Tech Tools Are Cool For School
Too Cool for School? No Way!
By Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler
Effective teaching is more than just spitting out information and knowing right from wrong; it is a talent that encourages (not pushes) students' interest in learning and education. In this article, Mishra and Koehler introduces TPACK (technological pedagogical [style of teaching] and content [subject matter]), a teaching method in which educators integrate technology into their cirriculum. More specifically, teachers repurpose non-educational type technology such as GPS, blogging, and music software to educate their students about technology. The technology lessons are, of course, classroom related and they teach students both the practical and educational uses of different technological tools.
TPAK is adapted from Lee Shulman's PCK (pedagogical content knowledge). PCK encourages teachers to teach outside the box by presenting their teachings in a way that caters to their students' interests and style of learning. For example, a science teacher should allow students to perform interesting experiments or watch Bill Nye the Science Guy for better insight into the subject. Simply lecturing in front of the class can be boring for the students and ineffective for their learning. Due to our growing use and dependence to technology, Mishra and Koehler modified Lee's PCK to TPAK by incorporating technology into the teaching methodology. Here, teachers not only have to creatively engage students in their education, they also have to innovatively and comfortably utilize the various technological tools in their classroom.
TPAK/PCK is a great example of what kind of teaching method I would like to "master" in the classroom. Effective teachers are able to radically teach and engage students in a way that is neither forceful nor mundane. For example, during this week's lecture, Professor O'Connor gave us an informal quiz and randomly chose a student from the roster to answer a question. We were given the choice to answer the question with our without the assistance from our group. This simple exercise made us pay attention to the lecture and it encouraged participation from all the members of the group. I think the goal in teaching is to "sneak in" the education; do not let the students know their learning or force them into being interested, the subject matter alone should be interesting. In my class, I would like to use technological tools such as GPS (it teaches students how to use a map and navigate their way through different locations) email (allows students to communicate with one another; emailing will be used as one of their writing exercises), and blogging (will be used as another writing exercise). Why? Technology is becoming more and more a part of our lives, students and educators will need to familiarize themselves with these types of resources inside and outside the classroom.
By Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler
Effective teaching is more than just spitting out information and knowing right from wrong; it is a talent that encourages (not pushes) students' interest in learning and education. In this article, Mishra and Koehler introduces TPACK (technological pedagogical [style of teaching] and content [subject matter]), a teaching method in which educators integrate technology into their cirriculum. More specifically, teachers repurpose non-educational type technology such as GPS, blogging, and music software to educate their students about technology. The technology lessons are, of course, classroom related and they teach students both the practical and educational uses of different technological tools.
TPAK is adapted from Lee Shulman's PCK (pedagogical content knowledge). PCK encourages teachers to teach outside the box by presenting their teachings in a way that caters to their students' interests and style of learning. For example, a science teacher should allow students to perform interesting experiments or watch Bill Nye the Science Guy for better insight into the subject. Simply lecturing in front of the class can be boring for the students and ineffective for their learning. Due to our growing use and dependence to technology, Mishra and Koehler modified Lee's PCK to TPAK by incorporating technology into the teaching methodology. Here, teachers not only have to creatively engage students in their education, they also have to innovatively and comfortably utilize the various technological tools in their classroom.
TPAK/PCK is a great example of what kind of teaching method I would like to "master" in the classroom. Effective teachers are able to radically teach and engage students in a way that is neither forceful nor mundane. For example, during this week's lecture, Professor O'Connor gave us an informal quiz and randomly chose a student from the roster to answer a question. We were given the choice to answer the question with our without the assistance from our group. This simple exercise made us pay attention to the lecture and it encouraged participation from all the members of the group. I think the goal in teaching is to "sneak in" the education; do not let the students know their learning or force them into being interested, the subject matter alone should be interesting. In my class, I would like to use technological tools such as GPS (it teaches students how to use a map and navigate their way through different locations) email (allows students to communicate with one another; emailing will be used as one of their writing exercises), and blogging (will be used as another writing exercise). Why? Technology is becoming more and more a part of our lives, students and educators will need to familiarize themselves with these types of resources inside and outside the classroom.
I agree with your statement that students should not be forced to be interested in material. If teachers present their information in different ways then students are more likely to be engaged and interested. This blog just reminds me of how much I need to improve in the technology department in order to be an effective teacher. A lot of younger kids already know a lot of practical uses of technology and I think it's a great idea to bring technology into the classroom so that kids can learn how to use it for educational purposes.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I think it's funny that we wrote on the same article, but also, I think that integration is key because it models our everyday lives. I can't imagine going a day without technology like my cell phone, email, blogging, facebook, webCT, etc. Why should the learning environment be so incredibly different and disconnected from how we learn in our everyday lives?
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