TPACK Professional Development; Reflection

This reflection is based on the assignment ‘design a TPACK professional development’, which a have made with Simone van der Donk, Linda Duteweerd and Mariette Hetjes.

Brainstorm

In the first brainstorm session with the group we thought of the target group teachers, but after a few discussions, we changed this target group a little to student teachers.

We taught that the best way of changing a attitude towards technology, is to start at the beginning, namely the teacher training college. But we didn’t want to stress out the student teachers more, by making a professional development for them. Perhaps it even didn’t count as a professional development. We found it more effective to aim at the teachers on the teacher training college. They are the first examples of the student teachers and are teaching them. When the target group was decided, we quickly were agreed that the lesson plan form is THE way of changing the thinking of teachers in general. After the four years of education on the teacher training college, (student) teachers are automatically applying the lesson steps learned on the lesson plan form. But also are applying the organizational, pedagogical en content matter steps, like materials, time, pedagogical approach and goals.

If this lesson plan form is being enriched by TPACK, the future teachers will automatically think more of integrating technology and perhaps even stimulate the other teachers on the school, where they get a job. When aiming at the student teachers, the target group (and eventually the outcomes) is larger and the spreading of TPACK is larger, because they all do their internships on different schools and finally are working on different schools. I think the effect is much larger than having teachers on one school as your target group. On the other hand I also believe that the visible changes in education can be seen on a longer term, because you are only developing the student teachers differently.

But with only one simple change, integrating TPACK in the lesson plan form, student teachers will take technology more into account.

Process of designing

When our argumentation of the chosen target group and content of the professional development was very close, we started with a general framework for our professional development. During the first part of the real part of designing, I first thought about the Colour Theory. This theory categorizes different types of people by colours. In short:

Yellow: power

Blue: Thinking/planning

Red: Passion

Green: Together and growing

White: Openness, freedom

The reason why this was popping in my mind, was the obvious differences in our group. First, we were a group with different backgrounds (like teachers, educational designer etc.), which emerged in the way of thinking (theoretical and practical). Second, we were a group of different people, there weren’t two of the same colour. This was a real strength of our group, also because no one of our group was afraid to show this role and the collaboration went flexible and automatically. This last point arose from the fact that three of the four group members already worked around two years together (because in general, it was the group of ‘’the working people’’). So, I felt the collaboration went fine and fast.

The high effectiveness of the group was also a result of a practical assignment. We all could ‘lose our egg’ (if this is an expression in English) in this assignment, three of us in practical sense and one in creative sense. This resulted in theoretical tight professional development.

I also was very pleased of my choice in the final assignment, the professional development, because I daily think about lesson plans and now I could highlight a different view in education. Not in the classroom, but behind the scenes of education. An advantage was my experience as a teacher, especially when we made the concrete plan for the training and the rest of the professional development. Teachers are doers, are not motivated by text and small talk, don’t have a lot of time to spend and are critical about innovations, because they are made daily. That’s why our plan of starting directly form the teacher training college doesn’t make the life of the teacher even heavier. I still have all the steps of a lesson memorized in my head and I will assume that I’m not an exception.

Taken all this into account, we thought about a very practical professional development. No long lectures, no ready information and no fixed ending. The teachers are responsible for in concrete content of the professional development and we, as educational designers, are responsible for the framework and pedagogical approaches to stimulate these teachers in their process. And an advantage was, that we could ask ourselves (during every phase of the professional development) ‘how would I experience this?’. Very instructive!

