MODULE 3: THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES IN THE USE AND DESIGN OF

TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN LESSONS
“The Cone is a visual analogy, and like all analogies, it does not bear an exact and
detailed relationship to the complex elements it represents.” – Edgar Dale

Hello, students! Congratulations for successfully completed the Module 1. We are

now currently in the Module 3 and I hope that you are still eager to learn and are more
challenged and motivated to pursue the career path you are taking.

Once again, success is most of the time… a collective effort. So, let us be altogether
in attaining our objectives for this course. This module will allow you to explore the
following lessons:

Lesson 1: Systematic Approach to Teaching

Lesson 2: Dale’s Cone of Experience (with equal attention given to both the Conventional
Technology and the Innovative and Emerging Technology for Teaching)
Lesson 3: TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge)
Lesson 4: ASSURE Model (Analyze Learners, State Objectives, Select Methods, Media &
Materials, Require Learners Participation, Evaluate and Revise)

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

a) Identify learning principles and theories that are applied in technology driven
teaching-learning models
b) Used of learning principles and theories ass basis in the development of the
teaching plans and selection of instructional materials
c) Identified learning principles and theories that are applied in technology driven
teaching-learning models; and
d) Recognized how innovative teachers use online resources and educational sites
and portals for online distance learning.

Lesson 3: TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge)

Learning Outcomes:

a) Identifying learning principles and theories that are applied in technology

driven teaching-learning models

INTRODUCTION

What is TPACK?

Technology has become an increasingly important part of students’ lives beyond

school, and even within the classroom it can also help increase their understanding of
complex concepts or encourage collaboration among peers. Because of these benefits, current
educational practice suggests that teachers implement some form of technology in their

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classrooms – but many teachers face difficulties in doing so. Cost, access, and time often
form considerable barriers to classroom implementation, but another obstacle is a lack of
knowledge regarding how technology can best be used to benefit students across diverse
subject matter.

ABSTRACTION

Punya Mishra and Matthew J. Koehler’s 2006 TPACK framework, which focuses on
technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and content knowledge (CK),
offers a productive approach to many of the dilemmas that teachers face in implementing
educational technology (edtech) in their classrooms. By differentiating among these three
types of knowledge, the TPACK framework outlines how content (what is being taught) and
pedagogy (how the teacher imparts that content) must form the foundation for any effective
edtech integration. This order is important because the technology being implemented must
communicate the content and support the pedagogy in order to enhance students’ learning
experience.

According to the TPACK framework, specific technological tools (hardware,

software, applications, associated information literacy practices, etc.) are best used to instruct
and guide students toward a better, more robust understanding of the subject matter. The
three types of knowledge – TK, PK, and CK – are thus combined and recombined in various
ways within the TPACK framework. Technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK) describes
relationships and interactions between technological tools and specific pedagogical practices,
while pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) describes the same between pedagogical
practices and specific learning objectives; finally, technological content knowledge (TCK)
describes relationships and intersections among technologies and learning objectives. These
triangulated areas then constitute TPACK, which considers the relationships among all three
areas and acknowledges that educators are acting within this complex space.

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Mishra and Koehler, researchers from Michigan State University, developed TPACK in the
absence of other sufficient theory to explain or guide effective edtech integration. Since its
publication in 2006, TPACK has become one of the leading theories regarding edtech and
edtech integration: research and professional development activities both draw from it
heavily.

However, TPACK has remained such a powerful principle for almost 12 years
because the complex constituents described above allow room for a range of specific
educational circumstances. Any effective implementation of technology in the classroom
requires acknowledgment of the dynamic, transactional relationship among content,
pedagogy, and the incoming technology – all within the unique contexts of different schools,
classrooms, and cultures. Factors such as the individual educator, the specific grade level, the
class demographics, and more will mean that every situation will demand a slightly different
approach to edtech integration. No one monolithic combination of content, pedagogy, and
edtech will be applicable for every setting, and TPACK leaves room for researchers and
practitioners to adapt its framework to different circumstances.

This adaptability can be seen in the various intersections and relationships already
embodied in the TPACK acronym.

Content Knowledge (CK) – This describes teachers’ own knowledge of the subject
matter. CK may include knowledge of concepts, theories, evidence, and organizational
frameworks within a particular subject matter; it may also include the field’s best practices
and established approaches to communicating this information to students. CK will also
differ according to discipline and grade level – for example, middle-school science and
history classes require less detail and scope than undergraduate or graduate courses, so their
various instructors’ CK may differ, or the CK that each class imparts to its students will
differ.

Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) – This describes teachers’ knowledge of the practices,

processes, and methods regarding teaching and learning. As a generic form of knowledge, PK
encompasses the purposes, values, and aims of education, and may apply to more specific
areas including the understanding of student learning styles, classroom management skills,
lesson planning, and assessments.

Technological Knowledge (TK) – This describes teachers’ knowledge of, and ability
to use, various technologies, technological tools, and associated resources. TK concerns
understanding edtech, considering its possibilities for a specific subject area or classroom,
learning to recognize when it will assist or impede learning, and continually learning and
adapting to new technology offerings.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) – This describes teachers’ knowledge

regarding foundational areas of teaching and learning, including curricula development,
student assessment, and reporting results. PCK focuses on promoting learning and on tracing
the links among pedagogy and its supportive practices (curriculum, assessment, etc.), and
much like CK, will also differ according to grade level and subject matter. In all cases,
though, PCK seeks to improve teaching practices by creating stronger connections between
the content and the pedagogy used to communicate it.

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 Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) – This describes teachers’ understanding
of how technology and content can both influence and push against each other. TCK involves
understanding how the subject matter can be communicated via different edtech offerings,
and considering which specific edtech tools might be best suited for specific subject matters
or classrooms.

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) – This describes teachers’

understanding of how particular technologies can change both the teaching and learning
experiences by introducing new pedagogical affordances and constraints. Another aspect of
TPK concerns understanding how such tools can be deployed alongside pedagogy in ways
that are appropriate to the discipline and the development of the lesson at hand.

TPACK is the end result of these various combinations and interests, drawing from
them – and from the three larger underlying areas of content, pedagogy, and technology – in
order to create an effective basis for teaching using educational technology. In order for
teachers to make effective use of the TPACK framework, they should be open to certain key
ideas, including:

1. concepts from the content being taught can be represented using technology,
2. pedagogical techniques can communicate content in different ways using technology,
3. different content concepts require different skill levels from students, and edtech can help
address some of these requirements,
4. students come into the classroom with different backgrounds – including prior
educational experience and exposure to technology – and lessons utilizing edtech should
account for this possibility,
5. educational technology can be used in tandem with students’ existing knowledge, helping
them either strengthen prior epistemologies or develop new ones.

Because it considers the different types of knowledge needed and how teachers
themselves could cultivate this knowledge, the TPACK framework thus becomes a
productive way to consider how teachers could integrate educational technology into the
classroom. Then too, TPACK can also serve as a measurement of instructor knowledge,
potentially impacting both training and professional development offerings for teachers at all
levels of experience. Finally, the TPACK framework is useful for the ways in which it
explicates the types of knowledge most needed in order to make technology integration
successful in the classroom. Teachers need not even be familiar with the entire TPACK
framework as such in order to benefit from it: they simply need to understand that
instructional practices are best shaped by content-driven, pedagogically-sound, and
technologically-forward thinking knowledge.

References:

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge:

A framework for integrating technology in teachers’ knowledge. Teachers College Record,
108 (6), 1017–1054

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