Models of teacher knowledge incorporating ICT pedagogy

The TPACK framework is one that consistently pops up when researching teacher professional development (PD) and capabilities in utilising information and communication technologies (ICT) for meaningful teaching and learning (George & Sanders, 2017, Koh, Chai & Lim, 2017, Hunter, 2015). Although the TPACK model can be useful in some contexts, it can also highlight that there is “a poor understanding of pedagogy” (OECD, 2015, p. 4), which I believe is a key factor in developing meaningful content with ICT.

Teachers need the skills and knowledge to design “technology-based educational tasks” (George and Sanders, 2017, p. 2873), and there is still a large discrepancy among the teaching cohort in being able to do so, (Hunter, 2015). Many educators don’t feel they are well prepared to deliver technology rich pedagogy to their students or know how to successfully do so, and require targeted, individualised PD to support them in achieving this (George and Sanders, 2017, Hunter, 2015, Capuk, 2015).

In my organisation, the need for targeted and individualised PD is key, not just in the use of ICT, but in the use of models such as TPACK to guide them in self-evaluating their training needs across all the domains – pedagogy, content knowledge and ICT (George & Sanders, 2017). Once this is achieved, teachers can effectively design technology rich content, which will begin to realise the potential of ICT for teaching and learning.

References

Capuk, S. (2015). Integration models into middle and high school curriculum in the USA. Procedia-Social and Behavioural Sciences 191, 1218-1224.

George, A., & Sanders, M. (2017). Evaluating the potential of teacher-designed technology-based tasks for meaningful learning: Identifying needs for professional development. Education and Information Technologies, 22, 2871-2895.

Hunter, J. (2015). Technology integration and high possibility classrooms: Building from TPACK: Routledge.

Koh, J. H .W., Chai, C. H., & Lim, W. L, (2017). Teacher Professional Development for TPACK-21CL: Effects on Teacher ICT Integration and Student Outcomes. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 55 (2). 172 –196. doi:10/1177/-735633116656848

OECD, (2016). Innovating Education and Educating for Innovation: The Power of Digital Technologies and Skills. OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264265097-en

OECD. (2015). Students, Computers and Learning: Making the connection. PISA: OECD Publishing.