TPACK

This week in class, we discussed the concept of TPACK. As expected, I knew nothing of this concept before attending class. However, since that time, I have learned a great deal about it. TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical And Content Knowledge. The title is rather intimidating, but TPACK is quite easy to understand. TPACK combines PK (Pedagogical Knowledge) with CK (Content Knowledge) and TK (Technological Knowledge). Briefly, PK is general knowledge/skills related to teaching; CK is knowledge of facts, concepts and skills in a specific area, such as history; TK is knowledge of various technologies. Combine these three elements and get: TPACK- knowledge of how to teach specific content using technology. Different representations of TPACK include: textual, visual, auditory, dynamic and multimodal. It is essential for teachers to learn about TPACK and how to apply it in their classrooms because 1)teachers must have knowledge of facts and concepts in order to pass them on to their students 2) they also must have effective teaching strategies or their classrooms will be pure chaos 3) the last needed element is technology- a great tool to reach out to the needs of individual children in the classroom/provide variation from standard teaching methods!