What is TPACK theory and how can it be used in the classroom?

We discuss a lot of ways to use technology in the classroom. Just recently, we’ve had
articles about 10 Science Apps to Use in the Classroom, 10 Geography Apps,
and Adaptive Learning Compared to Traditional Homework Products. As teachers, we
feel a push to incorporate technology into our classrooms because of the new outcomes
that demand it. The TPACK model gives us a new framework for the integration of
technology in education and how we can structure our classrooms to provide the best
educational experience for students while incorporating technology.

What is the TPACK Framework?

TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. It is a theory that was
developed to explain the set of knowledge that teachers need to teach their students a
subject, teach effectively, and use technology. We’ll get into more details in just a
minute, but let’s look at where this started.  

How the Concept Came About

The seminal piece on the TPACK model was written in 2006 by Punya Mishra and
Matthew J. Koehler in “Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for
Teacher Knowledge.” They explain that their theory comes after five years of studying
teachers at all different grade levels with design experiments to see how their
classrooms operated. They based their initial idea on Lee S. Shulman’s 1986 work “Those
Who Understand: Knowledge Growth in Teaching.” First, Shulman discusses the usual
idea of knowledge in teaching which is that teachers have a set of content knowledge –
specific knowledge about the subject they are teaching – and a set of pedagogical
knowledge – knowledge about how to teach including specific teaching methods.
Shulman counters this and says that effective teachers overlap these two knowledge
sets, making a set of knowledge about how to effectively teach their subject matter. He
calls this pedagogical content knowledge or PCK. Twenty years later, Mishra and Koehler
saw that the biggest change happening in education is the use of technology in the
classroom. They noticed that technological knowledge was treated as a set of
knowledge outside of and unconnected to PCK. After five years of research, Mishra and
Koehler created a new framework, TPACK, which adds technology to pedagogical
content knowledge and emphasizes the connections, interactions, and constraints that
teachers work with in all three of these knowledge areas.

The Evolution of the TPACK Model

TPACK gives us three knowledge areas to consider: Technology, Pedagogy, and Content
Knowledge. Arranging these three categories into a Venn diagram helps us to see the
four areas that are created in Mishra and Koehler’s framework.
 

First we have Shulman’s overlap: Pedagogical Content Knowledge. This overlap reminds
us that, as teachers, we design lessons based on how students can best learn our
specific course material. Another researcher, Rick Marks, said in 1990 that PCK
“represents a class of knowledge that is central to teachers’ work and that would not
typically be held by non-teaching subject matter experts or by teachers who know little
of that subject.” As teachers, we know PCK is required to simplify a subject and teach it
effectively. The second overlap area created is Technological Content Knowledge. TCK is
how the technology influences the content. For an example, teachers used to teach
penmanship and cursive to their students. But many school districts have eliminated
cursive handwriting from the curriculum. Without entering into the debate on the merits
of cursive, it is clear that technology has impacted the content knowledge that we teach
students. The third overlap area created by our Venn diagram is Technological
Pedagogical Knowledge. TPK highlights the area where technology and pedagogy
influence each other. Incorporating technology into the classroom often causes a
change in how the material is taught. A simple example might be when a teacher uses
an instructional video clip for a topic that they used to model on the board. Finally, in
the center of our Venn diagram, we get Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge.
This area acknowledges that all three of these sets of knowledge are influencing each
other, that each is important, and that to have an effective learning environment, we
need to consider all three. Mishra and Koehler paraphrase Marks’ comment about PCK
to apply the idea to TPACK, “TPACK represents a class of knowledge that is central to
teachers’ work with technology. This knowledge would not typically be held by
technologically proficient subject matter experts, or by technologists who know little of
the subject or of pedagogy, or by teachers who know little of that subject or about
technology.” In addition to these new knowledge overlap areas, Mishra and Koehler are
quick to point out that all of this knowledge lies in specific contexts. You as the teacher
form part of the context, while your students and the environment also contribute to the
context. With each situation, the context changes slightly and your set of knowledge
shifts with it to create the learning environment.  

How Does It Impact Teaching and Learning with Technology?

Currently, technology is treated as if it is separate from teaching and learning. We have
Professional Development workshops where we are instructed in the use of some
particular software or app, and how to fit it into our classroom is not discussed. Mishra
and Koehler point to this as a current negative impact. They claim that the lack of
awareness of TPACK keeps technology separated and leads to four problems with using
technology in the classroom. First, there are such rapid changes in technology that it is
extremely difficult to keep up with all the latest advancements and apps. The second
problem is that software is designed for business, not for education. This often means
that students are learning how to use the program and not learning the content of the
class. The third problem with keeping technology separate is the situational nature of
the classroom. A teacher can adjust a lesson to make sure it meets the needs of the
specific group of students, but the instructional video cannot. It’s the same video every
time it is played. Finally Mishra and Koehler say that keeping technology separate places
an emphasis on “what” not “how.” From the teacher’s perspective the lesson becomes
about what technology are we going to use today, what does it say, what skills does it
require, instead of how can I teach my students.  
How Can TPACK Be Used in the Classroom?
Keeping technology as a separate knowledge set causes problems, but when we
understand the framework of TPACK, we can integrate technology into the content and
pedagogy of our classrooms. The integration will help our students learn more
effectively. Mishra and Koehler suggest that TPACK should guide curriculum
development and teacher education. To apply TPACK to our classrooms now, Judith B.
Harris and Mark J. Hofer worked with colleagues from universities around the United
States to create Activity Types. Their article, “‘Grounded’ Technology Integration:
Instructional Planning Using Curriculum-Based Activity Type Taxonomies,” explains how
TPACK should change the way we plan our daily lessons. They describe a planning
process where we first choose the learning outcomes that we will be working on that
day or during that class session. The learning outcomes are the content. The second
step they propose is choosing an activity type. The activity type is the pedagogy or how
are the students going to learn the content. Finally, we can choose technologies that will
support the activity type and aid the students in learning. Harris, Hofer, and their
colleagues show us with example after example of how our instructional planning
should include each part of the TPACK framework and allow us to create and develop
the overlapping knowledge to make the best learning environment for our students. The
simplest idea at play in TPACK is that a person who is a world-renowned expert in a
subject might not be a great teacher because they lack the pedagogical knowledge to
make the subject accessible and understandable. To be a great teacher, we have to
combine our knowledge of the subject with our knowledge of how to teach. With the
increasing focus on technology, we need to also learn how to combine technology with
our content and pedagogy to create an effective learning environment.

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