TPACk summary

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TPACK is an acronym for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. A TPACK diagram is shown to the left. TPACK, which reflects a complete understanding of how to teach with technology, is at the core. TPACK's goal is to understand how to use technology to teach concepts in a way that improves learning experiences for students.

There are so many advantages that technology can have in the classroom, whether it is training students for a technology-driven world or helping to simplify class management. But just merely having digital technologies in the classroom does not improve education. This is exactly why the framework for TPACK is relevant. It is easy to assume that the addition of a great learning management program to your class strategy would increase learning. TPACK, however, demonstrates that there is a relationship between technology, content, and pedagogy, and it is important to combine them intentionally.

Applying Technological, Pedagogical Content Knowledge to a lesson is key. For planning purposes, I need to ask myself these questions:

• Content Knowledge (CK) - What am I teaching in this lesson?
• Pedagogical Knowledge (PK)—How do my students learn best and what instructional strategies do I need to meet their needs and the requirements of my lesson plan?
• Technological Knowledge (TK)—What digital tools are available to me, which do I know well enough to use, and which would be most appropriate for my lesson?

Now that I've asked myself the above, I need to look where they all intersect:

• Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)—understanding the best practices for teaching specific content to my specific students.
• Technological Content Knowledge (TCK)—knowing how the digital tools available to me can enhance or transform the content, how it’s delivered to students, and how my students can interact with it.
• Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)—understanding how to use digital tools as a vehicle to the learning outcomes and experiences you want.

My goal in the classroom is to be purposeful in applying each form of TPACK knowledge in order to enhance the activities of my original lesson plan. While I understand that it may not be possible to apply all of it to every lesson plan that I have, keeping the framework in mind when lesson planning can help me think strategically about where I can apply and use technology in the classroom to enhance the learning activities of my students.