TPACK Newsletter #5, Oct/Nov 2009

mkoehler — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:39:52 +0000

The empire strikes back …

TPACK Newsletter, Issue #5: October/November 2009

Welcome to the fifth edition of the TPACK Newsletter, now with 568 subscribers (representing a 15% increase during the last two months!), and appearing bimonthly between August and April. If you are not sure what TPACK is, please surf over to www.tpack.org to learn more.

Gratuitous Quote about Technology

If the brightness on your screen is always at full intensity, you can’t tell what’s highlighted.

- Patricia Sueltz, IBM

(On deciding which problems to tackle.)

In this Issue:

-2. Introductory blurb

-1. Gratuitous Quote about Technology
0. In this issue (You are here.)
1. Recent Journal Articles and Chapters about TPACK
2. TPACK in the News

3. Recent TPACK Presentations
4. TPACK Development

5. TPACK Handbook Reviews
6. TPACK Research in Progress
7. Learning and Doing More with TPACK

–. Un-numbered miscellaneous stuff at the end

1. Recent Journal Articles and Chapters about TPACK

Doering, A., Scharber, C., Miller, C. & Veletsianos, G. (2009). GeoThentic: Designing and assessing with Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(3), 316-336.

Abstract: GeoThentic, an online teaching and learning environment, focuses on engaging teachers and learners in solving real-world geography problems through use of geospatial technologies. The design of GeoThentic is grounded on the technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework as a metacognitive tool. This paper describes how the TPACK framework has informed the authors’ design endeavors and how a set of assessment models within GeoThentic can be used to assess teachers’ TPACK.

Doering, A., Veletsianos, G., Scharber, C., & Miller, C. (2009). Using the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge framework to design online learning environments and professional development. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 41(3), 319 – 346.

Abstract: In this article we sought to understand how social studies teachers’ metacognitive awareness of their technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) changed after their participation in a program that consisted of: (a) professional development for the use of an online learning environment; and (b) using an online learning environment in their classrooms. Inservice teachers who went through the TPACK-based program experienced considerable movement within the TPACK diagrammatic knowledge domains and expressed positive and encouraging comments regarding their knowledge domains portrayed within the TPACK framework. Quantitative and qualitative results are shared along with implications of designing professional development, online learning environments using TPACK, and advancing the TPACK framework itself.

Grandgenett, N., Harris, J., & Hofer, M. (2009). Grounded technology integration: Math. Learning & Leading With Technology, 37(3), 24-26.

(Watch future 2009-2010 issues of L&L for more Learning Connections articles about world languages, science, K-6 literacy, and English language arts TPACK-based learning activity types, written with collaborators Marcela van Olphen, Meg Blanchard, Denise Schmidt, and Carl Young.)

Harris, J., & Hofer, M. (2009). Instructional planning activity types as vehicles for curriculum-based TPACK development. In C. D. Maddux (Ed.). Research highlights in technology and teacher education 2009 (PP. 99-108). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Abstract: Teachers’ knowledge is situated, event-structured, and episodic. Technology, pedagogy and content knowledge (TPACK) – one form of highly practical professional educational knowledge – is comprised of teachers’ concurrent and interdependent curriculum content, general pedagogy, and technological understanding. Teachers’ planning – which expresses teachers’ knowledge-in-action in pragmatic ways — is situated, contextually sensitive, routinized, and activity-based. To assist with the development of teachers’ TPACK, therefore, we suggest using what is understood from research about teachers’ knowledge and instructional planning to form an approach to curriculum-based technology integration that is predicated upon the combining of technologically supported learning activity types within and across content-keyed activity type taxonomies. In this chapter, we describe such a TPACK development method.

Holmes, K. (2009). Planning to teach with digital tools: Introducing the interactive whiteboard to pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 25(3), 351-365.

Abstract: Teaching is a complex endeavour that requires teachers to meld knowledge about the nature of learners, pedagogical strategies and discipline content. In recent years an increasing variety of educational technologies are finding their way into the school classroom, including the widespread acceptance of interactive whiteboards (IWBs). The emerging literature on IWB use is mixed, with no clear verdict on the merits of this technology in relation to teaching or student learning outcomes. However, as this equipment is fast becoming standard in a growing number of classrooms, it is important for pre-service teachers to be familiar with its features, potential difficulties and to have had experience in developing lesson activities that utilise the technology. This study examines the lesson activities developed by a group (n=13) of final year undergraduate secondary mathematics pre-service teachers. The analysis is guided by the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) framework of Mishra and Koehler (2006). The study reveals that the pre-service teachers were able to plan effectively to integrate IWB features within their mathematical lessons and demonstrated developing TPCK as a result. They found that the primary benefits of the technology related to its potential to engage students with varied visual representations and virtual manipulatives which can aid conceptual understanding.

