The added value of TPACK

The previous post explained what TPACK is. This post focuses on how TPACK is related to the other subjects I discussed in this blog; flexible learning, pedagogical approaches and how these can be supported by technology.

Flexible learning is what I started with in this blog, after which I discussed a few pedagogical approaches. In the post about flexibility, the locus of control between the teacher and the students played a central role. How much is controlled by whom? Or… how much does a teacher want to control? And how much does the student want to control? The amount of control for each party is to be defined by the teacher (which of course is influenced by what student want to control and can control), which means that it is a characteristic of the pedagogical approach the teachers chooses. In the post about pedagogical approaches I learned that the ongoing developments in technology actually influence pedagogical approaches. Therefore technology is an important factor in flexible learning. So, considering the TPACK model, flexible learning seems to have a strong link with technological- and pedagogical knowledge. The post about flexibility finished with the note that the balance between flexibility and control needs to be well chosen to get an optimal result. Thinking about that while having the TPACK model in mind, this can be translated to a broader perspective. An optimal result in learning means balance between all components of the TPACK model.

Technology is a tricky one. Although this one is already discussed in the post about the framework, I would like to elaborate a little more on it.  When we are talking about technologies in relation to the TPACK framework, we are talking about all kinds of materials we use to support our teaching. These could be digital materials, like computers, cameras and mobile phones, but these could also be ‘analogous’ materials, like a ruler or a chalkboard (Koehler and Mishra, 2009). Not every technology we use or can use in teaching is actually produced with the aim to support teaching.  This is where the teachers come in, they are the ones who have connect these technologies to their teaching practice in such a way that it is supports learning. The TPACK model is a way of supporting teachers in integrating technology in their teaching. This model is useful for teachers because it is viewed form a teacher’s perspective and It helps teachers to think in a structured way about their teaching. This means the model could be used before the teaching, to construct a lesson for example, but also after teaching took place, to evaluate how a lesson went, whether the balance between the TPCK elements was optimal or not, etc.

On the other hand, using this model is probably not obvious for teachers. They could feel that they are forced to think in terms of the three basic components (C, T, P) to shape their teaching while In practice, the patterns (overlapping parts in the model) is what they see and what they experience in practice. This means that the overlapping parts are more concrete for the teacher and decomposing them makes it more (maybe too?) abstract. To make the model more concrete for teachers, Harris, Mishra and Koehler (2009) describe a few activity types in relation with TPACK, options for teachers to use in their teaching. During the start of this master program, we discussed about this a little bit and acknowledged that a pitfall of using the TPACK framework and especially the activity types, is that it might be a barrier for creative thinking.

Looking back at my previous posts, every conclusion somehow mentions that this all is not an easy job for teachers. Combining pedagogical knowledge, technology knowledge and content knowledge is something new for teachers. New means change and change always cost more time and effort than the old ’routines’. Teachers need to go through a professional development process to accept these kind of changes. In the previous post, I finished with the different tastes educational artists (teachers) have and how these differences influence the way they integrate technology in teaching.

This means that in this process, the understanding of TPACK, beliefs and attitudes need to be developing towards a ‘TPACK minded’ teacher, which starts with being aware of the added value TPACK can offer to their teaching. This process should start in teacher education, but of course we should not forget all the teachers that are already out there. New teachers that just finished teacher education where they learned about TPACK would probably run enthusiastically to their new job to ‘work with their TPACK’ but this won’t work if the rest of the school does not share their vision. Not only individual teachers are important in this process, but also the rest of the environment should support this process. 

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., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70.