The added value of TPACK: looking back to the different topics of the course

After four lectures about flexibility, pedagogical approaches, technology and of course the TPACK model it is time to reflect on the things that I have learned. I would like to look back to my previous posts and lectures and also would like to come to a conclusion about the added value of TPACK in the different topics.

In the first lecture we talked about flexibility in education. This lecture opened a new world for me. I really have to say that flexibility was all about distance to me. But you can have different kinds of flexibility. I’ve described them in an earlier post on my blog. All these different kinds of flexibility can be used in classes to make education flexible.

But making a course more flexible is a real challenge for a teacher. Not only because it is another way of teaching than the teacher is used to, but most of it because the teacher will lose a piece of control. I think that it is very difficult for a teacher to give the control out of his hands and that is a struggle. But last week we talked about TPACK and I think that TPACK can help the teacher to reach more flexibility in the class.

To reach TPACK a teacher has to work hard, because it is difficult (see my previous blog), but the integration of technology, content and pedagogy will make it easier to come to a flexible lesson. Not because TPACK takes difficult choices away, but because TPACK gives a teacher the chance to combine the three elements of knowledge together in a logic way. It gives you a form of support to combine all your knowledge together to make your learning environment flexible.

I also wrote something about different pedagogical approaches. Especially I looked to the combination of a specific approach with the use of CMS (Course Management System) and then several approaches next too each other. From this lecture and the assignment I really learned in what way we can combine technology with a specific approach, but also how difficult it can be. Teachers have to take a lot of different elements in mind when they design a lesson and technology is often forgotten in the organization of the lesson. In my blog about pedagogical approaches I was wondering how we can convince a teacher to use a new approach that differs a lot from the approach that he always used. And I have to say that a step in the right direction is the introduction of TPACK. I think that TPACK can have a real value in this part. The TPACK model gives a teacher a real opportunity first to look separately towards the different kinds of knowledge that is needed and after that to start with the integration of these three parts of knowledge to make it one. When a teacher can use TPACK I think that it will be easier to integrate technology into the approach that a teacher uses.

Before we talked about TPACK we also looked at technology and the way it can be used in the classroom. For me it was a really important learning point that we always say that technology is a negative thing for teachers and fun for students. But we forget that it also can be fun for teachers. So for me that is very important to think of when I’m talking about technology in classrooms again. I think that sometimes it isn’t the problem that teachers don’t like technology, but that they don’t know how they have to work with it. And to make that easier and help them to use it in a normal way the TPACK model can help. As I said before I think that the TPACK model can make teachers aware of the way they use different kinds of approaches and technology. By making them aware of the possibilities and the ways they can integrate it, I think that will make teachers more capable of using technology in their lessons. Of course there are costs, time and the guidance that are issues that can’t be forgotten. But I think that with using TPACK in the organization of a lesson it will be easier to combine all the things together.

Looking back to the lectures I realize that the lectures were the preparation for the TPACK model. And it has helped me to understand the goal of TPACK and the way it can be used. I also see now, after writing this reflection, that TPACK can help teachers in several ways. I also can say that I really know more about the different topics we discussed and the way they can be used in a lesson and in what way they influence the way our teachers teach. At first I thought that the three different topics were kind of separate from each other. I found it very hard to combine all three together. The introduction of TPACK made it easier for me and I can see the connections now. And I really see that TPACK can make a difference in all three topics. It really can support the integration of the three core types of knowledge that the teacher need to organize a lesson.

I can link TPACK towards the three different topics we discussed and then I really think that it can help the teacher. But I also see some difficulties mostly in the way that I can work with the model. I understand the model and know what every piece means and how you van integrate it. But after the lecture of last week I conclude that it is very difficult to make the combination and design a lesson based on this model. And I’m really wondering how you can convince teachers to use it. You can learn it to them in training programs, but is that enough? I really wonder in what way you can stimulate the use of TPACK in the classroom and not only in the programs for professional development. Because I can imaging that it takes a lot more time to understand and use the model in the right way then a workshop or training program will take.

So, I’ve really learned a lot about the topics and I like TPACK very much and also think that it can be used in a good way in education, but I really wonder in what way you implement this model in education with as result that it will be used by the teachers for a longer time. Hopefully the next lecture will also talk about the implementation of TPACK in education and the different things that we have to think about. Maybe you have a good idea about how we can implement the model in education, how we can make our teachers aware of the three elements and the integration of those elements? And how we make sure that the model will be used more then once? Maybe we can come together to a good answer on my questions