Curious about TPACK?

TPACK

In our fourth lecture Petra Visser introduced the TPACK model and explained the TPACK assignment. The goal of this assignment is to explain what TPACK is about en what the added value of this model is. I hope you will get (after reading this blog) a clear view about this topic. If not, feel free to contact me.

What is TPACK?

TPACK is a model designed for teachers the support them with integration of ICT in their curriculum. TPACK stands for Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge and it is introduced by Koehler and Mishra (2005). To integrate ICT successfully teachers need to have knowledge about Technology, Pedagogy and Content and there should be balance between these three topics.

TPACK visual:

Figure 1. the TPACK model (Koehler and Mishra, 2009)  

In figure 1 you can see that TPACK is the overlap between Pedagogical knowledge, Content knowledge and Technological knowledge. But what does this mean?

The elements:

Technological knowledge (TK): consist not only out of ICT but also other technological instruments like blackboard, beamer (projector) and a graphic calculator. Technological knowledge is a circle by it self because the development of technological knowledge go’s really fast. Teachers need to follow this fast development to decide if a technological instrument can benefit teaching and/or learning. According to Koehler and Mishra (2005) it is important that teachers see the positive effects of technology and adapt their teaching to it. That brings us to the second element.

Pedagogical knowledge (PK) is about the way learners learn and teachers teach. Each teacher has his own pedagogical way of teaching. Different pedagogical approaches can be: collaborative learning, problem based learning and the tradition way of learning. In every different approach the teacher has the knowledge to decide which instruments he/she will use and how he/she will integrate it in their lessons. The pedagogical approach depends on the subject matter of the lessons that brings us to the last element of TPACK….

Content knowledge (CK) is about the subject in which the teacher is teaching. This basically consists out of central facts, concepts, theories and procedures in a certain topic. For example a teacher geography knows a lot about the coordinates latitude and longitude.

The overlap

As you can see in figure 1. the circles overlap each other on three different places. This overlap can be explained as:

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK): is about how pedagogies change because of ICT, or how ict can support pedagogy. For example how an online discussion form can support collaborative learning.

Technological Content Knowledge (TCK): is about how subject matter changes because of ICT, or how ict can support subject matter. For example the geography teacher wants to explain how a tsunami arises with an online video on Wikipedia.  

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK): is about how particular aspects of subject matter are organized, adapted and represented for instruction. For example students of the course pedagogies for flexible learning supported by technology need to learn about technologies. The teacher let all students experience working with different technologies by working out an assignment.

TPACK

Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) is the combination of the descriptions of the different overlaps. But this is not everything. Teachers also need to take care about the context, the target group and the situation. For example a teacher wants to use a beamer (TK) for projecting a PowerPoint presentation about TPACK (CK) in a traditional way of teaching (PK). In this presentation there is an overview from literature in Dutch. The teacher has to translate this overview in English because she also teaches international students (Context).  

Reflection

If I relate the topics of the last few weeks with TPACK it seems that all pieces of a puzzle come together. By first splitting up the different topics I learned every lecture some new information which I could construct on my prior knowledge. By presenting TPACK at the end these constructions really made sense.

Although flexible learning (one of the topics) is not integrated in the TPACK model I could found a connection. I think that when the TPACK model is integrated in the curriculum of teachers it provides all the opportunities for flexible learning. In this case flexible learning is an outcome of TPACK. I think that this is one of the added values of TPACK. Another positive aspect of TPACK is that it builds on the knowledge of a teacher. By let them integrate their content knowledge en pedagogical knowledge they can feel ownership about this development.

Some things that can be approved about TPACK is the way of implement it. I’m afraid that it’s hard to motivate teacher to implement the Technological knowledge into their Pedagogical and Content knowledge. If I think about teachers in Vocational Education I notice that they spend most of their time in adapting their content knowledge into a new pedagogical approach competence based learning (PCK). The technological part is mostly used as an instrument to make the PC more attractive. In this case there is a lack in balance between the three elements. To realize TPACK there should be paid more attention to the implementation of Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) en Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK).

That’s why I chose to design a professional development program for teachers as my last assignment for this course. Hopefully I can use this design to implement TPACK in the Vocational Education Center where I work.

Literature:

- Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70.

- Harris, J., Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2009). Teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge and learning activity types: Curriculum-based technology integration reframed. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41(4), 393-416

- Kennisnet (2010). Hoe kan een leraar ICT integreren in het onderwijs? Maak kennis met TPACK. http://www.kennisnet.nl/