Woah!!! Teachers Handling Speeding Tech

What does it mean to be technologically literate? As a teacher candidate going through my certification process, I have often thought of this question, especially within our unique pandemic era. TPACK is a term I recently came across in my studies and I believe it to be a logical add-on to teacher education. “Technology pedagogical content knowledge” outlines how teachers should use their knowledge of content and pedagogy techniques and apply it to technology to make things more accessible. The difficulty is that there are a large number of unknowns, such as who and what we might end up teaching, and as such it is extremely difficult to predict the way technology will be used. Making things accessible has never been easier with the rise of technology and our newfound ability to upload and download almost anything from anywhere. As a teacher, I both love the way it opens possibilities while also dread the distractions it brings with the phones and laptops now being a staple of the classroom. However, there is no doubt for me that the good outweighs the bad and I'd much rather have our technological advancements than not.

While doing coursework, I read about a framework (Koehler, Mishra, and Cain) that highlights a graduated process to introduce technology to aid current knowledge, give a broad perspective on available technologies and only then have teachers look at the technological interactions in their subject. They call it "PCK (pedagogical content knowledge) to TPACK", "TCK (Technology content knowledge) to TPACK" and "TCK and TPACK simultaneously". By taking the current level of a teacher, it is possible to train technological knowledge and proficiency, then intersect it with their available knowledge of pedagogy and content thereby creating a teacher well-versed in technology use. I highly regard this method because it still focuses on pedagogy and content and does rate one knowledge above the others. The tone I often observe, especially with young people, is that the “older generation” is not doing a good enough job in anything, whether it be politics, teaching, the management or other fields. This is hardly fair because every profession has felt the impact of the rapidly changing work-climate due to modernization. Technological innovation in teaching is no different. Envisioning a process whereby teachers who have been in the field for many decades can learn to integrate technologies equally-well compared to the education given to current teacher candidates should be a goal. A truly great teacher should never stop learning and improving, and having a helping hand in a PD course on technology can greatly enhance teaching efficiency. As a student in a current program, I feel well-equipped for the current technology and teaching climate. However, it is impossible to predict the future and the things I am learning could be outdated in only a few years. Simply teaching it in the certification process is not enough.

Keep it Up

I have had experience working with accessibility in asynchronous settings and general principles included making pdf documents over other formats, as well as making use of technologies such as screen readers and alternate text in videos. These ideas are hardly new, and good teachers have always had the idea to make things as easy and accessible as they can for their students. In this new age of constant change and improvement, I have found that news articles, tabloids and even some scholarly articles that often take the tone that teachers suddenly become inadequate because of their lack of technological proficiency. While teachers not teaching to their full potential is a justified concern, the criticism is not only valid in an educational field. Technology has advanced so quickly that people simply cannot keep up with the constant changes. If we took our modern technology back even 20 years, much of it would appear magical in an era where Nokia brick phones were the pinnacle of handheld tech and people still turned to radio for much of their news. Likewise, if there is a

teacher who has been teaching for 20 years, the changes add up. I believe that the “problem” is not that teachers fail to seriously consider their technology options, but that there is not enough exposure to the new concepts. In my opinion, the TPACK framework for technological integration is what is needed for modern teachers to level up their teaching.

As always, I have posted the article in question at the bottom. I have also attached a 5 min video if you want to learn more about TPACK. Please comment or reach out to discuss the topic and I will be happy to respond!

Take care

-Mike

TPACK.pdf

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