Experience with TPACK

Almost every day, and with almost every course I’m thinking, am I working TPACK based. As a teacher ánd a ICT coordinator, I hope I can figure as an example to my fellow teachers on my school (and on every school related to our upper school management). Especially on the pedagogical technological knowledge. I experience this part of the TPACK model as the most challenging. I also experience this as a core part of integrating technology in education. Which pedagogical approaches are easy suitable for technology, so I can show other how easy it can be. This is also an important part of integrating technology in education. Having experience in using technology, seeing how easy it can be. A real eye-opener can be a collegial consultation. Just by watching other teachers, others see how easy it can be. A first step in integrating technology is breaking the barrier of how hard it is. Another barrier is knowledge, which can be broken by training/professional development, like this assignment is presenting. Another requirement is vision. The school (leader) needs a vision on integrating technology (TPACK), so a teacher is not on his own, but there’s a obvious line within the school. Also the pupils will benefit, when it has a permanent place in the teaching of teachers. Education is more attractive, more interactive, reaches more pupils, is more surprising and is more effective, but education should always be pupils-centered. Using technology can not by a goal on itself. This can only be an advantage for a school in a time where schools suffer from too few new pupils. They need to be more attractive for parents. TPACK can help schools to survive these hard times of cuts and drop of children.

Technological Pedagogical And Content Knowledge (TPACK)

After topics as flexibility, pedagogies and technology, the next obvious step is the to combine these bodies of knowledge to a framework, which Koehler and Mishra (2008) already did, called TPACK (or TPCK till around 2008). The lecture explained the three different components, which are Technology, Pedagogical And Content Knowledge (TPACK). But the lecture explained even more about the complex interaction between these components. This complexity will be explained in the next part. The next part will also explain the lose components, but even more the interaction. In addition, this framework will be related to the previous lecture subjects.

TPACK

Technology has a complex role in teaching. According to Koehler and Mishra (2008) this is not a new phenomenon. For example, early cultures found writing to be an external, alien technology, as many people today think of the computer.

The computer and many newer digital technologies are part of life, therefore part of teaching. But integrating technology into teaching is experienced as a complex part of teaching. The model (see figure 1) is made to make the development steps of a teaching more visible and touchable. The development of this model by teachers is critical to effective teaching with technology. Koehler and Mishra (2008) even call the model the heart of good teaching with technology.

Figure 1: The TPACK framework and its knowledge
components (Koehler & Mishra, 2009)

In this model are three main components of teachers’ knowledge presented, which are explained in the next part.

Technological Knowledge (TK)

This is immediately the component which is experienced as the hardest component to get familiar with. Technologies are changing as fast as weed is growing. But the comparison with weed applies only on the fastness of changing, because these changes can be of great value in teaching. Newer digital technologies, which are labelled by Koehler and Mishra (2009) as protean, unstable, and opaque, present new challenges to teachers who are struggling to use more technology in their teaching. Therefore Koehler and Mishra (2008) aren’t defining the process of learning to use the technologies (and integrating into the curriculum) as a one-shot deal. Instability of digital technologies requires that teachers become life-long teachers who are willing to contend with ambiguity, frustration and change.

But still the technology should interact with the teachers personality values, practices and pedagogical beliefs (Koehler & Mishra, 2008). Which brings us to the next two components.

Pedagogical Knowledge (PK)

This is for example teachers’ knowledge about different pedagogical approaches, like is discussed in the last blog (Let students ask questions!). But also the knowledge about the different ways students learn and adopt knowledge, knowledge about the prior knowledge and knowledge about class management. All these knowledge is taught by the Teacher Training College and developed by practice. The way you teach, depends on the use of technology and the content.

Content Knowledge (CK)

Content knowledge is simply the knowledge of the subject matter. This seems as the most easy component, but is also characterized by Koehler and Mishra (2009) as the most critical component for teachers. You do not want to teach to wrong information or not be able to discus the content with the students.

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)

This is an understanding of how teaching and learning changes when particular technologies are used. But the teacher should also know the advantages and disadvantages, so he can make the correct choices in teaching. The teacher should take into account that technology can be used basically by teachers, basically by students or a mix/interaction between these two.

Koehler and Mishra conclude that TPK requires forward-looking, creative, and open-minded seeking of technology use, not for its own sake but for the sake of advancing student learning and understanding.

