TPACK Chapters 1 & 2

I found the first chapter of the TPCK book to be very clear and direct. I appreciated the authors’ definition of technology because it included older forms of technology in with the new. I think that this definition is a comforting one in that it could help some to realize that we all already use some technologies in our daily lessons.

In addition to their definition of technology, the authors seemed to understand that there exists a baseline fear for those who have not themselves grown up with technology or who do not possess a huge interest or excitement for technology. Plus, even if you are someone who has used technology, it is an ever-changing field. You can never ‘done’ learning about technology, which must be a frustration for those who do not completely understand or feel comfortable with existing technologies.

In my reading of the first two chapters of this book, I really felt like its authors must have attended some of the technology trainings at my school. I thank the coordinators of these events because they are tirelessly chipper and often undaunted by the negativity and lack of morale surrounding these events. This started to all make sense, though, when the authors talked about the fact that introducing new technologies and/ or giving repeated trainings will not necessarily change the philosophy of the teacher who is resistant to integrating technology into his or her teaching. I had never thought of technology as a part of one’s philosophy, but it makes sense that it is absolutely part of the foundation of one’s every day teaching. If I am a teacher who believes that students should have actual books rather than photocopies of books for reading, I’ll make sure that it happens. If though, I do not place the same value on students having an actual book in their hands, I will place my attentions and resources elsewhere.

In the second chapter, the authors made the connection between changing technologies and changing workplace skills. Of course, it makes sense that as new technologies are developed to aid the work environment (the authors point out that this is, in fact, why new technologies are invented), new skills are required of workers in order to ensure success. For instance, I know have a friend who lives in Hollywood. She is an online journalist and completes most of her work via the Internet and her cell phone, and she records her interviews via podcasts. She is not from Hollywood, but from Strong, Maine. She grew up poor but with the skills and the interest to develop her understanding and use of technology.

Even though there are probably thousands of examples of poor, rural students who’ve made careers in technological fields and live fabulous lives, there are obviously many who are left behind. This issue is addressed in chapter two. I was struck by the statement that “even if the differences in the physical access to ICT were to be immediately erased, and all schools and families had high-end equipment...the differences in use would perpetuate the digital divide” (40). This makes sense when we think about the enormous amount of time, curiosity, and baseline knowledge it takes to figure out and to navigate new technologies. Just because I have a new program does not mean that I will understand how to use it or how it will be useful to me. This is why, in my opinion, we have a responsibility to integrate and encourage appropriate technologies into our teaching and into our lives.

The final aspect of this second chapter that connects to my teaching is idea that we need to differentiate between data entry and higher-level tasks for students. I have several students who are in classes where they are continually “practicing” skill sets and low-level functions using technologies. Then, I see and hear about other classes where students are thinking for themselves and truly building on skill sets and their technological abilities. Just because you use a computer in a lesson does not mean that your students are learning more about technology. There needs to exist some sort of understanding that students who are not encourages to stretch their skills and their thinking will become bored with technology and could be turned off from it. Using technology just for the sake of using is not appropriate. It needs to make sense in terms of curricular objectives and work to move students forward in their understanding and application of technology.