It is very evident that technology plays a vital role in today’s
world and people’s lives. I don’t think it is possible to go somewhere and not
see technology, which is defined in the book Music Learning Today (Bauer, 2014)
as “computers and related digital tools.” In secondary education is common to
see many students using smart phones, and shockingly in wide variety of
demographics. This shows the high value our society places on technology and
the importance of utilizing it in the classroom.
In general education is not only suggested, but becoming a
requirement.
While requiring schools to integrate technology into the
classrooms for standardized testing may or may not be a positive approach to
technology in the classroom, proper integration of technology leads to small
and moderate gains in student learning (Tamim, Bernard, Borokhovski, Abrami,
Schmid, 2011).
To reach a level of technological integration that is
beneficial for student learning, teachers must understand the relationship
between technology knowledge, and content and pedagogical knowledge. The
combination of all three is known as TPACK (technological pedagogical and
content knowledge). Below is a brief summary of the various components of the
TPACK model and how they work together.
Content knowledge (CK) – a comprehensive understanding of the
subject matter being taught.
Pedagogical knowledge (PK) – an understanding of the general
principles, practices, and methods of instruction and student learning that
apply across disciplines.
Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) – combination of expert
knowledge of a subject with the ability to teach that subject to learners.
Technology knowledge (TK) – an understanding of general
technologies that are required for teaching and learning.
Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) – an understanding of
how technology is used in a content areas as well as how content is impacted by
technology.
Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) – an understanding
of the affordances and constraints of using common technologies for teaching and learning.
And finally TPACK - effective technology
integration for pedagogy around a specific subject matter.
In my current teaching position I can identify the need
to integrate more technology in order to progress from PCK to TPACK. At this
point I am guilty of using technology as an organizational tool for myself
(parent emails, calendars, PowerPoints for lessons, Finale to arrange music for
missing parts) rather than as a student centered learning tool. I feel as
though I am transitioning from a less experienced teacher who “preferred information
about classroom management issues and administrative aspects of music teaching”
(Bauer, 2010) to a teacher that can focus more on TPACK. The activities from
this week have already given me a direct path to go further in that transition.
The personal learning network (PLN), especially the feedly and twitter accounts
are incredibly quick and easy to access and take away a bit of the feeling of “professional
isolation” that I get from being the only band director in my district. While I
am confident it will be easy for me to access the plethora of information available
in my PLN, one area I know I will have to focus on is sharing my ideas so that
people who are a part of my network can learn from my contributions (Bauer, 2010).
After this week’s activities, my goal is to be dedicated to my PLN long term so
that I can be an adaptive expert who continues to learn more deeply, rather
than a routine expert (book).
References
Bauer, W. (2010).
Your personal learning network professional development on demand. Music
Educators Journal.
Bauer, W. (2014). A
Conceptual Framework for Technology-Assisted Music Learning. In Music
learning today: Digital pedagogy for creating, performing, and responding to
music. Oxford University Press.
Tamim, R. M., Bernard, R.M.,
Borokhovski, E., Abrami, P.C., & Schmid, R. F. (2011). What forty years of research
says about the impact of technology on learning: A second-order meta-analysis
and validation study. Review of
Educational Research, 81(1), 4-28.
