Reflection on designing a professional development based on TPACK

The final assignment of the course ‘Pedagogies for Flexible Learning Supported by Technology’ was to design a professional development based on TPACK for primary education teachers. In this blog I will reflect on this process by looking at three different parts. First I will reflect on the design process as an educational designer. Then I will reflect on working with TPACK and last I will give my ideas about how to stimulate teachers to integrate technology.

1.       The process of designing a course or professional development as an educational designer

Designing a professional development

 For our final assessment we had the opportunity to choose between to design a lesson based on the TPACK framework or to design a professional development based on the TPACK framework. First, with my background as a primary teacher, I preferred the first one, because this is more in line with things I did before this course, during teaching training. On the other hand, the second one was more challenging for me, because I never did something like this before and this is why I thought I could learn more from this assessment. With this in my mind, I eventually chose to design a professional development course for primary education teachers, based on the TPACK framework.

Theoretical framework as guidelines

With our group we started with a brainstorm session and we came up with a lot of ideas. I immediately became very enthusiastic but all these ideas also brought up the question what kind of design ideas is actually good or effective.

This is why we first looked at some literature, before we went to the next step of actually putting the ideas into a design. We found very good articles of Garet, Porter, Desimone, Briman and Yoon (2001) and Penuel, Fishman, Yamaguchi and Gallagher (2007) about effective professional development. This combined with the article of Voogt, Fisser and Tondeur (2010) about the development of TPACK, gave us a theoretical framework for our design. This theoretical framework was a good support, for designing our professional development. Because of this I got ideas that I would never have come up with otherwise. For example, Penuel et al (2007) describes that it is good to identify possible barriers to provide good support.  The theoretical framework also helped me to make based decisions for designing. I’m inclined to think and work with a very practical view and this theoretical framework helped me to work from a theoretical view and not just act intuitively. I think that, as a good educational designer, you always have to think about why you make your decisions and a very good start for this is looking for guidelines from theory or research is. I believe, you can’t just make something based on feeling and see if it works.

Designing with a practical background

While working on our design, I noticed that it is very nice to have a practical background. In addition to the theory, it is good to take a practical look into the design. For example, I know from the practice that teachers have to do a lot of things besides teaching and often complain about time pressure. Teachers are not always waiting for a time consuming course. Furthermore, for teachers who can sometimes be very stubborn, it is also important that they get to see why a course or change in education is important. How do they and their students benefit from this? We have tried to take this into account by choosing for a less time consuming course starting with a course day and meetings they can plan themselves and by letting teachers experience what they can do with technologies during the workshops.

Evaluation as a design part

I believe, it is also important in the process of designing a professional development for teachers, you also think about how to evaluate this. The goal as an educational designer is not just to design a course or a program, but to let the design work. You can find this out by evaluation the program and thinking about this phase before implementing the program. By doing this I learned about different evaluation forms to measure TPACK.

2.       Working with TPACK

The overall goal of the professional development program was to let teachers learn how to integrate technology into the classroom practice by developing and using TPACK. Teachers can also just use technology without developing TPACK, so why should they actually learn TPACK? I think developing TPACK is very important because it helps teachers to look at technology in a different way. With developing TPACK teachers not only learn how to use a technology, but also learn about how their pedagogy or content can change because of technology and they learn about how the technology can support their pedagogy and content. Teachers can also use different starting points for designing their lessons based on TPACK. I think nowadays many teachers still use technology from the technological angle, but when teachers will start to think from the pedagogical or content angle, about how technology can support their pedagogy and or content, they hopefully will use more technology in their education. In my opinion, developing TPACK can really help teachers to become better teachers and TPACK will help them and their education to use technologies in a more effective and efficient way. As a primary teacher myself, I have been enthusiastic about technologies since I was little. Starting teacher training I automatically became enthusiastic about using technologies in education, but I have never learned something about how technologies could improve or support my teaching skills. So, for me TPACK can be a powerful tool because it helps me think more and differently about how to combine my own technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge and learning about TPACK helped me to become a better educational designer in the future.   

3.       Ideas about how to stimulate teachers to integrate (not just use!) technology in education..

During designing the professional development, besides forming an opinion about TPACK I also thought about some ideas to stimulate teachers to integrate technology in education.

