Jennifer Baccus

ECI 546 Dr. Spires

Final Exam

Development of my TPACK
As Koehler and Mishra state, Technology is a wicked problem. For me personally, that
is the biggest challenge in my teaching. I am comfortable using technology, but dont
feel that I have the time to keep up with it. It feels too overwhelming. Since starting this
class, I was beginning to feel even more overwhelmed. In our readings I have been
exposed to ideas and technologies that have been in place for quite some time that I
didnt even know existed. I was relieved that Koehler and Mishra dont feel that teachers
need to even try to keep up, but rather develop a playful and open-minded approach to
using new technologies.

This conceptualization of TK does not posit an end state,

but rather sees it developmentally, as evolving over a lifetime of generative, open-ended

interaction with technology. The second biggest challenge that I have faced, is lack of
professional development. As a child and young adult I learned about technology use
through trial and error. This worked well for many years, and I was quite ahead of the
curve compared to most of my colleagues. Then the internet blew up around the time
that I was starting a family. My opportunities for leisurely exploring new technologies
quickly evaporated, and I feel that I have fallen somewhat behind. With limited planning
time during the school day and limited time for anything beyond day to day life with 3
kids once I get home, I have focused primarily on the P and C part of TPACK.

Acquiring a new knowledge base and skill set can be challenging, particularly if it
is a time-intensive activity that must fit into a busy schedule. Moreover, this
knowledge is unlikely to be used unless teachers can conceive of technology
uses that are consistent with their existing pedagogical beliefs (Ertmer, 2005).
Knowing that as long as I am using technology in a way that is consistent with what I
already know about best practices is a relief. I guess I was feeling like technology
integration had to be more flashy. In some ways I have developed a fixed mindset
about certain technologies and couldnt see ways that they could be looked at more
creatively. I am extremely grateful that I enrolled in this class because it forced me to
make the time to integrate cool tools into my teaching. I wouldnt have made the time
or even known where to start.
Projected Goals
One of my goals is to revamp how I teach students to present their informational writing
in conjunction with our science unit of study on vertebrates. In the past all students
have done a Power Point presentation. Last year, after completing this project, I had a
couple of boys in my class ask if they could do an independent study of Venezuelan
culture. They did their research and this time I steered them toward Google
Presentations. With very little guidance from me they were able to successfully create
an interesting presentation and shared that they preferred using Google Presentation to
Power Point. One of the reasons they liked it so much was the ease with which they
were able to collaborate. By sharing the document with not only me, but each other, they
were able to work on it simultaneously, give real time feedback to each other, and ask
me questions. This year I hope to use Google Presentation with many of my students. I

would also like to learn about other ways that students could choose to present their
information using technology. Now that I have been exposed to cool tools like Prezi
and Glogster I am excited about the many possibilities for my students.
As a result of this class I have a better understanding of the many potential benefits of
using games to teach students to think deeper and more abstractly about everything. As
long as games are being used as useful resources to support wider educational goals
and outcomes (Future Lab, p.40) then I think I will feel more comfortable attempting
game based learning in my classroom. I have already wondered how I could use
Minecraft to help with teaching the principles of construction and engineering during our
final science unit of the year. I had several students last year who were consumed by
this game, and I may need to consult them since I know so little about how the game
works. It would seem that it would help students conceptualize how basic engineering
principles impact the strength of a structure in a way that they would not otherwise be
able to do.
Synthesis of Concepts

According to Zhao, Schools should thus change their policies about students use of
technology in schools. Students should not only be allowed to use their own
technological devices for learning, but more important, they should also be given the
opportunities to learn how to use technology across the curriculum, for handing in
assignments, communicating with friends and teachers, developing multimedia products,
and designing video games. School should consider digital products as valuable and
authentic indicators of student learning for assessment purposes. It will take a lot of
time and professional development hours, but teachers need to be given more support

to ensure that they have the digital competencies needed to develop those same
competencies in our students. With technology being changed and upgraded by the
second this will need to be an ongoing part of every teachers continuing education. We
also need to realize that schools have to be configured differently. We cannot consider it
an option for us not to change our schools or they will eventually become obsolete.
Today we have an Internet connection, we have fingertip, on-demand access to an
amazing library that holds close to the sum of human knowledge and, equally important,
to more than two billion people with whom we can potentially learn.(Richardson, Loc 9495) The National Council of Teachers of English has stated that 21st century readers
and writers need to: develop proficiency with the tools of technology;build relationships
with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally;design and
share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes;manage, analyze
and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information; create, critique, analyze,
and evaluate multimedia texts;attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these
complex environments. (Richardson, Loc 178-83) In this world, children need teachers
to guide them about being responsible digital citizens. They still need teachers to guide
them about which tools they can use to the greatest effect for whatever project they are
working on. Students and teachers still need to know, perhaps now more than ever, how
to work together, how to connect, how to talk and communicate with other human
beings.

Zhao, Yong. Catching up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of
Globalization. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2009. Kindle Ebook.
Richardson, Will. Why School?: How Education and School Must Change When
Learning and Information Are Everywhere. TED Conferences September 10, 2012.
Kindle Ebook.
Koehler, M.J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content
knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70 .