Creating from Diversity: Integrating TPACK in the classroom

To begin with, we would like to state that TPACK acronym stands for: " Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge" but the original term PCK, which stands for Pedagogical Content Knowledge, was first coined by Shulman (1986) who proposed that "effective teaching requires a special type of knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), that represents the blending of content and pedagogy into an understanding of how particular topics, problems, or issues are organized, represented, and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities of learners, and presented for instruction” (p. 8).
This idea was later enlarged by Mishra and Koehler (2006) who included the technological aspect to this theory and coined the term TPACK. They considered the influence that knowledge about technology can have on effective teaching. Therefore, The concept of TPACK refers to " knowledge about the complex relations among Technology, Pedagogy, and Content that enable teachers to develop appropriate and context specific teaching strategies."
These authors highlight the importance of following a particular order to apply this framework. In the first place, teachers need to consider the content they are going to deal with. Secondly, it is necessary to take into account how this content is going to be taught. Lastly, teachers decide which technological tools best suit the teaching of this content.
Furthermore, the differents components that TPACK comprises need to occur in a reciprocal relationship situated in specific contexts. The following diagram shows this dynamic relationship:

The TPACK framework demands teachers to have deep understandings of each of the above components of knowledge in order to make an effective integration of them to their teaching.

For more information about TPACK model you can watch the following video:

On the following section we will share one lesson in which we have integrated the TPACK framework in order to revise the present continuous tense.

TPACK applied to a real lesson

The following lesson is one in which the idea of using a video aroused from the necessity to show students actions in real time while teaching them the present continuous tense. This is a 2nd year at the secondary school Paula Albarracin and the aim was to show the progression of different actions for them to associate meaning and form in a more appealing way. We decided to show a video of the Pink Panther for many reasons; firstly, we wanted students to make focus on the progression of the action and not so much on a dialogue, that is why the fact that this is a silent cartoon was perfect for our purpose. Secondly, our intention was to show something which students find familiar and appealing so as to get them interested. This also helped students remember the actions and verbs they needed to complete the activities that followed since the pictures in motion were still fresh in their mind. Finally, another of our purposes was to help them find joy while learning as a strategy to remember the use of this verbal tense.

On the following link you will find the video and some of the activities designed for this lesson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41aGCrXM20E

Flashcards