Week 10 TPACK Framework

Spring break is over and I am back with this week’s topic: TPACK.

                TPACK, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, was something that I was not familiar with prior to my Monday grad class.  Simply put, TPACK is a theory that is used to explain the set of knowledge that teachers need to teach their students (McGraw Hill Education).  These sets of knowledge are broken down into three categories that each overlap one another to explain the connections that will be made with each set of knowledge.

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One of the main questions that I will consider before introducing new tools into the classroom is what is the content that my students will be learning.  When looking at the TPACK model, the pedagogical and content circles must be addressed first.  This must be looked at first because it will explain the what and the how of a lesson.  The technology is just the partner and trying to choose the technology first can lead you into some problems when developing a lesson. 

                When introducing new tools into the classroom, students will have the opportunity to try something new.  I believe that when something is new for students, it immediately will spark interest and increase engagement.  I believe introducing new tools will also keep content fresh for students and reduce the chance of “burn out” by students.  As with any new tool there could also be some barriers.  Number one, the tool might not be well known or easy for every student to use.  Even for technology native students, there still is always the potential for a learning curve or education of the tool before use.  Selecting the correct tool for each lesson is also very important.  I believe some of the most successful teachers could botch a lesson by choosing a tool that is not relevant to the content. 

                When choosing tools for my classroom, as I stated before, I will always look at the “what” first.  What is the exact lesson that I will be teaching.  If it is a lesson on American Colonization, I would then look at how do I want to teach this content to my students.  I would most likely begin with direct instruction and choose tools such as PowerPoint or Emaze to begin my introduction.  Then if I moved towards cooperative learning, I would choose a tool such as Google Docs and have my students begin to cooperatively develop an “online book”.  This is somewhat the process I would follow for each lesson that I would create. 

                TPACK is relatively easy to understand and it is even more easy to use to develop lessons.  This link to a video shown in my Monday’s grad class breaks down TPACK in a very pleasing manner.  My only question about TPACK is how to effectively reach the sweet spot of all three of the TPACK categories.  The only way to really answer this is to start using TPACK to assist me in my lesson development and find a more effective way to reach that every time.