Technological Content Knowledge (TCK)

According to Koehler and Mishra (2009) teachers need to understand which specific technologies are best suited for addressing subject matter learning in their domains and how the content dictates or perhaps even changes the technology-or vice versa.

I, for example, recently taught about the difference between a tornado and a hurricane. This was a question which students asked, because on the diary of the earth (http://www.earthweek.com/) one week arised a hurricane and the other week arised a tornado. Answering this question can be answered on many different ways. I decided to first show some real beautiful pictures and movies about hurricanes and tornados, but also pictures and movies about the havoc. After this, I showed a website which explained the natural disasters with his havoc (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/%20science/nature/7533909.stm). Finally I ask what the main difference is. The answer is quite small, but the lesson was quite long, because of the enthusiastic and astonishing reactions.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

PCK covers the core business of teaching, learning, curriculum, assessment and reporting (Koehler & Mishra, 2008). Just like in de TCK, the content (and the teacher) determine which way of pedagogy is used. He should be able to find multiple ways to represent the content.

The complex interaction between these components is in two levels. The interaction between the single components are explained above. The interaction between all the components in once is explained below.

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

This is the basis of effective teaching with technology. Knowledge about the three different components is not enough, the teacher should also find a way to let the components interact. Every time the teacher needs to fit the technology to the pedagogy and content. He should reproduce existing technology into the subject matter and pedagogical approach. It should fit his own personality and beliefs. There is not one way that will work for everyone (Koehler & Mishra, 2008).

Reflection

Teachers need training!

The teachers has the responsibility to be a life-long-learner, because of the speed that technology is changing. Like teachers should take every student into account, the training should take every teacher into account. The teachers are also different learners and need different pedagogical approaches. The will is present among the teachers, now it ‘only’ needs to be interacted with their personality and beliefs. A lot of responsibility for the teacher of the training.

Pedagogical approaches are mentioned a lot of times during this message on my blog, which illustrates the relation with the last message. Even the traditional way of teaching screams for technology. Every branch is changed by technology, why should education stay behind?

This message is mainly started by the content and pedagogy, but the teacher has also the possibility to start with the technology. Like we did in the third lecture, when we just received a form of technology. We discovered so many ways of pedagogical approaches and so many content examples, only with a photo camera. So the model of Koehler and Mishra can be used in every direction, if only if there is interaction between the components.

Although flexibility is not specifically mentioned, Koehler and Mishra (2008) discuss the importance of flexibility for teachers: ‘’Moments of choice of what to do, how to do it, with whom and at what pace, arise hundreds of times a school day, and arise differently every day and with every group of students (Schwab in Koehler & Mishra, 2008, p. 21).

Before teachers integrate technology in their possible choices, they need to be confident and experience the use of technology. I'm curious about the content of next lectures, where we receive information about the implementation of ICT in education and how to support teachers.

References
Harris, J., Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2009). Teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge and learning activity types: Curriculum-based technology integration reframed. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41(4), 393-416.

Koehler, M.J., & Mishra, P. (2008). Introducing TPCK. AACTE Committee on Innovation
and Technology (Ed.), The handbook of technological pedagogical content knowledge
(TPCK) for educators (pp. 3-29). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70.

Let students ask questions!

A teacher has a lot of possibilities in how they want to teach the content. These teaching methods, we often call the pedagogical approaches. In time the technology has changes teaching in a drifting way. The teachers received even more options in teaching to make it more attractive and adaptive to students. In this part, I’ll discuss five pedagogical approaches en how these approaches can support the new technology, like BlackBoard.

Traditional learning

The most traditional image of teaching is the teacher in front of the class and the students listen, receive and absorb information, without having a active role in their learning. The teacher is central in this way of learning.

In time the role of the teacher is changed away of this traditional way, but still a lot of teachers are falling back on this ‘safe’ way of teaching, because they have the full control.