I have to notice that the difference between using and integrating technologies is that teachers not using technologies several times because for instance they have to, but that teachers integrate technology in their everyday practice. It should become automatically for teachers to use and to think about their use of technology in education in an effective way.

-          Give them time!

-          Let them experience first!

-          Don’t push it!

I think it is obvious, that stimulating teachers to integrate technology will be much more effort than just give teachers some technologies to work with, like an interactive whiteboard. Integrating technology will take time. Unfortunately not every teacher is motivated to use technology. To stimulate teachers it is important that teachers get time to get used to using technologies. I think if they can experience with the technology first, without pressure, it will be better than when teachers just have to use technology when they feel they are not ready yet.

-          Begin with enthusiastic teachers!

 I think it is also a good start to begin with teachers who are already enthusiastic about technologies. In this way, teachers can stimulate each other.  If this teachers explain the other teachers how they can integrate technologies teachers are hopefully more willing to accept this.

-          Show them practical examples of technology use!

-          Let them see the benefits!

Teachers have a practical view. If you want to stimulate teachers to integrate technology then keep that in mind. I think teachers can be motivated by showing them practical examples of technology use. For example let them visit in other classrooms to observe some technology lessons. In this way teachers can see what the technology can mean for their education practice and hopefully see the benefits of using technology.

-          Give them support!

If teachers have had enough time to experience with technologies and had enough time to observe others and if they hopefully have seen the benefits of it, support is needed. Teachers need help if to develop their technological skills and knowledge. If teachers feel that they will be supported to grow I think it would be easier for them to integrate technology in their education. By collaboration teachers can support each other and learn from each other by giving each other feedback or sharing ideas.

-          Keep on going!

Keep in mind that working with technology is not something teachers only have to learn once. Education is constantly changing and also new technologies will be constantly developed. This is why integrating technology in education is not an isolated process but ongoing. This is why most of above points must be repeated once in a while. We must continue to give  teachers time and support for integrating technologies.

Conclusion
First, looking back at working on this assignment, I’m glad I did choose the challenge of designing a professional development instead of the obvious choice of designing a lesson. I think I learned a lot from this, like starting with a good theoretical framework as guidelines to design, keeping the practical view in mind too and using different evaluation forms for measuring TPACK.
Then, I have learned that working with TPACK can be very valuable for teachers. Knowledge of this model is also important for educational designers because they are directly involved when they design something for teachers. And finally I have thought of some ideas to stimulate teachers to integrate technology in education, from which the main important ideas are to give teachers enough time and support.

The TPACK-model, why?

In my privious blog I wrote an explanation about the TPACK model and what it includes. In this one I continue on this and discribe why we need a TPACK-model, what the added vallue of  TPACK can be and how the TPACK-model can be used. This in relation with everything I have learned so far in the course "Pedagogies for Flexible Learning Supported by Technology" within my mastertrack.

The TPACK-model, why? Why do we need this model?
First, to explain why this model is useful and important I have to mention that this model is based on a previous model, the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), discribed by Shulman (1986). Their model consists of the Pedagogical Knowledge and the Content Knowledge, and the integration between. Luckely in our education their is already paid much attention to these areas. Teachers need to know what students have to learn (content) and how they can do that (pedagogy) and how they can match these two domains.

In my opinion, with the advent of technology, it is very important that also attention also is paid to this aspect. Technologies can not longer be avoided and we can not deny it anymore. The TPACK-model adds this technology domain and mentions that teachers beside knowledge about pedagogy and content, also need to have knowledge about technology. This is necessary because teachers need to know how to deal with technology which requires knew knowledge and skills, but also to assess the meaning of this technology and the potentials of it for education. Because this model mentions the importance of adding the technological knowledge within this model, curriculumdesigners, schools and teachers can take this model into their account to improve their education.

In addition, using technology can lead to changes in content or pedagogy. Because the upcoming tendens of using technology in education, more options and more pedagogical approaches apear. (See also my blog about pedagogical approaches) Because the TPACK-model notices the importance of integrating the three domains, teachers also have to consider their current padogical approach and if necessary, adjust their pedagogy. This is also linked with flexibility. (See also my blog about flexibility) The use of technology increases the opportunities (flexibility) for students and this asks more skills and knowledge of teachers. It is important that teachers recognize this, and according to the TPACK-model, integrate their content, pedagogy and technology and if necessary, adjust their education.

