TPACK

After class last week, I was impressed with the content that we learned because I find TPACK to be quite fascinating. It's simple, but helps to clearly explain for teachers how they can combine or even use all the facets of this acronym, which are: Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (It also is written as TPCK). What I understood from class was that a lesson can simply be one of these types of knowledge, but most often lessons are combinations of at least two of the three types of knowledge. For example, if a teacher were to to teach a CPK lesson (Content Pedagogical Knowledge), this would test the knowledge of the students in the particular unit at hand, as well as use specific teaching methods (this is where the pedagogical knowledge comes in) to present that content. Or if someone were to teach a lesson with TCK (Technological Content Knowledge), they would use technology to help students learn the content/concepts at hand. I like that we did this in class, when we worked in small groups to find samples of whatever we could find to then look at in the electric microscopes from which we immediately saw amplified images of our findings on a big computer screen. This was definitely a fun learning experience that would ingrain into childrens' minds certain scientific knowledge using technology. Through this example and what we could think up on our own, TPACK is something that would be useful for all teachers. It's something they should all know about, because I think this is an effective way of teaching and getting through to students on many levels. It provides the means to fulfill their learning experience as not only academic, but a personal one as well!