“Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org”
“Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org”
Today we did a lot of work around the TPACK Framework. The TPACK Framework extends Shulman’s idea of Pedagogical Content Knowledge. This Framework develops the idea of a seamless integration of Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. This framework assists teachers with the integration of technology into their teaching programmes.
Before I offer my thoughts on the TPACK revision of my Lesson Plan 2.0, I believe that I need to provide some background as this lesson is not a lesson that will be taught within the classroom. It is a lesson about teaching the staff how to use a new program within the school administrative system SEQTA. In my current role as Principal of a primary school, I find myself delivering many professional development days to the staff on a wide variety of topics such as: the implementation of a new Curriculum; developing new school policies; implementation of technology; organising and running staff retreats…and the list goes on!
As Principal, I must embed a culture within my school of continuous improvement, innovation and creativity based upon current research and ensuring that these are core characteristics of the school. In my role as Principal and along with my Assistant Principal’s, I need to identify trends and influences that will have an impact upon the management of the school and plan for these so that they are incorporated into the school at all areas.
Although presenting professional development to a group of teachers is different to teaching students in a classroom, the principle is still the same. By utilising the TPACK Framework when developing the professional development day, it will provide me a framework to ensure that all the staff are fully aware of the outcomes and leave the day with a good understanding of what has been presented.
The content of Lesson Plan 2.0 is that the staff will be able to add ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ Pastoral Care comments to individual student records using the SEQTA suite as part of their daily routine along with the absentee records. This is building upon their knowledge of the SEQTA suite. Once this data has been entered, the staff will then email or SMS this information to the parents concerned. The idea behind this process is to have in one location all the records of each student, developing a compete academic history from the start of school until the student leaves school in Year 12.
The staff will use their school iPad to log onto the SEQTA system as each classroom teacher has a specific log on code associated with their individual classroom. The other technology used will be presented by me using digital media either a PowerPoint or a Keynote presentation to show the staff on an electronic whiteboard.
The pedagogy used during the professional development day will need to take into consideration the different levels of ICT literacy levels of each teacher and their different classroom situations and their different specialties. Koehler (2006) states that,
“Effective technology integration for pedagogy around specific subject matter requires developing sensitivity to the dynamic, transactional relationship between these components of knowledge situated in unique contexts. Individual teachers, grade-level, school-specific factors, demographics, culture, and other factors ensure that every situation is unique, and no single combination of content, technology, and pedagogy will apply for every teacher, every course, or every view of teaching” (p.37).
This must be taken into consideration for the successful completion of the professional development day.
With all this in mind it is always important inform the staff in advance of the nature of the day and to have them prepare any required material in well in advance to reduce any anxiety amongst the staff who are less ICT literate. By using the TPACK Framework and also stated by Mishra and Koehler (2009) “…these technologies have the potential to fundamentally change the way we think about teaching and learning.” This applies also will apply to the way we use administrative packages for the classroom, the school and the system.
By keeping the TPACK Framework in mind when I approach any professional development day that I organise for the staff, I believe the day will always be a successful day with all the staff learning something from the day and then taking this newly learnt information back to the classroom.
Citations used:
- Bransford, John D, Ann L Brown, and Rodney R Cocking. How People Learn. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 2001. Print
- Mishra, P. & Koehler. M. J. (2009). Too cool for school? No way! Using the TPACK framework: You can have your hot tools and teach with them, too. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(7), 14-18.
- SEQTA,. ‘Welcome To SEQTA – The Award-Winning Educational Software Company’. N.p., 2015. Web. 13 July 2015.
- Tpack.org,. ‘TPACK.ORG’. N.p., 2015. Web. 13 July 2015.
- Wikipedia,. ‘Lee Shulman’. N.p., 2015. Web. 13 July 2015.
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