An institution-wide learning platforms (CMSs), like BlackBoard, can support this kind of learning by presenting the preparation instructions, slides after the course and some announcements about the course. A modern way of traditional teaching, which is used very often.

Collaborative learning

Collaborative learning is a way of learning, where students learn together and from each other. Usually this in a small group, where students can share strengths and also develop their weaker skills or compensate there weaker skills. An important development skills is the communication of interpersonal competence. Students actively participate, share responsibility and are solving conflicts.

The role of the teacher is to take care of three important points. First, students need to feel safe, but also challenged. Second, groups need to be small enough that everyone can contribute. Third, the task students work together on must be clearly defined.

An institution-wide learning platforms (CMSs), like BlackBoard, can support this kind of learning by using a chat function of a discussion board. The students can discuss together with the supervision of the teacher, who can oversee the whole process.

Inquiry-based learning

"Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand."

Involvement is important in understanding. Furthermore, involvement in learning implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit you to seek resolutions to questions and issues while you construct new knowledge. Especially questioning is important in the involvement.

In traditional schools, students learn not to ask too many questions, instead to listen and repeat the expected answers. Students aren’t used to asking questions and are more restricted, because it’s "scary" to leave initiative to the students, most teachers think.

The students find resources, generate answers, discuss these answers and reflect their process and outcome. The role of the teacher in inquiry learning is mostly defined as guiding.

Multiple intelligence is, just like in flexibility, an essential part of inquiry learning, just like collaborative learning.

An institution-wide learning platforms (CMSs), like BlackBoard, can support this kind of learning by using a discussion board or a forum (blog), so students can ask question to a teachers or to each other.

Problem-based learning (PBL)

With PBL, the teacher presents the students with a problem, not lectures or assignments or exercises. Since the student is not handed "content", the learning becomes active in the sense that they discover and work with content that students self determine to be necessary to solve the problem. This problem should be very authentic to make it attractive for the students to work with this problem, with the teacher as a facilitator.

An institution-wide learning platforms (CMSs), like BlackBoard, can support this kind of learning by presenting a problem, which the students can solve themselves. The solutions can be presented on blackboard, where the students can see other kind of solutions to the same problem and learn from each other.

Workplace learning

Workplace learning can be defined as learning in practice. Workplace learning is that learning which derives its purpose from the context of employment. Because it is learning in practice, the students shouldn’t forget the relation between the theory and practice. This kind of learning is based on observations, asking questions (!) and mentoring.

It is like driving a car. When you read about riding a car, you have some prior knowledge, but you’re not able to drive a car, because you need real practice. During this practice, you’re learning a lot, but still you should support it by learning signs and order of watching etc. Only with a good interaction between practice and theory, the learning is optimal.

An institution-wide learning platforms (CMSs), like BlackBoard, can support this kind of learning by having a planning function or a logbook functions, so the students can plan their activities together and post a logbook, which is a part of the assignment.

Reflection

All these approaches, except traditional learning, are taking very good advantage of new technology and are using it to the limits. These limits are however often evaded by teachers. Still the role of the teacher is changed in time, from presenter of knowledge to more guided/facilitated.

Another striking point is role of the students. Their role is changed even harder. In many cases even to hard. Students are used to the traditional way of teaching, where there only receivers and not active learners. Teachers should motivate students more to ask questions. Let the mind of the students speak and adapt to their prior knowledge and interests.

Dare to let students ask questions!

Flexibility

When children are higher in the educational ladder (like university of higher education), the level and interests of the children is more similar than on a primary school. On a primary school the teachers works every day with 25/30 different children. Different in a way of level, interests, behavior, social background etc. In primary education in particular, flexibility seems very important and belongs to the competences of a teacher.

Of course there are several ways to be flexible in practice. In the next part you’ll read five possible ways of flexibility in primary education, which are extended with advantages and disadvantages.