Another point I want to make about this topic is that the use of technology in education is still not the most favorite part of teaching for every teacher. Sometimes teachers are forced to use a technology, because the school obliged this. Schools are in a competitive position with each other and using new technologys is a way to differentiate. When teachers don't support this idea it doesn't work in an effective way. With this TPACK model, it is clear that with new technologies, also attaintion and support must be given to teachers to help them acquire the new skills and knowledge and not only to help them how to use the technology, but also how to combine the technology within their pedagogy and content with all the changes this entails. Schools and teachers must be supported in understanding this. If teachers will be supported in using the technology in combination with their own pedagogy and own content, hopefully they will be more motivated to contribute.

The perception of using technology in education should be changed because of TPACK. I think, because of this model, teachers can be made aware about the movement from a situation of "there is a technology and how can I use it" towards a situation of "how can we connect the technology with the content and pedagogy, and how does these areas change because of it?" or towards a situation of "which technology can we use in connection with our pedagogy and content to support our education?" This because all the three domains are integrated in the TPACK-model.

I tried to explain why TPACK is usefull and important, but how can TPACK be used in practice? I think a good start is using the TPACK-model in teacher-training. When prospective teachers will be educated about the TPACK-model, the teachers of the future will be less affraid of the use of technology. They can already be convinced about TPACK, practise and use it in "safe" settings while they are working on their competencies and see the usefulness of using technologies. 

But this is not enough. Current teachers also need to be conviced about TPACK, because they are already teaching and already using technologies. To improve education, teachers need to improve their knowledge and skills, in general, about technology and with TPACK also about how to integrate their knowledge and skills about technology, pedagogy and content. Schools or the managemant of schools should support their teachers with TPACK. They have to convince teachers about the importance of technologies by supporting them, let them work together, exchange ideas, participate in decisions about technologies, give them opportunities to try to work with technologies and to evaluate how this works. And they have to acknowledge that it takes time. With the right help and support, teachers can enhence their expertise. 

In conclusion, the TPACK-model can be important and usefull because it stresses the importance of technology knowledge. Not only about how to use it, but also about how to combine this with the pedagogy and the content. In a world were the use of technology is inevitible, technology in education can not remain. So this is why teachers also need to pay attention to this, and this model can help them.
TPACK, with the right support, can also convince or help teachers who are still anxious to use technology by stressing the importance of using technology in connection with the matching pedagogy and content. Hopefully the TPACK-model can cause a movement in teachers perceptions from using technology because of the technology toward using technology because it can be helpfull, efficient and effective in education if we match it with the right pedagogy and content. To do this, teachers must be supported in teacher training and in schools, in such a way that using TPACK become more and more beneficial for them, students and for schools.

An explanation of the TPACK-model

With the uprising use of technology in our society and world, the use of technology in education can not remain. This raises a lot of questions, one of which is how teachers can use technology in their education and what should they take into account by using this? Using technology into lessons, requires knowledge and skills about technology, in addition to all the other skills and knowledge that teachers already have to posses. Koehler and Mishra (2005) state that teachers who want to use technology in an effective way, need to be skilled in three domains: technology, pedagogy and content and theachers have to integrate these three domains. Their model is called TPACK, which stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. In this blog I will try to explain this model in my own words.

TPACK- model of Koehler and Mishra, source www.tpack.org

The model consist of three domains, Technological Knowledge (TK) stands for the knowledge about the techology and include how the technology can be used, which possibilities it offers and what it might mean for education. Content Knowledge (CK) stands for the knowlegde about the content. The teacher needs to possess knowledge and skills about the subject, like facts, concepts, backgrounds and theories. Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) includes the pedagogical knowledge about how students learn, which approach can be used to teach, how a lesson can be organised, prepared, be done and evaluated.

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Like the models shown, if just two of the domains will be integrated, we get also overlapping areas in the cirle. Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is about how particular aspects of subject matter can be teached and how to make students understand this.  Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) is about how technology can change pedagogies or how the pedagogy can be supported by it and Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) is about how a tecnology can be used to learn students the subject matter of how content can be changed by the technology.  

Like the name of the model already mentions and like the picture of the model already shows, the center of the model is the most important. It combines all three subdomains and this is where the TPACK arises. To teach with technology, the teacher always needs to have knowledge about those three domains, but most importly, the teacher has to integrate those domains, and has to know how they work together, because they are not distinguishable in a lesson but are interlinked.

