you're a teacher ready to tap students into 21st century learning but teaching with technology adds a whole new layer of knowledge and expertise TPAC or technological pedagogical content knowledge is a framework that helps teachers consider how their knowledge domains intersect in order to effectively teach and engage students with technology it's an approach that looks at the combination of what teachers know how they teach and the role of Technology in order to better impact student learning so how does TPAC work first consider three domains content knowledge pedagogical knowledge and technological knowledge content knowledge CK is the
what your understanding and expertise of the subject area you teach whether it's science social studies math language arts or all of the core curricular areas CK is made up of all the facts concepts and theories of any given discipline pedagogical knowledge pique is the how your expert knowledge of the art and science of teaching from learning theories to instructional design PK includes methods of teaching and assessment like project-based learning as well as instructional strategies like think-pair-share knowledge of these principles helps you design successful learning experiences for each individual student pedagogical content knowledge or pck is
the intersection of the pedagogical and content areas the knowledge you have of how to effectively engage students in learning concepts and skills this knowledge includes approaches for addressing different learning styles and scaffolding content for deeper understanding Educational Psychologist Lee Shulman saw this intersection as teaching at its best but several scholars including Matthew Kohler and Poonam Mishra have added an additional component to 21st century teaching technological knowledge or TK TK represents your knowledge about the tools including how to select use and integrate technology into your curriculum but it's not just about the devices it's also the
quality of content that students access through apps websites and games for learning by integrating technology into pck you now have new insights into and opportunities for student learning technological content knowledge or TCK refers to how technology is used in a subject area for deep and lasting learning for instance to further their understanding of a topic budding scientists can use sophisticated tools to collect evidence make observations and document findings interactive software then allows them to see their data represented in various ways application of such technologies can help deepen individual students inquiry within a given discipline technological
pedagogical knowledge or TPK is your understanding of how to choose and manage technology for your students for instance what technology will best ease your students workflow throughout their exploration of the scientific method how can you use collaboration tools to have students share their learning with each other this knowledge about technology will advance your teaching the intersection of all three knowledge domains content pedagogy and technology is the core of TPAC this center area refers to your understanding of how tools can enhance your teaching and support student learning more deeply and effectively for example when learning about
water pollution students could explore 3d models of bacterias cellular structure and then create their own animated images to analyze local water sources they then could share their findings virtually with a prominent field expert this dynamic interplay of all three components is TPAC the heart of innovative teaching you can use the TPAC framework to assess your own knowledge of content pedagogy and technology consider which areas you feel confident about and which areas you can improve upon but also think about how you can collaborate with others at your school or in your professional learning communities to combine
your strengths for example you can meet with your technology coordinator to brainstorm ways to redesign learning experiences and knowing that each student each teacher and each classroom differs the dotted line around the frameworks Eliza's the context that affects how a pact is applied in a practical sense TPAC takes into account that every classroom context is unique due to variations in professional development school climate and available resources in conclusion the T pact will help you remember to start with your content and pedagogy and then layer in technology sometimes we get excited about a new technology and
then we design a lesson around that particular tool but in doing so it's easy to lose sight of goals and objectives for student learning t pack reminds us that technology is just part of great teaching it's truly an intricate combination of content pedagogy and technology that make for innovative teaching and learning so what does your t pack look like you