Polly, D., & Mims, C. (2009). Designing professional development to support teachers’ TPACK and integration of Web 2.0 technologies. In T. T. Kidd & I. Chen (Eds.), Wired for Learning: Web 2.0 Guide for Educators (pp. 301-316). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

The September 2009 issue of TechTrends included several articles focused on TPACK. The following articles were published in that issue:

Barbour, M., Rieber, L. P., Thomas, G., & Rauscher, D. (2009). Homemade PowerPoint games: A constructionist alternative to WebQuests. TechTrends, 53(5), 54-59.

Abstract: Students are required to use PowerPoint to construct home made content-based games. To construct these games, students write a game narrative or story (i.e., a short overview or context for the game that must fit on a single PowerPoint slide) and develop questions to provide the appropriate level of challenge to their games. These three pedagogical skills are required of students as they use a technology-based tool to construct games in a specific content area, and form the intersection envisioned by Mishra and Koehler with their TPCK framework. This combination of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge provides a scalable example of good teaching with technology.

Cox, S., & Graham, C. R. (2009). Diagramming TPACK in practice: Using an elaborated model of the TPACK framework to analyze and depict teacher knowledge. TechTrends, 53(5), 60-69.

Abstract: The introduction of the TPACK model by Mishra and Koehler (2006) has had a profound impact on the field of educational technology. It has inspired teachers, teacher educators, and educational technologists to reevaluate their knowledge and use of technology in the classroomÅ Thus far, the explanations of technological pedagogical content knowledge and its associated constructs that have been provided are not clear enough for researchers to agree on what is and is not an example of each construct. Mishra and Koehler and others have provided definitions of TCK, TPK, and TPACK that articulate to some degree the centers of these constructs, however the boundaries between them are still quite fuzzy, thus making it difficult to categorize borderline cases. In order to help clarify these boundaries and facilitate study of TPACK in practice, this paper presents the key findings from a conceptual analysis of the TPACK framework.

Graham, C. R., Burgoyne, N., Cantrell, P., Smith, L., St. Clair, L., & Harris, R. (2009). TPACK development in science teaching: Measuring the TPACK confidence of inservice science teachers. TechTrends, 53(5), 70-79.

Abstract: In this study we piloted an instrument for measuring confidence levels in four of the seven TPACK knowledge constructs: TPACK, TPK, TCK, and TK. The instrument was useful in helping SciencePlus program coordinators to see significant increase in the TPACK confidence of participants over the eight-month duration of the program. Analysis of the data also helped program coordinators recognize that more could be done to help classroom teachers develop TCK confidence by doing more to help them learn about content-specific technologies that are used in doing science.

Mishra, P., Koehler, M. J., & Kereluik, K. (2009). The song remains the same: Looking back to the future of educational technology. TechTrends, 53(5), 48-53.

Abstract: The TPACK framework emphasizes the role of teachers as decision makers who design their own educational technology environments as needed, in real time, without fear of those environments becoming outdated or obsolete. Using this approach, teachers do not attend to specific tools, but instead focus on approaches to teaching that endure through change in technologies, content, or pedagogies. Teachers with flexibility of thought, a tolerance for ambiguity, and willingness to experiment can combine traits that perfectly design and tailor their own educational content, pedagogical, and technological environments.

David Passig recently wrote on the topic of melioration, or “the competence to borrow a concept from a field of knowledge supposedly far removed from his or her domain, and adopt it to a pressing challenge in an area of personal knowledge or interest” (2007). According to Passig, melioration is a skill that affords teachers the flexibility to experiment with a vast array of technologies to meet their specific educational needs. Novel frameworks and concepts like TPACK and Passig’s melioration are starting to look at educational technology in a new way. These new perspectives focus on overarching cognitive skills, competencies, and creativity rather than technical understanding and functional knowledge of specific technologies.

Nelson, J., Christopher, A., & Mims, C. (2009). TPACK and Web 2.0: Transformation of teaching and learning.TechTrends, 53(5), 80-87.

Abstract: Web 2.0 technologies provide possibilities for sharing and building knowledge. Teachers who facilitate collaborative and interdisciplinary projects build on the unique strengths of individual students and encourage the sharing of ideas. In essence, they are teaching students to be life-long learners. The Internet and Web 2.0 technologies afford teachers ready access to collaborative, authentic opportunities for students to engage in meaningful experiences related to the curriculum. TPACK-competent teachers exhibit best practices in pedagogy, content, and technology.

Polly, D., & Brantley-Dias, L. (2009). TPACK: Where do we go now? TechTrends, 53(5), 46-47.

