Week 8 : TPACK (not Tupac)

Okay, so the first thing the typical person might think of when they see the acronym 'TPACK' is deceased, popular rapper "Tupac." But just because they might sound or look similar does not mean that they have anything in common.



TPACK:
vs. Tupac
















TPACK, or TPAK is defined as "technological pedagogical content knowledge," which refers to "the intersection of teachers' knowledge of curriculum content, general pedagogies, and technologies." (Harris and Hofer, 1) To the naked eye it might seem extremely technical, but in layman's terms it refers to the integration of technology into curriculum activities. Harris and Hofer, who wrote practically everything we were assigned to read this week, are huge proponents of the TPACK approach to teaching. Within the article snippets we read it was apparent that both authors are practically gurus when it comes to initiating activities that would incorporate certain pieces of technology, furthering a heightened understanding of the curriculum as well as an aspect of information literacy.

The aspect of their approach that really struck me was that they kept harping on a few common points throughout each article. They stated,

"We suggest matching technology-integration strategies to existing lesson planning methods, rather than asking teachers to plan instruction that exploits the opportunities offered by particular education technologies." (Grounded Integration: Languages; Harris & Hofer, p 26)

Where Richardson consistently harps about implementing Wikis and Blogs into the teaching stratosphere these two authors take a step back and essentially say match up the proper technology with the right and corresponding lesson plan. This would avoid the "square peg in a round hole" analogy. In the LIS field I have come to an understanding that there is no one-size-fits-all model with anything. This is most certainly prominent when it comes to patrons, students, and education styles.

Another point that the author's bring up is that technology is sometimes an afterthought, an "add-on or enhancement to a lesson rather than something that is truly integrated into teaching and learning." (Tech Integration in Social Studies' Harris & Hofer, p 26) In this regard it seems that people may take technology for granted. It is always there to save us, for example, Microsoft Word Office products like Excel can help us make a spreadsheet for creating graphs for a math class or we can utilize Powerpoint to make a presentation about Owl Pellets for a science course. Whatever the case may be technology seems to have become second nature for us, and perhaps implementing certain technologically based techniques into education may not necessarily be a new thing, rather something that is constantly being developed right under our noses and has been for quite some time.

So what will TPACK rely on for successful development in education? Answer, collaboration of teachers and parents, feedback from students, and open mindedness all around.