Source: Image of TPAK Venn Diagram by Lennon, Creative Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ATpack.jpg
Hi, thank you for joining me today to learn about TPACK. As always, this class is about you, the learner. So feel free to pause, fast forward, and rewind, or take any of the resources you need from this presentation to be successful in your classroom. So with that in mind, let's get started by looking at the essential questions. What are the components of TPACK? How are the various components related? And how can these components help me in my classroom?
A few reminders before we get started. I like to use an application lesson to illustrate the point that we're currently studying. Today's application lesson is based on a high school English plan over literary elements. So the examples given will be in blue, and the key terms will be in green. These key terms are important, and you should take notes on them.
OK, let's get started by seeing what exactly makes up TPACK, or TPACK. We'll start with the basics. CK, PK, and TK. CK, or content knowledge, is knowing what you are teaching. According to Shulman, this includes knowledge of concepts, theories, ideas, et cetera, that are specific to your discipline. An example of this for the literary terms lesson is knowledge of literary terms. Keep in mind, it's deeper than a surface level knowledge of literary terms. It's knowing why literary terms are important, and being able to explore with your students how literary terms are used in various pieces across genres.
Next, we have pedagogical knowledge, or PK. This is knowing the best processes and practices for teaching and learning. Shulman believes that you have to have a deep understanding of how students construct knowledge, skills, and habits in order to have a strong pedagogical knowledge. So this just means having a really strong understanding of that educational psychology that we've talked about in the past, knowing what goes into student learning. And keeping in mind that students are all different. So you're going to have to differentiate the way that you teach. And that's where technology comes in. But we'll get to that in a moment. An example of using pedagogical knowledge is deciding that my students really do well with questioning. So we're going to have a socratic seminar, to discuss the novel where we're exploring in literary terms.
OK, now we're moving on to TK, or technical knowledge. This is just thinking about and working with technology in an intentional way to communicate and problem solve, being able to evaluate certain technologies' usefulness in the classroom. And I want you to keep in mind that when we're talking about technology, we're not necessarily talking about using the latest app on an iPhone. It could just be the technology you already have in your classroom or that's traditionally associated with teaching, such as a blackboard or a textbook. But my students are pretty tech savvy. So I've decided that we're going to use Google Docs for peer editing of a paper over the literary terms that we've been studying.
So how did these all connect to create TPACK? Let's take a closer look at the way that they're interwoven. This is where we move on to those three letter acronyms, PCK, TPK, and TCK. Starting with PCK, this is pedagogical content knowledge. And this is similar to Schulman's idea of the knowledge of pedagogy, which is just putting together what you need to teach the literary elements with how you want to teach it. Maybe I want to teach literary elements through a lecture or a matching game.
Next, we have TPK, or technological pedagogical knowledge. And this is just understanding how teaching and learning can change when technology is used in a particular way. My example was using Google Docs to create a project live in the classroom or to give feedback on an essay in real time. So we have to look at how technology is changing teaching and learning. I like to use anchor papers. But this way, by using Google Docs and projecting it, I can use electronic anchor papers and also go over with my students the types of editing notes that they can look for on their own papers.
Also, if you're teaching at a school like mine, where students don't necessarily all live in the same neighborhood, using something like Google Docs is really excellent for projects, because it enables them to communicate even though they might not be able to meet in person.
Next we have TCK, or technological content knowledge. And this is just understanding how technology and content influence one another. And it's understanding how subject matter can be changed by technology. So my example is the use of the internet as a reset search tool for papers. Obviously, when the worldwide web was first created, it probably was not created with high school students in mind. But the reality of the situation is, we have students as young as kindergarten using the internet every day. And it can be a really powerful helpful tool. It can give them lots of information really quickly. And that is changing the way that we're teaching in the classroom. That necessitates to me that I have to do a couple of mini lesson plans on reliable versus unreliable sources, or how to cite sources, or how to paraphrase what you've seen online, and so on and so forth. So it can be a really helpful tool. But it definitely changes the type of learning that's taking place.
Another aspect of TPK is that learning can actually influence technology. And we'll look at a specific example of that when we go to the example lesson plan at the end of this presentation. So how did these all come together? They come together in the form of TPACK, The TPACK, or technological, pedagogical content knowledge, is the learning that occurs when technology, pedagogy, and content effectively interact.
Let's look at a diagram to help us visualize this a little bit better. Here you can see, technological knowledge is in pink, content knowledge is in blue, and pedagogical knowledge is in yellow. You can also see the areas where these three places intersect. That's where we get the TPK, the TCK, and the PCK. And right here, smack in the middle, is the technological pedagogical content knowledge. This is where they all come together.