Abstract: TPACK gives a holistic perspective of the knowledge associated with effectively integrating technology into learning environments, accounting for what teachers know and what teachers do. TPACK provides a robust framework for thinking about teachers’ knowledge related to integrating technology effectively into learning environments. Articles in this special issue have raised questions related to our design of teacher education and professional development programs to develop the TPACK of K-12 teachers, and ways to research or examine teachers’ TPACK and innovation adoption.

2. TPACK in the News

An article by Senior Editor Laura Devaney in the Wednesday, September 9, 2009 issue of eSchool News, entitled Reinventing Education, described San Diego’s public schools’ five-year plan to reinvent the way students are taught. The district’s new professional development plan is formed around TPACK.

In Which Came First – The Technology or the Pedagogy? an article in the September 9, 2009 issue of THE Journal, Dian Schaffhauser asked the question, Why is a generation of teachers more knowledgeable about technology than any before it arriving in classrooms with little understanding of how to teach with it? Glen Bull and Ann Thompson were interviewed. TPACK was used as a way to understand answers to this question.

3. Recent TPACK Presentations

Mario Kelly presented a paper entitled Assessing Teachers’ Ability to Integrate Technology into Teaching at the 21^st Annual Seminar of the Japan-United States Teacher Education Consortium (JUSTEC), in Honolulu, Hawaii in September, 2009. The paper reviewed current TPACK assessment practices and included recommendations for future research and practice. A .pdf of the conference’s program is available online.

Patrick Martin, Instructional Systems Specialist for Educational Technology with the U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity schools headquarters in Washington, DC, posted an October presentation that “focuses on technology integration and the effective use of the ET [Educational Technologist] in DoDEA classes.”

The model for ET use is based upon TPACK. Patrick recommends, “So that ETS can focus on TPACK, they will:

- work with teachers and students in the classroom.

- work to find areas in DoDEA content standards that are a natural fit for existing technology tools.

- work with teachers in planning lessons and provide job-embedded training to further teacher confidence with available technology tools.

ETs will not:

- monitor SIS maintenance.

- compile SPSS and other school standard data.

- fix hardware and software problems.”
Marie Sontag presented a paper at the Alice Symposium in June 2009 at Duke University that describes a curriculum design model based on the new learning theory of SCCS (social and cognitive-connectedness schemata), and utilizes the frameworks of TPACK and the 21^st century skills developed by The Partnership for 21^st Century Skills (P21). The paper, titled Critical Thinking with Alice: A Curriculum Design Model for Middle School Teachers, has been published in the ACM digital library.
Mark Townsley, a high school math educator from Solon, Iowa, presented a paper at the Iowa Technology Education Connection (ITEC) conference in October 2009. (ITEC is the Iowa ISTE affiliate.) The paper was entitled: Are they mutually exclusive? Technology vs. Pedagogy The session explored the TPACK framework as an alternative way of viewing classroom technology integration and shared one district’s progress in using TPACK in this way.

In another ITEC paper entitled TPCK: What Is It and How Can It Help You? Carl? Andersen (We’re not sure if this is the correct name; our apologies!) discussed the TPACK framework based on the work of Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler, and demonstrated practical ways for participants to apply TPACK ideas in their own classrooms.

4. TPACK Development

A TPACK Tutorial used at Brigham Young University was written by Nicky Burgoyne and Charles Graham, and was based upon some of the results of Suzy Cox’s 2008 dissertation, A conceptual analysis of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (.pdf).

John Hunt writes about a tool he uses in his role as Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast. I have found useful in getting teachers to think about how best to integrate ICT into their work. As much as I loathe templates, this works as a stop-gap measure to help teachers see the links between technology and pedagogy (visible thinking). As this way of thinking is internalized, teachers will discard this scaffold.

Dan Maas, Chief Information Officer for Littleton Public Schools, in Littleton, CO shares a [TPACK-based] reflection guide we have provided [to] our principals as part of our Inspired Writing project in which all 5th grades, and all 6th and 9th grade language arts classrooms are 1:1 environments. We are targeting writing scores and 21st century skills. This site has some blog comments from [participating school] principals, too.

On October 20th, 2009, the Master of Teaching program at the University of Toronto held its second annual Technology-Enhanced Learning workshop. The workshop theme this year was structured around the TPACK model. Teacher candidates were challenged to think beyond simply adopting new technology, towards appropriate and meaningful use given the local contexts in which they will be teaching. Some of the technologies/topics examined included: wikis, weblogs, media literacy, Photoshop, Comic Life, SMART Board, graphing calculators, e-learning tools (MOODLE, OISE Knowledge Commons), WISE, visualization tools in science, assistive technology (SMART Ideas, Kurzweil), and Garage Band. For additional information see: http://mtprogram.wikispaces.com/, or you may contact Kim MacKinnon directly.

