TPACK

= Utilizing TPACK to effectively connect to the curriculum =

Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org =Using Activity Types to Introduce TPACK to Pre-Service Teachers=

[|Learning Activity Types]provide a useful taxonomy for introducing TPACK to pre-service and in-service teachers. The activity types taxonomy can assist educators in making purposeful choices about technology integration, beginning with content and effective teaching practices. When introducing TPACK to pre-service teachers, I use the learning activity types model because of its simplicity and practicality. Last semester, I asked pre-service teachers to explore the learning activity types for their particular disciplines. Students then selected a specific activity type (pedagogy) and listed technology tools that would be a good match for the content and pedagogy. My students identified their learning activity types on this [|shared document].

[|Instructional Planning Activity Types as Vehicles for Curriculum-Based TPACK Development]

=Creating Media: A Reflective Application of TPACK and the ISTE Standards=

Each semester, I ask students to use what they know about TPACK and the ISTE Standards for Students to create original pieces of media and reflect on the use of a similar task in their future classrooms. Their task is to work collaboratively in small groups to create original pieces of media on topics of their choice. Through this assignment, I want my students to experience a technology-infused learning opportunity and utilize the ISTE Standards for Students rather than simply reading about and discussing them.

Instructions for the assignment:
 * 1) Select a topic of study that is of personal or professional significance to you.
 * 2) Create a minimum of three pieces of original media related to this topic. You must create at least two different types of media. (image, video, podcast, screenshot, screencast, digital drawing, etc.)
 * 3) Combine your created media into a format that can be used for presentation or sharing with others. (slideshow, blog post, PowerPoint, Google Doc, flyer, Pinterest board, LiveBinder, etc.)
 * 4) Post your finished product to our Google+ Community, and include a paragraph describing how you would use these media to teach your topic of study to someone else.
 * 5) View your classmates’ products and comment on at least one of them.

Once the projects were created, each group completed [|this handout] to document how their creation project utilized the TPACK framework and ISTE Standards for Students. The handout also guided groups through a conversation about applications for this assignment in their own classrooms.


 * Here's what my students created: **

Prezi introducing a musical term - [|Ostinati]

[|Football]video

[|President's Day] VoiceThread

[|English]Pinterest board

[|Weather]PowerPoint

[|We love Labs]Prezi

[|Heatlhy Eating] Prezi

[|Dos and Don'ts of Dating]blog post

=TPACK Tournament - March Madness Style=

March Madness is my favorite time of the year, so I decided to bring it into my Technology in the Classroom course by hosting a TPACK tournament. I designed a bracket with 32 technology tools. These 32 tools competed against one another until we were left with one champion. To advance through the rounds, my students and I used two dice I designed in the free app Make Dice Lite. One die contained 6 different content topics (i.e. fractions, current events, photosynthesis). The other die contained 6 different pedagogical techniques (i.e. peer teaching, problem-based learning, role play). For each round of the tournament, a student shook the iPad to roll the dice. As a class, we determine the most appropriate technology tool to teach the specific content with the instructional technique (both determined by the dice). The tool that was the best fit for the content and pedagogy advanced to the next round, at which time we rolled the dice again to see which tool would advance further in the tournament. For the championship match-up, students worked in small groups to design a teaching scenario using the tool they believed to be the best match for the content and pedagogy on the dice. Groups shared the scenarios they designed, and the class voted on their favorite scenario. The winning tool was the TPACK Tournament champion and got shout-out on Twitter from EDU 451.

You can [|download my TPACK Tournament bracket here].

 Content and Pedagogy dice created in Make Dice Lite

TPACK Scenarios Littleton Public Schools has a great set of scenarios to think about what aspects of TPACK are being used.

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