Write a plain English reflection about TPACK. Pitch it at the uninitiated, those who may not be experts in teaching, so that they fully understand the concept.
Browse the reflections of others, evaluating your own ideas as you travel, and improving and refining your ideas. You are strongly advised to comment on the ideas of others, in a strategy aimed at supporting their growth. Perhaps you will have someone who is able to add to your learning? If you find someone who appears to have sound ideas, perhaps you could contact them and ask them to read your ideas and comment on them? You will find all the contact details in the Profile Forum. Alternatively, you could add a request on their blogs as a comment!
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***Update 06/04/2013
I have just found a great blog post by Mark Fijor which explains really well how to use TPACK to guide your professional development as a teacher to "equip people with the necessary knowledge and skills to to be able to execute" your ideas about using new tools and technologies in the classroom. Please read: The Ugly Truth of Technology Integration.
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The Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework can be used by educators to inform the designs they make with respect to designing learning materials. It can assist educators to choose appropriate technologies to support learning that is based on sound pedagogy and suitable content. This framework was created by Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler (2006) by building on the work of Lee Shulman (1986) who defined the concept of Pedagogical Content Knowledge.
The TPACK framework is based on three interconnecting circles that represent Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Knowledge and Technological Knowledge (see Figure 1 below).
A plain English explanation of TPACK
Educators must be aware of the content they need to teach, appropriate pedagogies that can be used to teach that content and what technologies can best support those pedagogies. The intersection of these three areas is called Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK). Educators need to be comfortable in this space to ensure that technology is well-integrated into their teaching and learning practices. Educators should also be aware of the context in which they are teaching, how you teach pre-schoolers would be different to how you teach university students.
Reflection - what does this mean for me as a teacher?
I will be able to use the TPACK framework in two ways. Firstly when planning my lessons. After I have been assigned the classes that I have to teach I will know then what content I have to teach (Mathematics or IT, Grade 8 or 9, topic area). Then I will need to look at what pedagogies would be suitable to teach the topic area to the particular class. After I have decide on the pedagogy I will then search for suitable technologies that will support the pedagogies that I have chosen to teach that topic area to that particular class.
The second way that this framework will be of use is when evaluating the lesson plans of other people, for example when I first start prac teaching I will be observing my mentor teacher. The TPACK framework will be a useful tool to analyse the effectiveness of the technologies used to teach in the classes that I observe.
I have just read a third way that TPACK could be of use. In Does Institutional Learning have a TPACK problem? Dr David Jones suggests that TPACK could be used to analyse a whole institutions' approach to learning and teaching supported by technologies.
What follows is a more in-depth explanation of the TPACK diagram. Each of the elements and their relationships will be unpacked by referring to the work of Mishra and Koehler (2006).
Content knowledge (CK) is knowledge about the actual subject matter that is to be taught or learned by the students. The educators must should "know and understand the subjects that they teach, including knowledge of central facts, concepts, theories, and procedures within a given field" (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1026).
Pedagogical knowledge (PK) is "deep knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and learning and how it encompasses, among other things, overall educational purposes, values, and aims" (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1026).
Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) as described by (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) is in a similar vein to Shulman’s (1986) notion of pedagological knowledge that is applicable to the teaching of specific content. PCK "includes knowing what teaching approaches fit the content, and likewise, knowing how elements of the content can be arranged for better teaching" (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1027).
Technology knowledge (TK) is knowledge about traditional technologies (books, pencils, writing pads and whiteboards) and more advanced technologies, such as the Internet and computers video. TK also involves the skills required to use the technologies (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1027).
Technological content knowledge (TCK) is knowledge about the "manner in which technology and content are reciprocally related. Although technology constrains the kinds of representations possible, newer technologies often afford newer and more varied representations and greater flexibility in navigating across these representations (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1028). Educators need to know more that just the subject matter they teach. They also need to be aware of the ways in which the subject matter may be changed when using technology for teaching (Mishra & Koehler, 2006).
Technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) is "knowledge of the existence, components, and capabilities of various technologies as they are used in teaching and learning settings, and conversely, knowing how teaching might change as the result of using particular technologies" (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1028).
Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) is an "emergent form of knowledge that goes beyond all three components (content, pedagogy, and technology). This knowledge is different from knowledge of a disciplinary or technology expert and also from the general pedagogical knowledge shared by teachers across disciplines. TPACK is the basis of good teaching with technology and requires an understanding of the representation of concepts using technologies; pedagogical techniques that use technologies in constructive ways to teach content; knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help redress some of the problems that students face; knowledge of students’ prior knowledge and theories of epistemology; and knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing knowledge and to develop new epistemologies or strengthen old ones" (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, pp. 1028-1029).
Contexts are the environment in which you are working: pre-school; primary school; high school; university or college; work organisation. The pedagogy, content and technology used will be dependent on the context.
References:
Mishra, P. & Koehler, L.J. (2006, June), Technical pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge, Teachers College Record, 108(6), pp. 1017–1054
Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching, Educational Researcher, 15(2), pp. 4-31.
Resources for further explanation:
Teacher's In-Depth Content Knowledge the PCK framework of Shulman
http://tpack.org/
TPACK Resource created by Matthew Koehler
Edited version of keynote presented by Punya Mishra and Matt Koehler at SITE 2008 in Las Vegas via @palbion
What is TPACK?
TPACK 101 from Clare Kilbane on Vimeo.
TPACK 101 Vimeo via @djplaner
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/embed/0wGpSaTzW58)
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