What did I learn so far?

Again, it is time for reflection! What did I actually learn so far in this course and how does that relate to the TPACK framework I have just posted a message on?

We started the course with discussing flexibility, later on pedagogies, technology and the TPACK framework. The link between pedagogies and technology in relation to the TPACK framework seems to be really clear: these are components of the framework. By learning about the specific topics technology and pedagogies I could place them better in relation to TPACK and the components became more concrete for my understanding. I did actually not learn about the topics in isolation, but the connection between the topics was an important aspect that is also coming back in TPACK. When Petra told about pedagogies we also had to think of what technology could support a specific pedagogical approach. TPACK is actually structuring all the topics together for me.

Flexibility is not direct a component of the framework, but I do see a connection. When teachers are TPACK skilled they can offer their students flexibility in their learning. Is that the added value of TPACK? Or is technology the added value? I think that technology is the added value because it brings more opportunities for more flexibility! Research about ICT in education shows at least that ICT is adding value to education (Kennisnet, 2010)! But this is complicated and when teachers do not know how to work with ICT the added value is not there. The TPACK framework can be help useful for teachers by the implementation ICT in education and can be of added value, but because it is quite new it is not proven by research yet (Kennisnet, 2010). That may be directly the next issue to discuss; implementation of the framework.

Till now researchers wrote about TPACK (Koehler & Mishra, 2009), but can teachers work with the theoretical model already? Not yet is the answer, but it is coming up (Kennisnet, 2010). In our next lecture we will also talk about implementation and we will have to do an assignment about that topic!          

References:

Kennisnet, (2010). Hoe kan een leraar ICT integreren in het onderwijs? Maak kennis met TPACK. www.kennisnet.nl

Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70.

TPACK

Last week we had our fourth lecture for the course ‘Pedagogies’ and it was about TPACK. What that means I will explain later on.. But it was not the first time for me that TPACK came up in my educational program of CIMA. Last year we discussed about it in the introduction course and also during last years’ CIMA symposium when Punya Mishra was a guest speaker... One of the inventors of TPACK! It was a very interesting day!!

First I will explain what TPACK is and then what the connection is of TPACK and what I have learned so far in the course.

TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge and is a framework for teacher knowledge and technology integration. Figure 1 (Koehler & Mishra, 2009) shows not only the three components of TPACK, technological knowledge, (TK, knowledge about technologies such as computers, electronic learning environments, and interactive whiteboards), pedagogical knowledge, (PK, knowledge about how students learn and different pedagogical approaches such as problem- based learning or collaborative learning), and content knowledge, (CK, knowledge about the subject matter,) but also the interactions between the components and the context.

Figure 1: The TPACK framework and its knowledge components (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). 

Teaching is a complex and ill- structured practice (Kennisnet, 2010). Since the introduction of new technologies, teachers are expected to use these in their education to make it more effective and more flexible, but this makes the teaching even more complicated. To use technology effectively in their education, it is important to have TPACK (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). To become a TPACK skilled teacher, it is important that you not just have knowledge about the three components technology, pedagogy and content but that the knowledge of these three components emerges from interactions among content, pedagogy and technology. And that is exactly why it is so complicated! But what does it mean? I will try to explain this…

As a teacher you want to teach your students something about where you know a lot about; the content of a subject. But just telling the student what you know is not enough; you have to do that in such a way your students really learn what you want them to learn. Therefore you need knowledge about how you can do that in specific situations and specific contexts for that specific subject; all students are different and are learning in different ways. That is why a teacher needs to have good pedagogical knowledge about how to deliver the content; that is pedagogical- content knowledge. But knowledge alone is not enough; the teacher also needs to have the right skills to DO what he is intended to do best. And that is not it! Teachers also need to have knowledge about technologies they can use for teaching and learning, but again, knowledge alone is not enough! Teacher need to know how they can use the technologies in such a way that the learning process of the students is fostered by it. Thus, on one hand to use the technology in such a way that it really helps the students to understand the content (technological- content knowledge), and on the other hand to use the technology in such a pedagogical way that all students benefit from it (technological- pedagogical knowledge). 

When a teacher is TPACK skilled, he does not only have knowledge about the three components, not only about the three combinations of the components, but about all the three components interacting with each other. He can choose the right content, use the right pedagogical approach to support the learning of that content and use the right technologies in a right way to support the learning of the content and the used pedagogical approach for a specific context.    

I think that it is clear now why it is so complicated to become a TPACK skilled teacher; knowledge about the three components alone is not enough. It is most important for teachers that the knowledge of these three components emerges from interactions among content, pedagogy and technology.

References:

Voogt, J., Fisser, P., & Tondeur, J. (2010). Maak kennis met TPACK. Hoe kan een leraar ICT integreren in het onderwijs? Zoetermeer: Kennisnet.
Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70. 

Time for some reflection!

By this time I have attained three lectures for the coure 'Pedagogies ..' and I am preparing for the fourth lecture. A good time to reflect on what I have learned and experienced! First I would like to say that the blogging way of learning, is a way of learning I like more than I expected to do! I can see what the other students are doing; I've read some blogs, however I did not react on it, till now (because I have to do so now). By reacting on other blogs I have to reflect, in stead of only reading...
But I also want to reflect on the three topics that we discussed in the lectures till now: Flexibility, pedagogies and technology. For me it is clear that those topics are leading to what is coming in the next lecture: the TPACK model (our teacher has made a good construction of the content :) )
What I realise after Petra told us, is that when I write about these topics, that I wrote about what is in it for students: they can definitly benefit when technology is used in education and they like it. I also realize that I only mentioned the negative aspects of it for the teachers; they have to do this, and that.... Not very strange that teachers have to be convinced about the benefits/ possibilities for teachers to use technology, I realise that I'm not really convinced too.. But I am working on it!
Of course I learned a lot of the topics; what flexibility is and how many ways there are to make the education more flexible; it is all about these choices you make as a teacher and there are a lot of choices, especially with new technologies). About pedagogies: what pedagogies exist? A lot! I mentioned some in my blogs, and how technology can support the approaches. But I realise that I am not very creative by myself; there are so many posibilities I did not think of, which we discovered in teh third lecture: making pictures for biology for example.
In the next lecture I hope to learn more about all the topics together!

A case of problem- based learning in practice

To prepare for college this week, we got the assignment to search for an example of one of the pedagogical approaches in practice. I started my search on google, as all student do I guess... And however it was not that easy to find something, I have something that I would like to share! I found something about a medical school on the Southern Illinois University. They are using the problem- based learning approach for their education, and I think that they are doing that in a nice way! They mention the same characteristics of problem- based learning as I mentioned in my last blog- post: its is learner centered, based on real problems, teacher is facilitator, students collaborate in small groups and students direct their own learning process. The approach is seen in the 'electronic  Problem- Based Learning Modules' (ePBLM), these are actual patient cases with medical problems where students can ask questions to the patients, and order any laboratory or diagnostic tests. I think this is a good case of problem- based learning, because students have to solve real problems and the learning is really student centered.

If you like to take a look at this example, you can find it here: http://www.pbli.org/pbl/pbl.htm for the ideas of the school, and: http://www.pbli.org/shopping/index.htm for the ePBLM. On the last site you can also download a part to explore it!