What on Earth is TPCK?

I didn’t just want to summarize every point in the article, since all of you have read it and know what it is about, so here are the feelings I got from Koehler and Mishra’s “Introducing TPCK”:

As I began to read the “Introducing TPCK” article, the first sentence automatically put me off: “In this chapter we describe technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) as a framework for teacher knowledge for technology integration.” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). Although I did not have the full understanding of what TPCK was yet, seeing the word technology made me automatically believe that TPCK would be something unnecessary to the classroom. Do we REALLY need to integrate technology into the classroom when simpler methods worked before? Up until high school, my classroom education had been accomplished through the use of good old-fashioned chalk and blackboards. From what I experienced, this allowed increased participation in a classroom setting. Students were able to take turns sharing their ideas on the board. It was easier to demonstrate how to solve problems. Not only did we learn from the teacher, but we learned from each other.

When I got to high school, participation had begun to diminish in certain classes, and I blamed the integration of technology for that. I noticed that in my English classes, a lot of ideas were shared because we still used a chalkboard, making it easier to fill out charts for the classroom. But when it came to a math class, instead of chalkboards, we had Smartboards. While before groups of us were able to write out problems on the board and correct each other’s mistakes, we now could only rely on the teacher to solve the problems. I came to the conclusion that using technology in the classroom was actually just slowing our generation down.

After reading this article, the term “technology” was redefined for me. Mishra and Koehler helped me understand that technology is not a new concept, and that I was not the first one to experience it. TPCK has always been around, just constantly developing. While pencils and chalk seem natural to me and most of my generation, it was a difficult concept to grasp for those back in Plato’s time. Technology in the classroom was in fact not slowing us down; we have been using [an older version of] it all along! That is why it is important to integrate technology into the classroom so that our students don’t fall behind in this constantly developing world.

While we are not completely throwing away analog technology (pencils, chalkboards), we have to be able to use digital technology in the classroom to make the teaching process a more engaging experience. The TPCK model combines the three main components of knowledge: content, pedagogy, and technology. Koehler and Misha break down the model for our understanding:

• Content Knowledge (CK): knowledge about the subject matters that are to be learned or taught.
• Pedagogical Knowledge (PK): knowledge of the processes, practices, and methods of teaching.
• Technology Knowledge (TK): knowledge of constantly changing technology.
• Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK): knowledge of pedagogy that can be used with teaching a specific content.
• Technological Content Knowledge (TCK): knowledge of technology that can be used with teaching a specific content.
•  Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK): form of knowledge that teachers incorporate whenever they teach. It weaves together technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge that teachers with cognitive flexibility bring into their classrooms in order to find solutions.

This breakdown demonstrates how the three main components of the TPCK model can be tweaked and combined with each other in order to be effective. Integrating constantly developing technology may be a difficult process, but it is something we as prospective teachers need to prepare for. Only I can control how technology is incorporated in my classroom, and I plan on using it as a tool for knowledge, for both myself and my students.