Content flexibility

The content of different subjects and courses are stated in the method and are based on the national goals/curriculum. The national goals are important to know, but the method is just a method to realize these goals. A lot of teachers are becoming to be a ‘slave’ of the method and are following this as it is a bible. This is on the one hand a extreme. On the other hand is a less strict way of teaching, where children decide the content. You can depend the content on questions of the children. This can be on two different ways. The first is a question ‘out of the blue’, which can be answered on a planned of later moment in the day of week planning (when the time is limited). The second way is questions, which rise when you address the subject on a planned moment.

Another way of content flexibility is giving the children the opportunity to choose within a specific subject, course or day.

Advantages	Disadvantages
-          Connect to interests -          Children are partly responsible -          Giving the children the feeling, they have a voice in the school -          Way of interaction	-          Children don’t know the national goals/curriculum -          Teachers don’t have the time to prepare the subject/question -          Hard to release the method -          Tight/loaded planning

Didactic/ Pedagogical flexibility

As a teacher you have about 25/30 different children in your classroom. As a teacher it’s a real challenge to adjust your way of teaching to all the eight different intelligence (Multiple Intelligence, Gardner):

• Verbal/linguistic intelligence (words)
• Logical/mathematical intelligence (math)
• Visual/spatial intelligence (pictures)
• Musical/rhythmic intelligence (music)
• Physical/kinesthetic intelligence (physics)
• Interpersonal intelligence (human)
• Intrapersonal intelligence (self)
• Nature oriented intelligence (nature)

Advantages	Disadvantages
-          Children are approached on their level -          Children learn more effectively -          Professionalizing of the teachers	-          Preparation time -          Knowledge of MI and teaching methods -          Professionalizing of the teachers*

* Professionalizing can be seen as an advantage and disadvantage. This can be seen highly personal. Most teachers see professionalizing as an added value, but some see this as more work and more pressure.

 

Learning resources flexibility

With the upcoming of multimedia the opportunities of teaching became bigger. As a teacher you can teach yourself, but the instruction can also be given by an computer of simulator. The teacher can use a school board, books and texts, but can also use a computer (internet), digital school board and images. Of course these are the two extremes, several combination are also possible. The teacher has al lot of choices to make, but still during the day children or unexpected situations can ask for a different resource. For example when children ask how something works (movies) or how something looks (images)

Advantages	Disadvantages
-          Variety in teaching -          Attractive teaching -          More interaction	-          Knowledge of multimedia -          Need of materials -          Costs

Location flexibility

One of the competences of a teacher is keeping contact with and knowing the area. Part of the area are the companies, associations, sports and parents.

Teaching can be organized inside the classroom, but also outside the classroom, on the square, on location. It is not always possible to go out of the classroom, but organizing a visit to your classroom is also one of the possibilities.

Every subject/course can ask for a different approach and remember: What is the best location for nature of science education?

Advantages	Disadvantages
-          Better connection with a subject -          Practice education -          Better understanding of subject -          Children get a broader image of the world around them	-          Organization of a trip/visit -          Help of parents -          Costs -          Having connections -          A school on the countryside -          The dare to let children free

Test flexibility

Just like the learning resources, with the upcoming multimedia, has the teacher a lot of possibilities with ways of testing. The teacher can connect the test with the subject and think about how he or she wants to see the results. It can be a paper test, digital test, practical, project, presentation, construction etc.

The teacher can also give the responsibility to the children. They get the possibility to choose how they want to show or present the results. The teacher can always try to find the best possible connection to the goal of the subject (like making constructions (in buildings), showing knowledge of tree/plants and making a presentation).

And still in the form of a paper test, there are several possibilities, like closed and open questions.

Also if you look back at the introduction; every child is different. Within one test, you can also make differences. One makes it on paper, the other makes it on the computer and another makes is in cooperation with the teacher.

Advantages	Disadvantages
-          Possibility of practice tests -          Better connection with the subjects and children -          Addressing multiple intelligence	-          Paper test: objective assessment -          Paper test: easier to make and revise -          Time (making and revising) -          Organization (paper test costs less time)