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TPACK - Impact on Student Learning

​Any 21st century classroom  is expected to have technology actively involved. It's easy, though, for politicians, administrators, teachers, parents, and students to believe that if technology is being used, students are learning the skills they need  as well. However, for true learning to happen, technology cannot be used just for the sake of having technology in the room.

The SAMR Model was developed to integrate technology into the classroom, yet we need to look even deeper at how technology interrelates with content and pedagogy to ensure that students are effectively using digital tools to learn in the 21st century. It's helpful to understand both the SAMR and TPACK models.

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The TPACK framework is a lens to help teachers use content, pedagogy and technology to supporting student learning:

• Content Knowledge (CK): the "what" is being taught in any given class 
• Pedagogical Knowledge (PK): the "how" information is being taught, the instructional strategies being used
• Technological Knowledge (TK): the tool being used to make content accessible to students

​The relationships between the types of knowledge is where deeper understanding happens:

• Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK): the best practices used to teach specific content to specific students
• Technological Content Knowledge (TCK):  using digital tools that are available to teach content, including how students interact with the tools
• Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK): using digital tools to help students meet the learning outcomes at hand

To be innovative, teachers look for that "sweet spot" in the middle where the content, pedagogy, and technology work together in meeting students' needs.

Of course many students use technology daily, but only in support of their learning the knowledge and skills needed. It's usually best to keep the frequently-used tools simple so that students are using them to learn the content and have the academic experiences planned to meet the learning outcomes. This way, they're not distracted by too many "bells and whistles" on a daily basis. When students use new tools, for example, Screencastify, they work together to figure out the tool and then incorporate it into their technological toolkit. When students add one digital tool at a time and become proficient in using it, their confidence and abilities grow. Some effective ways for students to use technology in their own inquiry are to:

• organize their projects, including what they're learning and will contribute to their groups
• communicate with group members and teacher
• provide feedback for peers and respond to feedback from teacher and peers
• learn content asynchronously
• create final products and prepare presentations to share with others​

Want more information about the TPACK model? Here's a great video explanation:

Common Core

21st Century Skills

History-Social Science Frameworks