5. TPACK Handbook Reviews

¦were published in:

Special Education Technology Practice, March/April 2009, 11(2), p. 12.

Issues in Teacher Education, Fall 2009. p. 117. The Handbook was reviewed by Pamela A. Redmond.

6. TPACK Research-in-Progress

Karin Forssell, PhD candidate at Stanford University’s School of Education, studies inservice teachers’ TPACK. She is using a modified version of Schmidt, et. al.’s TPACK survey (.pdf), and is developing a TPCK Beliefs Scale as well. Anyone working on similar projects is encouraged to collaborate. Contact Karin and learn more about Karin’s work at: http://www.stanford.edu/~forssell.

Are you researching TPACK? Please consider adding a description of your research methods to the TPACK wiki’s Researching TPACK section.

7. Learning and Doing More with TPACK

Interested in learning more about TPACK or getting more involved in the TPACK community? Here are a few ideas:

a. Visit and contribute to the TPACK wiki at: http://tpack.org/

b. Join the TPACK SIG at: http://site.aace.org/sigs/tpack-sig.htm

c. Join and contribute to the TPACK Google group at: http://groups.google.com/group/tpack/

d. Review and provide feedback on the TPACK Learning Activity Types at: http://activitytypes.wmwikis.net/

e. Access past issues of the TPACK Newsletter at: http://punya.educ.msu.edu/research/tpck/newsletter-archive/

f. Or at: http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/tpack/

g. View recent (but unedited) mentions of TPACK (including tweets) on the Web at Matt Koehler’s “All Things TPACK”.

Feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who might be interested in its contents.

Even better, have them subscribe to the TPACK newsletter by sending a blank email to sympa@lists.wm.edu , with the following text in the subject line:
subscribe tpack.news FirstName LastName
(of course, substituting their own first and last names for ‘FirstName’ and ‘LastName’ — unless their name happens to be FirstName LastName, in which case they can just leave it as is).

If you have a news item that you would like to contribute to the newsletter, please send it to: tpack.news.editors@wm.edu

If you are interested in volunteering to help run the newsletter (we need help!), send email to: tpack.news.editors@wm.edu

Standard End-Matter
If you have questions, suggestions, or comments about the newsletter, please send those to tpack.news.editors@wm.edu .
If you are subscribed to the tpack.news email list, and — even after reviewing this impressive publication — you prefer not to continue to receive the fruits of our labors, please send a blank email message to sympa@lists.wm.edu , with the following text in the subject line: unsubscribe tpack.news

Have a great winter break, everyone! We’ll be back in late December with issue #6 of the TPACK Newsletter.

- Judi, Matt, Mario, and Punya

Judi Harris, Chair, College of William & Mary
Matt Koehler, Vice-Chair, Michigan State University
Mario Kelly, Futon, Hunter College
Punya Mishra, Recliner, Michigan State University

EPET needs you! (Link to our site)

mkoehler — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:03:16 +0000

In the current higher education climate, the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology (EPET) PhD program has to do a lot better and recruiting more high quality students. Two efforts currently underway to help achieve these goals is to make our website both more useable and more visible. Our first priority in this effort, for now, is to make our site more visible. If current and prospective students can’t find our site, it isn’t very useful to us.

That’s why I’m writing *you*. We need *your* help!

Not too long ago, the college redid all the webpages for the CEPSE department. In the process, our website not only changed content, look, and feel, but also it changed locations. Currently, google isn’t really able to find our new site and our new location. Anyone looking for educational psychology or educational technology programs using some sort of internet search isn’t very likely to find us.

And here is where you come in. We need you to link to our site if you have a webpage, administer a website, or are thinking of making a website. We need you to do it in particular ways as well, so that we are consistent, and that google will pick up the right keywords associated with our site.

NAME OF THE PROGRAM: When referring to our PhD program, please call it by its full name, “Educational Psychology and Educational Technology”. If you’re still using the old name (Learning Technology & Culture, or LTC), please change it. Also, please don’t use the abbreviation “EPET”, unless you’ve used (and linked) the full name at least once.

WHERE TO LINK TO: Use the following address only please. Please remove links to any old site. Please do not link to specific pages within the site. Use the following, and only the following: http://www.educ.msu.edu/cepse/epet

HOW TO OUR PAGE WITH TEXT: Every time you use the words “Educational Technology and Educational Psychology”, we would like you to make that text *TWO* links to our site. We want the Words “Educational Psychology and” to be one link, and the words “Educational Psychology” to also be a link. Both should link to our new site: http://www.educ.msu.edu/cepse/epet

Why? We want google to associate our site with searches for “Educational Technology” as well as “Educational Psychology”. Making only one link for the whole phrase would be better only in the unlikely event that people search for joint programs like “Educational Psychology and Educational Technology”

The HTML you can use to do this is as follows:

----- copy/paste between the dashed lines ---------------


Educational Psychology and Educational Technology

---- cut copy/paste --------------

HOW TO LINK TO OUR SITE WITH BADGES (IMAGES)

Badges are re becoming all the rage for showing affiliations and membership. So, we have EPET badges as well. They aren’t the best (I’m no graphic artist), but feel free to use them if you like. Below is the code to use to include each of two badges on your webpage.