I want you guys to keep in mind that you're actually already probably doing this in your classroom. I know I am. TPACK just is a nice opportunity to give us a label for the actions that we're doing. And it just helps us inject more intentionality into the way we teach in the way that we run our classrooms.
So let's look at how we can integrate this into a classroom. Again, the focus is a high school English lesson plan on literary terms and short stories. I'm not going to go over the objective with you. But I am going to go over the assignment. Because I think that it really illustrates well the different learning activities that use TPACK. So I'm going to use the Socrative to quiz students on prior knowledge of literary terms. And I'm going to use this as a reteaching opportunity, as students missed certain questions. Socrative and other software out there is a really nice way to quiz students in the classroom. Teachers can create the quizzes, and students can actually use their iPhones to answer them, or their smartphones to answer them.
The nice thing about Socrative is that it generates a lot of data that teachers can use to inform their teaching. Next, we're going to read three to four short stories. So my technology is that old school technology, the actual textbook. These stories are going to lend themselves to the discussion of the most commonly misunderstood literary terms, which I learned from doing the Socrative quiz with my students. I'm also going to have students annotate their reading and record to questions, comments, or connections to the class blog or wiki. We're still going to have the socratic seminar, as I mentioned earlier in this lesson plan. But sometimes, students might have a thought after the fact. And by having the class blog or wiki, it allows them to continue that conversation in a different forum. It also is a really good differentiation tool for students who maybe don't want to speak out loud or speak very often in a classroom conversation setting.
Lastly, I'm going to assign a paper to my students. And they should use the internet as a resource in their writing. So again, that's going to necessitate some of the mini lessons I was talking about earlier. The website I wanted to talk to you guys about is an example of education influencing technology, CitationMachine.net. It's a really great website that actually generates citations for students in MLA, APA, Chicago, you name it. They can create the citation.
And so it really makes teachers reflect on, what do I want my students to learn? My goal is, I want them to cite. I don't want them to plagiarize. However, I don't really care if they know where commas go in their citation. I'm not going to nit pick on little things like that. And because my main goal is the citing, I want to give them the resources they need to be successful, like CitationMachine.net, which will again create the citation for them.
Then I'm going to have students upload their papers or type them on Google Docs and have them edit each other's papers. And then, finally, they're going to submit their paper to Turnitin.com or another website where the site will actually review plagiarism for them. I'm going to have the students actually read that plagiarism report and make necessary changes before uploading a final draft.
Let's reflect for one moment. What are some obstacles you can foresee with incorporating TPACK, in your classroom? What aspect of TPACK, presents the biggest obstacle for you? Formulate a plan for overcoming this obstacle.
In conclusion, we've been able to answer these three essential questions. What are the components of TPACK? Well, it's technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge. And then how are these various components related? They're related in many ways. We have technological pedagogical knowledge. We can have all of them combined into TPACK. And it's just really being intentional in our classroom, understanding the content that we need to deliver, how we want to deliver it, and how technology can influence that delivery. And then how can these components help me in my classroom? Well, like we just said, we're already doing this. This just helps inject a little bit more intentionality.
Now it's your turn to apply what you've learned in this video. The additional resources section will be super helpful. This section is designed to help you discover useful ways to apply what you've learned here. Each link includes a brief description, so you can easily target the resources you want. Thank you for joining me today, and happy teaching.
Overview
(00:00-00:17) Introduction
(00:18-00:54) Essential Questions and Reminders
(00:55-01:28) CK
(01:29-02:19) PK
(02:20-02:59) TK
(03:00-03:22) PCK
(03:23-04:11) TPK
(04:12-05:27) TCK
(05:28-06:23) TPACK
(06:24-08:58) Classroom Integration
(08:59-09:24) Reflection
(9:25-10:24) Conclusion
Partnering for Success: A 21st Century Model for Teacher Preparation
This white paper focuses on on partnering for success for 21st century learning and the application of TPACK to prepare new teachers in various educational models. It also examines case studies and provides concrete examples and suggestions.
http://www.inacol.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/iNACOL-Partnering-for-Success-October-2013.pdf
TPACK Goes to Sixth Grade
This is a great article detailing the implementation of TPACK in a 6th grade classroom. Refer to the findings section to determine possible implications for your classroom planning and instruction regarding the integration of technology, pedagogy, and content.
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ960153.pdf
Using TPACK to Guide a 1-1 iPad Pilot
This article outlines how the implementation of a 1-1 initiative is being rolled out using the TPACK framework at Alexandria Country Day School in Virginia. The article focuses on the following critical areas and provides examples of each in action: Collaboration, Enduring Understandings, Deeper Learning, and Lessons Learned.
http://thejournal.com/articles/2014/07/29/tpack-and-ipads.aspx