-world application.

In what follows, I’ll unpack how PBL and technology connect via SAMR, paying particular attention to student voice and choice and higher-order thinking. Then I’ll show how a STEM/STEAM mindset strengthens those connections.

SAMR: What is it?

The SAMR model was created by Dr. Ruben Puentedura(Common Sense Media).

The SAMR model has four levels of tech integration:

Substitution: Technology replaces a traditional tool, with no functional change.
Augmentation: Tech acts as a direct substitute but with some improvement in functionality.
Modification: Tech allows for significant task redesign.
Redefinition: Tech enables new tasks previously inconceivable without it.

Dr. Ruben Puentedura says that SAMR is all about improving student outcomes and building an effective community of practice.

In Ruben Puentedura on the Impact of the SAMR Model (Common Sense Media), Puentedura underscores that SAMR isn’t just a ladder but a framework for reflecting on how technology can change and transform learning. Using SAMR as a “common language” helps teachers design more meaningful, student-centered tasks.

How Project Based Learning and Technology Integration Meet

Michael Gorman’s (2014) article Essential Connections of STEM, PBL, and Tech Integration… What Would Dewey Think? offers valuable insights into how all these domains combine together. Gorman (2014) argues that PBL is not just a project delivery method, but actually the connective tissue between content areas. Technology increases productivity and provides more learning opportunities by being the conductor, glue, and amplifier. Also in PBL, the journey is more important than the final product. Students engage in inquiry, iteration, reflection, and collaboration—all of which are rich entry points for meaningful technology use(Gorman, 2014). Using technology can actually change how students go about learning and engaging in questions that they have. Students might do prototypes on the computer or use tools that redefine what they are capable of doing.

You might still be asking what SAMR is

and what some examples of its use would look like.

To make the connection more concrete, imagine a PBL unit in a middle school STEAM class:

“Design a sustainable mini-urban garden that optimizes space, water use, and plant diversity.”

Here’s how we might see tech integration move across the SAMR levels, and how we can build in student voice, choice, and higher thinking:

Substitution: Students fill out a worksheet in Google Docs instead of on paper

Augmentation: Use an online spreadsheet or an app to track plant growth and graph data automatically.

Modification: Students use a design app(Tinkercad, SketchUp) or garden simulation software to prototype their layout before doing anything in the "real world".

Redefinition: Students use sensors to monitor real time soil moisture, light, and temperature, publishing updates to a public webpage.

As you can see Substitution and Augmentation enhance the learning that is going on while modification and redefinition transform what the students are capable of doing because of technology being utilized.

Why STEM/STEAM Strengthens the Link

Gets you out of your Silo: STEM bridges disciplines (science, math, engineering, art, technology). Both STEM and PBL depend on a student's need to know and inquiry (Gorman, 2014). Subjects are not taught in isolation, but instead integrated with many different subjects.

Design thinking: Engineering and design are core to STEM, and PBL encourages the repeat cycles of making protypes, testing them, reflecting on designs and improving those designs.

Amplification and scale: In real STEM practice, engineers use simulations, modeling, and data visualization. Technology in the classroom allows students to engage in those same processes using computers and simulations.

Real World application : Many STEM/STEAM PBLs include community partners, authentic constraints, and public sharing—key aspects of the Redefinition level in SAMR.

Final Thoughts

When Project Based Learning is thoughtfully paired with technology through the SAMR model and grounded

in STEM/STEAM principles, classrooms become laboratories of exploration and student choice. Technology

becomes not a flashy add-on, but the amplifier, connector, and enabler of student voice, choice, and

higher level thinking.

References

Common Sense Media. (n.d.-a). Introduction to the SAMR model [Video]. Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/videos/introduction-to-the-samr-model

Common Sense Media. (n.d.-b). Ruben Puentedura on the impact of the SAMR model [Video]. Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/videos/ruben-puentedura-on-the-impact-of-the-samr-model?page=1

Gorman, M. (2014, September 15). Essential connections of STEM, PBL, and technology integration… What would Dewey think? 21st Century Educational Technology and Learning. https://21centuryedtech.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/essential-connections-of-stem-pbl-and-tech-integration-what-would-dewey-think/

Domenic Abroad

Wednesday, October 8, 2025