TPACK

WHAT IS TPACK?

TPACK is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge.  You can now see why they call it TPACK. 

For me, who is fairly technologically ignorant that just sounds like complicated technology stuff.  If it were the heading of a newspaper article I am sure I would turn the page very quickly and simply ignore it.  But should we ignore it?

                                
TPACK is essential to teaching now and moving forward and we can not simply ignore it any longer if we want to engage students in the classroom. 

But what is TPACK?

To understand what TPACK is we must first understand the basis of:

·         Technological Knowledge;

·         Pedagogical Knowledge; and

·         Content Knowledge.

What is Pedagogical Knowledge?

Pedagogy is often referred to as the art, strategies or ways of teaching.  In other words, how teachers’ get the information they are teaching across to their students.

This sometimes looks or sounds easy but in reality can be complex. 

Teachers want their students to engage and ultimately learn.  It is only with the use of good pedagogical techniques that this occurs.

Think about the ways teachers’ teach.  Is it all just blackboard writing, lecturing etc or have these methods changed?

Pedagogical Knowledge is therefore, the knowledge that a teacher has of pedagogies or in other words, the knowledge the teacher has of how to teach and the affect of how something is taught affects the students.

There are many methods/ways of teaching.  To list a few:

·         Blackboard teaching;

·         Use of Internet;

·         Books;

·         Electronic whiteboards;

·         Powerpoint presentations;

·         Collaboration;

·         Digital technologies

The list is endless.

What is Content Knowledge?

Content is simply what the teacher is wanting the student to learn.  It is the subject matter, topic or skill. 

For instance, in the key learning area of mathematics the content may be adding and/or subtraction.

Content Knowledge is therefore, the knowledge that the teacher has of that content.

It is obvious that before a teacher can teach content to a student the teacher must have an understanding of the content being taught. 

The better the teacher’s content knowledge the more likely it is that such knowledge can be passed to the students.

PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

So if we put pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge together what do we have?

THE SUPER TEACHER

The teacher who has knowledge of the methods to use that are effective in teaching the content that the teacher has already got a good understanding of.

Surely, this makes for a super teacher!!

Or so we thought......

Until.......

Along came technological knowledge.

What is Technological Knowledge?

Technology.  This is something we all understand pretty well in today’s technological world.  It includes:

·         Computers;

·         Internet;

·         Email;

·         Software;

·         Digital technologies, such as Ipads, Iphones etc;

·         Word processors;

·         Excel/spreadsheets;

·         Facebook;

·         Ereaders.

The list goes on and on and continues to develop with each new technology introduced.

Technological Knowledge is therefore, the knowledge of how to use technologies.

TECHNOLOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

Well we have already looked at what content knowledge is (in case you have already forgotten – the subject matter, topic or skill the teacher is teaching and the teacher’s knowledge of that subject matter, topic or skill).

So what is technological content knowledge?

It is the knowledge of technologies that can be used to teach the content.

Let’s look at some simple examples.....

·         Using mathematic computer programs to teach maths;

·         On line reading programs;

·         Use of the internet to get more information on the content.

Obviously, technologies are changing all the time so it is an on-going challenge for teachers to keep up with technological knowledge and continue to find technologies that can assist in teaching the content.

TECHNOLOGICAL PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE

Just as we saw before there is Pedagogical Content Knowledge (the knowledge of the ways to teach the content) there is also Technological Pedagogical Knowledge. 

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge is, quite simply, the knowledge the teacher has of the ways to use technology to teach and the knowledge of the affects that using these technologies will have on the students.

Think of how technologies can affect the learning of students?

Students may engage differently with different technologies.  For instance, if the technology is easy to use and exciting the students may interact more and want to learn but if the technology is complex and daunting the students may withdraw and become absent.

It is this understanding of how the technology can be beneficial or non-beneficial to the students that forms the basis of technological pedagogical knowledge.

TECHNOLOGICAL PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE

So if we add Technological Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge and Content Knowledge together we will get the

SUPER TEACHER!

The teacher who:-

·         Has knowledge of the content he/she is teaching,

·         Has knowledge of technologies;

·         Has knowledge of how to teach the content and knows the affects that the methods he/she is using to teach the content will have on the student;

·         Has Knowledge of how to teach the content using technologies and knows the affects that using these technologies will have on students.

If teachers have technological pedagogical content knowledge and use this knowledge then it is more likely that there lesson plans will be engaging and the students will have access to information to learn more....

Referencing:

• P Mishra and MJ Koehler (2006) -  Technological Pedagogical Cnotent Knoweldge:  A Framework for Teacher Knowledge.
• ICT for Learning Design Coursework Material
• Images by Google Images