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Integrating technology in our lessons : TPACK

In this post we would like to present the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (or TPACK for short).  The authors Koheler & Mishra (2009) explain that “the TPACK framework emphasizes how the connections among teachers’ understanding of content, pedagogy, and technology interact with one another to produce effective teaching”. In other words, TPACK will help teachers to identify knowledge they might need to focus on in order to teach effectively using technology.

As it is shown in the picture above, TPACK consists of three main knowledges: technological, pedagogical, and content. With the aim of using it effectively, teachers need firstly to decide on the content they want to teach; secondly, they have to think how they are going to do it; and finally, they choose the technological tool to do it successfully. These three individual concepts are embraced simultaneously in TPACK to create a deep understanding of how everything can work together to bring about the best technologically and pedagogically sound learning based upon a deep understanding of the subject matter. 

A good illustration of the implementation of this model is our experience with a webpage called QUIZLET. The aim was to teach 1st Conditional to a group of students in the 4TH year in a Language School. We chose this webpage because we could use it from the beginning to the end of the unit since it contains several activities to work with. The page offers examples with illustrations that we used to present the content using a projector (https://quizlet.com/252881936/flashcards). Then, we used a timed game to practice where students had to match both sentences as fast as possible. You can see the game here: https://quizlet.com/252881936/match. We considered this webpage a very useful free resource to integrate technology in our lessons since it offers a huge variety of interesting activities to present and practice content.
For more information you can have a look at this video: https://youtu.be/QyyfqYSFCQ0

 References 
Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1). Retrieved from http://www.citejournal.org/volume-9/issue-1-09/general/what-is-technological-pedagogicalcontent-knowledge

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