In April of 2013, the first graders in Kristi Zoerhof's first grade classroom had the unique opportunity to test drive the Sony Xperia tablet. For roughly three weeks students used a number of applications to work skills but the real magic happened when the class transformed its traditional study of the butterfly's lifecycle by capturing and documenting daily changes with the tablet.

More and more educators are discovering that the SAMR model pioneered by Dr. Reuben Puentedura creates a mindset allowing for true innovation when integrating technology into a curriculum. The model is a logical progression where the technology is initially used as simply a digital substitution for something analog. The highest level of integration is redefinition where users are harnessing the technology in ways that were previously inconceivable.

Substitution: Replacing a typically analog task with a digital one. Usually little advancement in teaching and learning.

Augmentation: Increasing the functionality of a task. Improving access and collaboration.

Modification: Using digital assets or tools to enhance a lesson, often through the infusion of multimedia. Teaching and learning change significantly. New abilities.

Redefinition: Technology allows for tasks that were previously inconceivable or IMPOSSIBLE before its introduction into the classroom.

During the case study, Kristi moved through the progression by replacing the usual paper journal with the Android version of the Skitch app where kids annotated daily pictures of the growing caterpillar with descriptions and measurements. Students then compiled their pictures with Pic Collage.

Redefining moments happened throughout the study, but none more than the afternoon where Kristi set up a nurse cam through a Google Hangout so students could monitor from home what they feared was a dying caterpillar. Luckily the caterpillar perked up and eventually performed its full metamorphasis in front of the students' devices.

The three week case study proved so impactful to teaching and learning that Hamilton Schools have ordered Kristi a class set of Xperia tablets to use in a one-to-one setting with her students during the upcoming school year.

Below you will find a short documentary of the class's experience.