----- copy/paste between the dashed lines for "Ed Tech" version of the badge ------



----- end copy/paste  --------
----- copy/paste  between the dashed lines for "Ed Tech" version of the badge ------

----- end copy/paste --------

WILL THIS WORK? Short answer is yes. More links to a site greatly influence how google ranks pages. In the last couple of weeks, we’ve gone from completely not listed at all in google, to being somewhere on the 8th page of results. That was with just a few key people linking to our new site. Many more links will help us return to the first page of google results, and with your help, we can do it!

PROMOTING OUR PROGRAM TO OTHERS: Please be sure to mention our program, and to recruit students anywhere you come in contact with them. You can simply tell anyone remotely interested in a degree to check out EdTechPHD.com and/or EdPsychPHD.com. Please don’t make hyperlinks with these addresses (use the schemes presented above), but they work to get others to our site, because these addresses are a lot more memorable.

If you’re giving a talk at a conference, the last slide can be used to make some acknowledgements, and perhaps include one of the two badges above, with a short mention of “If you’re interested in a PhD in Educational Psychology or Educational Technology” from MSU, please visit EdPsychPHD.com (or use EdTechPHD.com if you’re at an edtech conference).

Thank you for your help! Sincerely,

Dr. Matthew J. Koehler
509 Erickson Hall
Educational Psychology & Educational Technology
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
517.353.9287
http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu

TPACK Newsletter #4 (Aug-Sept 2009)

mkoehler — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:07:17 +0000

A new hope …

 Welcome to the fourth edition of the TPACK Newsletter, now with 494 subscribers (representing a 36% increase during the last four months!), and appearing bimonthly between August and April. If you are not sure what TPACK is, please surf over to www.tpack.org to learn more.  

Gratuitous Quote about Technology

"My theme for philanthropy is the same approach I used with technology: to find a need and fill it.” - An Wang

In this Issue:
-2. Introductory blurb
-1. Gratuitous Quote about Technology 
0. In this issue (You are here.) 
1. Recent TPACK Articles 
2. TPACK-in-a-text(book)
3. (Sort of) Recent TPACK Articles
  4. Recent TPACK Presentations
  5. TPACK Podcasts
  6. TPACK Research in Progress
  7 TPACK Professional Development
8. Recently Completed TPACK-based Dissertations & Theses
9. Learning and Doing More with TPACK
–. Un-numbered miscellaneous stuff at the end

1. Recent TPACK Articles

TPACK was a “Top Story” on August 26, 2009 in both eSchoolNews and eCampusNews! A feature article (“TPACK explores Effective Ed-Tech Integration”) written by senior editor Laura Delaney explained TPACK and its components in considerable detail, plus one way of helping teachers to develop TPACK: using curriculum-based learning activity types. Punya, Matt, Judi, Mark Hofer, and Karen Richardson were interviewed and provided the content for the feature stories.

Hot off the press! Judi Harris & Mark Hofer’s Feature and Learning Connections articles are appearing in the September/October 2009 issue of Learning & Leading with Technology. “’Grounded’ Technology Integration: Planning with Curriculum-Based Learning Activity Types” introduces a TPACK-based approach to technology integration during instructional planning, and “’Grounded’ Technology Integration Using Social Studies Learning Activity Types” illustrates how to do this in the social studies. Watch future 2009-2010 issues of L&L for more Learning Connections articles about math, world languages, science, K-6 literacy, and English language arts activity types, written with collaborators Neal Grandgenett, Marcela van Olphen, Meg Blanchard, Denise Schmidt, and Carl Young.

This summer, Judi, Punya & Matt published an overview of TPACK, emphasizing the roles of content and technological content knowledge, and how to help teachers to develop it, in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, vol. 41, no. 4, PP. 393-416. The article is entitled, “Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Curriculum-based Technology Integration Reframed.”

A few months earlier, Hyo-Jeong So (Nanyang Technological University) and Bosung Kim (University of Missouri) published the results of a study that “examined perceived difficulties and concerns that pre-service teachers encountered when applying their knowledge on technology, pedagogy and content to design a technology integrated lesson.” They utilized a collaborative lesson design similar to Matt & Punya’s Learning by Design approach to developing TPACK. The article, “Learning About Problem-based Learning: Student Teachers Integrating Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge,” was published in the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 25(1), PP. 101-116. A .PDF of the article is available for your perusal.

