TPACK: that’s not an easy job

http://www.tpack.org/

During the last few weeks I’ve learned a lot about different kinds of flexibility, pedagogical approaches and how this can be supported by technology. The last lecture was about combining these aspects with the addition of ‘content’ into a framework, called TPACK.

It’s important to know that this framework supports teachers for technology integration, and not students. The goal for teachers is to reach TPACK in their lessons. But how can teachers reach this ultimate goal? I’ll explain the framework by using an example of a geography lesson in which pupils are encouraged to read and construct a map of their neighbourhood.

The TPACK-model is shown below and consists of three main circles:

- Technological Knowledge (TK)

- Pedagogical Knowledge (PK)

- Content Knowledge (CK)

The Technological Knowledge (TK) is the knowledge about all different kinds of technology that can be used in and outside the classroom. The teacher needs to have some skills in how to operate with particular technologies. Some teachers can deal with these technologies very quick and easily, but some teachers find it hard. That’s why they must have the ability to learn and adapt to new technologies. When they’re willing to learn something about technology, they’ll construct a functional understanding of technologies. This functional understanding is necessary to know how to operate with different kinds of technology.  

In the example of the geography lesson the teacher uses a computer and an interactive whiteboard to show and explore the use of a map. He/she has to deal with Google Streetview and Google Maps to give the pupils a clear idea of a map.

The Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) is the knowledge about different pedagogical approaches that a teacher can use during a lesson. Teachers know a lot of different approaches, but often use some of them because of organizational reasons. The pedagogical approach that is used by a teacher must fit to the prior knowledge of the pupils. They also have to know which resources can be helpful and meaningful during the lesson. They also have to know how they organize their classroom management. When a teacher uses inquiry learning, he/she has to know how to deal with this pedagogical approach.

In the example of the geography lesson, the teacher uses inquiry learning in the real world with a combination of collaborative learning. The pupils will be divided in groups and they will walk the route from the school to their houses. After that they’ll view their walk in Google Streetview and Google Maps. It’s important that the pupils know how to work together and how to use the computer. But it’s more important how the teacher deals with this pedagogical approach.

The Content Knowledge (CK) is the final main circle in the TPACK framework. It suggests the teacher to have a knowledge base about the subject-matter that he/she teaches. This knowledge base consists of facts, concepts, theories and procedures. He/she also has to know which frameworks are important to a certain subject-matter and how to explain the theory behind it.

In the example of the geography lesson it is important that the teacher has a knowledge base about all aspects of a map. He/she has to know for example that it’s a 2D drawing in which static objects are showed, what the meaning of a legend is and that a map is more abstract when you show a city instead of a neighbourhood.

But combining these three aspects isn’t enough to reach TPACK. That’s why there’s an overlap between all the three circles. These overlaps will result in the following elements of the TPACK framework:

- Technological Content Knowledge (TCK)

- Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)

- Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

The Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) is the way in which technology can support the content or subject-matter of a lesson. It can also be the other way around: how does the subject-matter change because of the use of technology? These approaches are often overlooked when a teacher implements a kind of technology in his/her lesson. He/she knows what he/she is going to teach and knows a lot about the content. He/she also know that there is an interesting movie on the Internet that he/she can use during their lesson. But there must also be a connection between these two elements: the TCK. The teacher must be aware why he/she shows a movie during a certain lesson and how it influences the content of the lesson.

In the example of the geography lesson, the use of technology is very important because it visualizes the subject-matter, namely the map. The pupils walk through their neighbourhood first and after that the technology simulates the same thing by using Google Streetview. After that the students don’t know how to construct a map in 2D because they only experienced it in 3D. At that point, the technology plays a big and important role because it visualizes the construct of a map by ‘zooming out’ in Google Streetview. The pupils see and experience themselves what happens when you ‘zoom out’ your 3D view to a more abstract level like a map.

The Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) is the knowledge about the interaction between technology and pedagogy. It deals with questions like: How can pedagogies be changed because of the use of technology? Or how can technology support a certain pedagogy? These questions can be answered when a teacher is aware of the use of technology in combination within a certain pedagogical approach. He/she knows which kind of approach he/she uses during the lesson and how technology can be implemented in this lesson. It’s also the other way around: when the teacher knows what kind of technology will be used during the lesson, he/she can adapt his/her teaching style to the way the pupils use the technology.

In the example of the geography lesson, the TPK is a very important aspect. The use of Google Streetview and Google Maps supports the inquiry learning approach that the teacher uses during the lesson. First, the pupils go out and experience the subject-matter by inquiry learning. After that, the experiences are visualized by the technology that is used. So there’s a lot of interaction and cohesion between the experiences in the real environment and the visualizations because of the use of technology.

The last component is the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). This element covers the knowledge about how particular aspects of the content are organized, adapted and represented for a pedagogical approach. This means that the teacher has to know how to teach the pupils about certain subjects. When the teacher gives a lesson about the ‘autumn’, it’s very useful to go outside the school and collect leaves etc so the pupils can experience it themselves. When the pupils have to learn how to create an electricity circuit, then it’s very useful to give them some wires, lamps and batteries. The pupils can explore it themselves and learn a lot from it when they work together in groups.

In the example of the geography lesson, the pupils go outside and experience the route from the school to their houses themselves. They learn by doing and construct their own knowledge by exploring. It is not effective when the teacher wants to learn something about maps and let the pupils sit in the classroom and let them read a text about maps. So it’s important that the teacher adapts his/her learning style to the subject-matter that has to be teached.

These different aspects are constantly interacting and that’s where the difficulty comes in. It’s sometimes very difficult to pay attention to all the different elements of the TPACK framework. But when the teacher can pay attention to all the elements, the teacher will reach TPACK. This goal is different for every individual teacher within his/her own environment, a specific subject-matter, a preference for a teaching style etc. This is where the aspect ‘context’ comes in. The context is a very important aspect that influences the way teachers reach TPACK.

In the case of the geography lesson, it’s important that children can walk safely through their neighbourhood. There have to be parents who will guide the different groups of pupils during their walk through the neighbourhood. There are a lot of external factors that influences the way the geography lesson can be teached.

The heading of this blogpost says: ‘it is not an easy job’. It’s a job that is different in all kinds of environments, schools and with different kind of teachers.

References:

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.

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