TPACK Connection

Rationale (Why): East Central’s core vision is to prepare students for life and equip them with the ability to earn credentials they find appealing and have value in today’s economy. Just as life, learning and work are interconnected, we embrace technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge and the relationship between each. 

The TPACK framework (www.tpack.org) suggests that technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge areas do not stand alone and not one of them “drives” the others. All three are interconnected. 

The TPACK model will be incorporated in all curriculum presentations and professional learning, and used in collaboration with the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) to frame progress for staff.

• Content Knowledge: The content is the “what” will be taught in class. Content knowledge (CK) is teachers’ knowledge about the subject matter to be learned or taught.
  
• Pedagogical Knowledge: The pedagogy is the “how” teachers will instruct whether it is through pairs, direct instruction, etc. Pedagogical knowledge (PK) is teachers’ deep knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and learning. This refers to the transformation of the subject matter for teaching. Specifically, this transformation occurs as the teacher interprets the subject matter, finds multiple ways to represent it, and adapts and tailors the instructional materials to alternative conceptions and students’ prior knowledge. PCK covers the core business of teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment and reporting, such as the conditions that promote learning and the links among curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy.
  
• Technology: Technology is a partner to content and pedagogy, and is to be used to enrich the “what” and “how”. Technological pedagogical content knowledge is an understanding that emerges from interactions among content, pedagogy, and technology knowledge. TPACK is the basis of effective teaching with technology, requiring an understanding of the representation of concepts using technologies; pedagogical techniques that use technologies in constructive ways to teach content; knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help redress some of the problems that students face; knowledge of students’ prior knowledge and theories of epistemology; and knowledge of how technologies can be used to build on existing knowledge to develop new epistemologies or strengthen old ones.

To provide specific examples of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, the use of  the Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) provides specific examples, illustrated by description and sample videos.

Alignment to ECISD beliefs, values, goals: 

• The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) is aligned to our district goal to develop real-world problem solvers.
• ECISD values collaborative thinking and TIM promotes student collaboration to solve shared problems.
• TIM aligns with our district’s vision of growing creative and innovative individuals by encouraging students to explore and investigate in order to develop solutions and new ideas.
• ECISD believes in developing and fostering life long learners, and TIM provide ample opportunities with an emphasis on learning that promote cross-disciplinary thinking that encourage growth in teachers and students.

Overview (What and How):

The following chart describes how teachers can move from entry level to transformation. Entry level is best described as students working in a computer lab to do internet research on an English project. ‘Entry’ level is what is currently in place in many ECISD classrooms, due to the limitation of access to technology and not necessarily due to the desire of teachers to utilize technology. The goal for all ECISD teachers is to reach the ‘Transformation’ level. This is when teachers encourage the innovative use of technology and where technology tools are used to facilitate higher order learning activities that may not have been possible.

Technology Integration Matrix (TIM)

Stage	Description
Entry	The teacher begins to use technology tools to deliver curriculum content to students.
Adoption	The teacher directs students in the conventional and procedural use of technology tools.
Adaptation	The teacher facilitates students in exploring and independently using technology tools.
Infusion	The teacher provides the learning context and the students choose the technology tools to achieve the outcome.
Transformation	The teacher encourages the innovative use of technology tools. Technology tools are used to facilitate higher order learning activities that may not have been possible without the use of technology.

The TIM gives teachers a resource to self-reflect on where they are currently on the matrix, gives them examples of lesson plans at that level as well as what it would like if they moved to the next level. The matrix is robust with video examples, lesson plan samples, and other resources to support teachers in their professional journey. Instructional Specialists will work with teachers in their content area to develop lessons to move them along the continuum. Curriculum documents will be revised to include technology tools and electronic resources to give teachers ideas of how they can blend technology into their classroom, and provided at the varying levels of the matrix.

See the Matrix online at http://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix.php 

What does Success look like?

Students engage in ongoing metacognitive activities at a level that may have been unattainable without the support of technology tools. Students are empowered to extend the use of technology tools and have greater ownership and responsibility for learning. The teacher creates a rich learning environment in which students regularly engage in higher order planning activities that may have been impossible to achieve without technology.

The teacher sets a context in which students are encouraged to use technology tools in unconventional ways that best enable them to monitor their own learning. The setting includes access to a wide variety of technology tools and robust access to online resources for all students simultaneously.

Supporting Research:

TIM

• Balula, A., & Moreira, A. (2014). "SCAI: A three-dimension model for e-teaching evaluation in higher education" in Evaluation of online higher education: Learning, interaction and technology. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
• Barbour, D. R. (2014). The Technology Integration Matrix and Student Engagement: A Correlational Study. NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITY.
• Kieran, L. & Anderson, C. (2014). Guiding Preservice Teacher Candidates to Implement Student-Centered Applications of Technology in the Classroom. In M. Searson & M. Ochoa (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2014 (pp. 2414-2421). Chesapeake, VA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
• Kruger, M. & Bester, R. (2014). Integrating eLearning to Support Medical Education at the New University of Botswana School of Medicine. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning. 12(1), 52-76.
• Welsh, J.L., Harmes, C., & Winkelman, R. (2011). Tech Tips: Florida’s Technology Integration Matrix. Principal Leadership, 12 (2).

TPACK

• “Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org”
• Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70.