2. TPACK-in-a-text(book)

Candace Figg (Brock University) and Jenny Burson (LeTourneau University) are pleased to announce a new arrival: their TPACK-based preservice text, Designs for UnPacking Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK): A Handy Guide for Teaching with Technology, which will be released on September 5, 2009 by Soleil Publishing. Additional information about the book, including sample pages and a table of contents, is available online.

3. (Sort of) Recent TPACK Articles

Two recent issues of Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE) featured articles on TPACK. In a special issue devoted to TPACK (volume 9, issue 1), six articles appeared:

TPACK: A Framework for the CITE Journal G. Bull & L. Bell

Mathematics Teacher TPACK Standards and Development Model M. L. Niess, R. N. Ronau, K. G. Shafer, S. O. Driskell, S. R. Harper, C. Johnston, C. Browning, S. A. Özgün-Koca, & G. Kersaint

Teaching Science with Technology: Case Studies of Science Teachers’ Development of Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge  S. S. Guzey & G. H. Roehrig

Strategies for Preparing Preservice Social Studies Teachers to Integrate Technology Effectively: Models and Practices T. Brush & J. W. Saye

What Is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge?  M. J. Koehler & P. Mishra

Examining TPACK Among K-12 Online Distance Educators in the United States L. Archambault & K. Crippen

In volume 9 issue 2 of CITE, three TPACK-based articles appeared:

Mathematics Teachers’ Development, Exploration, and Advancement of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge in the Teaching and Learning of Algebra  S. Richardson

Giving, Prompting, Making: Aligning Technology and Pedagogy Within TPACK for Social Studies Instruction T. C. Hammond & M. M. Manfra

Enhancing TPACK With Assistive Technology: Promoting Inclusive Practices in Preservice Teacher Education M. T. Marino, P. Sameshima, & C. C. Beecher

4. Recent TPACK Presentations

Maggie Niess (Oregon State University) will present a paper entitled “Mathematics Teacher TPACK Standards and Revising Teacher Preparation” at the 10^th International Conference of The Mathematics Education Into the 21^st Century Project, “Models in Developing Mathematics Education,” which will take place on September 11-17, 2009 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany.

Bill Bauer, the Director of Music Education at Case Western Reserve University, will be presenting “Music Teachers and Technology: The TPACK Framework" at the Society for Music Teacher Education’s 2009 Symposium on Music Teacher Education: Enacting Shared Visions, September 10-12, 2009 at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

There were several TPACK-based sessions at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in Washington, DC in late June 2009:

Teresa Foulger and Maureen Gerard (Arizona State University) presented the results of their study, “Making the Ideal Real: Reciprocal Mentoring and Technology in Preservice Education.” A .pdf of their paper is
available online for your perusal.
Judi Harris and Mark Hofer presented a Spotlight Session entitled, “Developing TPACK: Teachers’ Technology Integration Knowledge in Action.”
A video of that presentation is
available online, as well as the slides that they used (.mov
file) during the talk.
A sold-out workshop, “School 2.0 and Understanding by Design,”
presented by Chris O’Neal and Donna Herold, was co-sponsored by ISTE, ASCD,
the Central Susquehanna Intermediate School District and the US Department
of Education. Punya noted in his blog that the talk tied together UbD ideas
with TPACK (starting at about 14:50) in an interesting way. A recording of the workshop is
archived for viewing.

We learned about a fascinating paper about helping teachers to develop TPSK – technological pedagogical statistical (and probability) knowledge – that was presented at the 2009 Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education in February. A .pdf of the paper, “Preparing to Teach Mathematics with Technology: Lesson Planning Decisions for Implementing New Curriculum,” written by Sarah Ives, Hollylynne Lee, and Tina Starling (North Carolina State University) is available online for your perusal.

Last but certainly not least, we discovered presentation slides by Dan Maas, Chief Information Officer for the Littleton Public Schools in Colorado, which interpret TPACK vis-à-vis 21^st-century technologies. An entry in Dan’s blog explains that these slides supported a reflective exercise for educators that focused on “inspired writing.”

5. TPACK Podcasts

"Understanding TPCK," one of the "Teaching in the 21st Century" series of weekly podcasts for teachers, was posted recently by the Maine School Administrative District 75. The podcast explains TPACK and provides examples of TPACK in practice, in which 21^st technologies were repurposed creatively for educational use. For example, in Bill’s English class students used Twitter to create microblogs to discuss the books that they’re studying. This podcast was created in response to Matt & Punya’s feature article in the May issue of Learning & Leading with Technology, “Too Cool for School? No Way! Using the TPACK Framework: You Can Have Your Hot Tools and Teach with Them, Too.” All podcasts in the series are produced and edited by students in MSAD 75’s middle and high school.

