Implementing TPACK

Teaching is a complex career, and teachers must always be willing to learn new things to stay up with the ever-changing world of technology. The days of technology free classrooms are gone, and teachers must embrace the advantages that technology brings about. However, having technology in a classroom must be there for more than using it just because it's there, or as an afterthought.

TPACK, or technological pedagogy content knowledge, is a framework that "describes the kinds of knowledge that teachers need in order to teach with technology, and the complex ways in which these bodies of knowledge interact with one another" (Koehler et. al., p 2, 2013). Prior to the increase of technology in education, Shulman’s (1986) asserted that content knowledge and pedagogy knowledge needed to be combined in order to be a successful teacher. If one was a content expert, but did not have pedagogy knowledge, they would not be able to relate information to students. If vise versa, and a person knew a lot about pedagogy but not content, they would not have accurate information to pass on to students. In 21st century schools, the addition of technology knowledge is an important addition to this framework. "Effective teaching is much more than each of the pieces" (Koehler et. al., p.4, 2013).

If a teacher were to implement the TPACK framework into the classroom, they would start with content knowledge that they want their students to understand. By using their learning goals or objectives, teachers can then use a combination of their pedagogy skills and their technology skills to create a well balanced lesson that will be relative to students. Teachers must be careful to not simply lay technology over a lesson plan that already exists."TPACK describes the synthesized knowledge of each of the bodies of knowledge described above with a focus upon how technology can be uniquely crafted to meed pedagogical needs to teach certain content in specific contexts (Koehler, et.al., 2013). 

An issue that a teacher may face while implementing TPACK, is one that I believe I am guilty of. A key aspect of TPACK is using all three areas of knowledge together, and not just laying technology on top. I believe I have just placed technology on top of a lesson that I already had planned for the sake of using it. I think that implementation of this would call for breaking down any previous lessons, and completely incorporating technology pedagogy knowledge (TPK). Additionally, the lack of professional development could hurt the likelihood of properly implementing TPACK in a classroom. Teachers need support in order to increase their TPK to help them to see the best ways to incorporate technology so it is beneficial to students.    

The activities that are displayed in the table in "Instructional Planning Activity Types as Vehicles for Curriculum-Based TPACK Development" (Harris & Hofer, 2009) could definitely serve as a good resource to teachers attempting to implement TPACK. These activities are all seen in a typical traditional classroom, and are all somehow related to core subjects. For example, every teacher of every level should be able to move a verbal discussion to a discussion in a wikispace.


References
Harris, J., & Hofer, M. (2009). Instructional planning activity types as vehicles for curriculum-based TPACK development. In C.D. Made, (Ed.). Research highlights in technology and teacher education 2009 (pp. 99-108). Chesapeake, VA: Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education.

Koehler, M., Mishra, P., Akcaoglu, M., & Rosenber, J. (2013). The technological pedagogical content knowledge framework for teachers and teacher educators. Common Wealth Educational Media Centre for Asia.