TPACK

            TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) is an approach to teaching and learning that utilizes the interplay among three types of knowledge. The concept purports to extend the basic tenets of Lee Shulman’s model of pedagogical content knowledge.

            Technology is often an “add-on” rather than a seamless component of instruction. My experience as a teacher and principal has convinced me that this is most often due to a lack of training for teachers in educational technology and its possibilities for best practice. School systems typically lag behind in technology due to budgetary restrictions and the rapid implementation of new computer hardware and software. Yet, even in schools where cutting edge technology is available, there can be a philosophical lag as teachers struggle to determine exactly how it will meld with their individual beliefs about teaching and learning. TPACK attempts to help in that effort by redefining technology as a helper rather than a hammer.

             TPACK is a dynamic paradigm for evaluating the effectiveness of technology in the classroom that differs significantly from other static representations. TPACK acknowledges that classroom instruction is constantly in flux due to individual differences in teachers, schools, student demographics, ability levels, cultural backgrounds, etc. The challenge is to discern how technology relates specifically to curriculum and pedagogy and the degree to which it weaves the three together into a continuum.

            TPACK does not offer any kind of toolkit for how to specifically use technology in the classroom but rather a lens for evaluating how balanced the teacher’s approach is. The usefulness for me centers on the integration of technology into the inner sanctums of content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge – rather than being an extension of one or the other (or both). I have grappled most with the content knowledge sphere. TPACK supporters contend that technology can enhance or restrict the teaching of content knowledge, and that the reverse can also be the case. I can see their point, but it will take time and experience to see the equality that the model seems to suggests.

          Even though my reading of TPACK indicates that it is a fluid model, I have always been skeptical of visual representations with equal geometric shapes – especially when they represent the uncertain craft of teaching. Perhaps my concern is more a commentary on me than the TPACK model, but I am interested in testing the theory in my own teaching.

First Year Teacher Struggles With Technology

     During a visit to one of my first-year teachers recently, we discussed the use of technology in her classroom. Her school received a grant to issue Chromebooks to all students in her middle school. The students are responsible for taking them home and bringing them back the next day. We batted around a myriad of possibilities for teaching and learning using this technology, and I followed up with a video that I spotted which spotlights the use of Chromebooks (http://news.yahoo.com/video/sanger-high-seeks-end-digital-005809769.html).
     Just a couple of days ago, she sent me this e-mail:


I wish I could say it was a smooth transition for the students at my school. I like the Chromebooks better than the IPads, purely because it has a keyboard already attached and the Google apps work so well with it. BUT (this is a big one) our students do not have the maturity or the sense of responsibility to handle them correctly. A lot of them feel they are entitled to do whatever they want with the Chromebook we assign to them. My group this year is better than my group last year, and perhaps that has to do with the fee that is now being enforced. Students who misused or broke their Chromebook last year now have to pay a $100 fee to repair/replace their Chromebook. They are not allowed to have one until they do this. It has made it difficult on the teachers because we cannot fully move our classrooms onto Google Classroom, but I have seen some improvement on the treatment and use of chromebooks this year.


     My young colleague expresses a difficulty with the implementation of technology that is a common thread in my reading and interactions with teachers. It is frustrating to plan instruction that incorporates technology only to find that not all the students have that technology available due to immaturity, technical problems, user abuse, etc. I tried to encourage her by pointing out that it was important for her, in the words of Winston Churchill, to "keep buggering on" for two reasons. First, the responsible students who keep up with their technology need to benefit from its possibilities. Also, it is critical for my teacher's personal growth that she continue to develop this vital asset in her professional "toolkit".
     There is much in current professional literature about how technology can and should be used in the K-12 classroom. There is, unfortunately, less about what to do when confronting the challenges that my friend spoke so honestly about.