A thoughtful and thorough podcast prepared by Ruben Puentedura for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative Fall Teacher 2008 Leader Institutes was shared recently by Lydia Leimback in her blog, "Teacher Tech." Dr. Puentedura introduces and explains two conceptual models that can be used together: TPACK and SAMR. SAMR stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition, which focus upon the roles that digital technologies play in changing the nature of students’ learning, when compared to the use of more traditional technologies for the same or similar learning activities. Illustrative examples of higher education courses are provided to show how TPCK and SAMR can work together in designs for students’ learning. A transcribed version of the podcast is also available.

6. TPACK Research in Progress

Julie Mueller (Wilfrid Laurier University) is currently examining pre- and post- questionnaire, interview, and observation data generated with teachers, administrators, and students as part of an elementary school-initiated laptop integration project, using TPACK as her theoretical framework. The preliminary results of this study suggest that teachers do indeed consider all of the components of TPACK when planning and providing instruction, but they are not always integrated. In addition to identifying behavioral measures of TPACK (which Julie feels are much-needed at present in TPACK research), student outcomes will be used to measure the impact of the laptop integration. Julie hopes to present the results of this project at SITE 2010.

Ghaida Alayyar, a doctoral student at the University of Twente working with her supervisors, Drs. Petra Fisser and Joke Voogt, is studying the use of TPACK as a framework to change the nature of preservice science education in Kuwait. Joke writes, “The current curriculum for prospective student- teachers in Kuwait is characterized by a teacher-centered approach and only has an optional course on basic technology applications. The content of the new course is based on the ideas of TPACK. In the first phase of the study (currently underway) a group of 50 science students is designing elementary science technology applications in small groups (3-4 persons). They are coached by subject matter, pedagogical and technology experts. …In the second phase of the study, a new group of prospective students will be involved, with part of the coaching happening via a Web-based support system. Data about student-teachers’ TPACK competencies will be collected before and after the course with the TPACK survey developed by Schmidt, Baran, Thompson, Koehler, Mishra & Shin.”

Are you researching TPACK? Please consider adding a description of your research methods to the TPACK wiki’s “Researching TPACK” section and/or sending us a brief overview of your ongoing work to share in this newsletter.

7. TPACK Professional Development

As mentioned in the first TPACK Newsletter (January 2009), Craig Cunningham reports that the faculty at National-Louis University in Chicago were involved in a Faculty Senate-funded TPACK faculty development project during the 2008-2009 academic year. In the project, small groups of teacher-education and subject-matter faculty worked with technology “experts” from the faculty to develop ways to integrate technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. The various groups worked on topics such as using video to teach interviewing techniques, using Web cameras to conduct live chats with science experts, and ways to better use interactive whiteboards. Faculty enthusiasm for the project at the end of the year led to the submission of a renewal grant for 2009-2010, which was recently awarded! The second year of the project will continue the work of the first year, with the addition of a monthly series of TPACK-based seminars designed to increase faculty expertise across the university. For more information, please contact arlene.borthwick@nl.edu or craig.cunningham@nl.edu.

8. Recently Completed TPACK-based Dissertations & Theses

Chauser, J. (2009). Instruction 2.0: Effective education for the 21st century. Master’s thesis, National University.

In this thesis, Jacqueline describes the design and implementation of a professional development course for teachers. Building on the TPACK framework, the course encourages an integrated approach to using technology for instruction and respects the interconnectedness of the three knowledge bases required for such integration.

Richardson, K. W. (2009). Looking at/looking through: Teachers planning for curriculum-based learning with technology. Doctoral dissertation, College of William & Mary.

The literature related to teacher planning practices is, for the most part, several decades old. As such, it fails to take into consideration both the proliferation of digital technologies in schools, as well as new frameworks for understanding teachers’ knowledge. This interpretivist study drew upon the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006) to study teachers’ lesson planning processes. Specifically, it focused upon 12 fifth, sixth and seventh grade content area teachers from three southeastern U.S. School districts as they planned for and used digital technologies during lessons in their classrooms. Participating teachers had a variety of professional experiences and placements and had participated in educational technology professional development. They were interviewed about the processes they used to plan instruction, focusing upon how they determined which technologies might be used. In addition, sample technology-infused lessons were observed to see how the plans were put into action.

Terpstra, M. A. (2009). Developing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: Preservice teachers’ perceptions of how they learn to use educational technology in their teaching. Doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University.

This study uses activity theory and current conceptions of knowledge for teaching content with technology to analyze the working knowledge and experience of a group of seven preservice teachers in order to yield insights into how preservice teachers learn to teach with technology. Findings showed that the preservice teachers exhibited more TK than TPK and TPACK. A developmental trajectory of learning to teach with technology is suggested that takes into account knowledge exhibition and breadth.

9. Learning and Doing More with TPACK 

Interested in learning more about TPACK or getting more involved in the TPACK community? Here are a few ideas:

Visit and contribute to the TPACK wiki
at: http://tpack.org/
Join the TPACK SIG at: http://site.aace.org/sigs/tpack-sig.htm
Join and contribute to the TPACK Google group at: http://groups.google.com/group/tpack/
Review and provide feedback on the TPACK
Learning Activity Types at: http://activitytypes.wmwikis.net/

Feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone who might be interested in its contents. Even better, have them subscribe to the TPACK newsletter by sending a blank email to sympa@lists.wm.edu , with the following text in the subject line:  subscribe tpack.news FirstName LastName  (of course, substituting their own first and last names for ‘FirstName’ and ‘LastName’ — unless their name happens to be FirstName LastName, in which case they can just leave it as is).   

If you have a news item that you would like to contribute to the newsletter, please send it to: tpack.news.editors@wm.edu   

If you are interested in volunteering to help run the newsletter (we need help!), send email to: tpack.news.editors@wm.edu   

Standard End-Matter 

If you have questions, suggestions, or comments about the newsletter, please send those to tpack.news.editors@wm.edu .

 If you are subscribed to the tpack.news email list, and — even after reviewing this impressive publication — you prefer not to continue to receive the fruits of our labors, please send a blank email message to sympa@lists.wm.edu , with the following text in the subject line: unsubscribe tpack.news  

Have a great new school year, everyone! We’ll be back in late October with issue #5 of the TPACK Newsletter.

  - Judi, Matt, Mario, and Punya

  Judi Harris,                   Chair, College of William & Mary 
Matt Koehler,               Vice-Chair, Michigan State University
 Mario Kelly,                 Futon, Hunter College 
Punya Mishra,              Recliner, Michigan State University

Playing with technology & keeping up with TPACK

mkoehler — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:01:08 +0000

Recently, two of my intellectual curiosities came together into one project. First, my interest in keeping up with all things related to technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (or TPACK for short). The second is involves how these automated sites collect, aggregate, and repost content onto their own sites (sometimes nefariously, sometimes helpfully).

The result of these combined interests is that I’ve made such a site that automatically searches and collects information about TPACK into one place — the “All things TPACK Site“. I hope you find it as useful as I do.

San Diego Unified School District embraces TPACK

mkoehler — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:42:30 +0000

TPACK is featured in eschool news in 3 separate stories: (a) TPACK explores effective ed-tech integration, (b) San Diego explores effective ed-tech integration through TPACK: New professional development model; (c) Reinventing education: As schools nationwide examine new federal priorities, San Diego unveils a five-year plan to transform the way students are taught.

The big surprise, to me, is that the San Diego Unified School District is embracing TPACK as a framework for its professional development. In short, that’s large-scale, practical impact of the joint work by Punya Mishra and me! Read Punya’s description for more, he’s better at blogging!

Photo Gallery: House building

mkoehler — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:37:24 +0000

Today, I’ll start documenting (in photos) the progress of our efforts to build our new house. Want to know what it’s going to look like? Look at the virtual tour from the builder.

Fall 2009, cep955 Research Design – Up and Running

mkoehler — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:32:35 +0000

I’ve posted a syllabus and draft of much of cep955 for fall 2009. If you’re enrolled in the course, or interested in the course, please check it out. Enrolled students should certainly visit the site *before* the start of class.

Some (wild) nature photos from North-Mid Michigan

mkoehler — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:40:08 +0000

click on the image for a lightbox of this and
3 other photos

As seen around the Lake Higgins and Lake Houghton areas of Michigan a week or so ago. Some local nature and wildlife can be found within…

These photos are on my flickr account, if you want to see even larger versions.

Maybe I could blog more …

mkoehler — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:48:22 +0000

Crikey! I just got slapped with a wet salmon – really – I have not updated this since you last visited… You would not believe how insane my life has become. But I’m sorry you’ll just have to take my word for it..

I am devastated with setting fire to people wearing Crocs, planning my wedding, just generally being a doormat to anyone unfortunate to cross my path, my day seems to involve the authorities from mid-morning to midnight. I am so exhausted. I need some perspective.

I hope you are having a good life I will make more of an effort to blog more often. Well, I’ll try. This is for my ever faithful, devoted public…..

(Generated by the “The Lazy Bloggers Post Generator” — That’s right, the web can now help you make blog entries. NOTE TO SELF: make a version that runs unattended, automatically, and randomly).

Dr Matthew J. Koehler

Schools kill creativity