Last should be added that all of this, should be seen within the the context. Every school and every teacher is different and every lesson is depending on the composition and level of the students, the schoolculture and organisation and the environment etc. This is why teachers not only need take just the three domains into their account, but also the the context.

I did my best to write an clear, objective explanation of this model. In my next blog I will go on about my ideas about TPACK and the possible added value of it.

Pedagogical approaches

'The art of science of teaching', that is how a pedagogy is called (Dunkin, 1987). With the upcoming tendens of using technology in education, more options and more pedagogy approaches appear. There is simply not one way or one best pedagogical approach in which a teacher teachs best and the learners learn best. It is depending on what kind of content knowledge or skills you want to learn to the learners, which approach fits the teacher and the schoolsetting. In this article I will discribe five different approaches. In addition I will give for each approach an example in which way an technical environment like Blackboard can be used in this pedagogy.

Traditional Learning
The first and most famous way of learning is traditional learning. If you think about traditional learning, you will think about the old-classroom setting with the teacher in front of the classroom and the learners sitting behind their desks sitting and listening. The teacher takes the leader-role and educate the same content to all the learners, doing this face to face in a classroom. The students mainly listening and there is not much space for differentiate, discussion or for example self-exploring of the content. The teachers provides the knowledge and the learners, if it is taught well, receive this knowledge. This pedagogical approach could be supported by an environment as Blackboard by providing the students the basic information about the course or lessons. For example the goals, the assignments, the grading, the structure, the time when and where the lessons take place. The teacher can also put information on Blackboard so the students can take a look and find (additional or background) information in line with the content of the course or the lesson. Blackboard can also be used to submit assignments and to give the students feedback or gradings after the submit an assignment.

Problem-based Learning
Another pedagocial approach is problem-based learning. The learners get a real-life-problem which is tailed to the learners level. The problem is the starting point and the learners need to solve the problem. To solve the problem the learners have to work together. They use their prior knowledge and through collaboration they obtain new knowledge.  By sharing knowlege the learners construct new mental models and developing self-directed skills. In this approach the teachers takes the role as a coach to help the students solve the problem. This pedagogical appraoch could be supported by Blackboard in different ways. The students can collaborate on a discussion board or a form, or by email to share possible solution or knowledge they need to solve the problem. The teacher can provide feedback bij Blackboard if the learners put some questions on Blackboard or when they submit (parts of the) solution. The teacher can also put background information on Blackboard or give the learners an general written explanation how and where to find background information.

Inquiry Learning
Inquiry learning is defined as "an approach to learning that involves a process of exploring the natural or material world, and that leads to asking questions, making discoveries, and rigorously testing those discoveries in the search for new understanding".
The teacher starts with a question and the learners need to find the answer by finding resources and collaborate. Blackboard can also used for inquiry learning by letting leaners collaborate in a discussion board and share information.

Collaborative Learning

In collaborative learning, like the name says, learners need to collaborate and learn through active participation. The learners have to work together to complete an problem-solving task designed to promote learning. All the learners share the responsibility to complete the task. This could be supported by blackboard to provide the learners the discription of the task and to let the learners collaborate in a forum or discussion board, virtual classroom or chat where they can exchange their ideas.

Workplace Learning
In a pedagocal approach with workplace learning, the learners learn in a real workplace-environment. The students can make an assignment in the workplace, doing research or just observate and particpate in the workplace to learn. Blackboard can be used in this approach to communicate with the teacher about the experiences in the workplace. The student can submit assignment, receive feedback from the teacher and students can.

In conclusion, different pedagogical approaches can be used for teaching and no matter which one is used, blackboard can be supporting in this, maybe in one approach more than in another.

An article about a specific pedagogical approach.

Drain (2010) describes in his article 'Justification of the Dual-Phase Project Based Pedagogical Approach in a Primary School Technology Unit' a case study in a primary classroom within a project-based approach by using the Cognitive Apprenticeship as a theoretical framework.
The project-based approach is provided with a dual-phase plan, which means that in the first phase students learn the technological skills and knowledge needed for the second phase, where they engage in project activities. This article aims to justify this approach by using the Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA) Framework.
The class activities were observed and compared with the principles of the CA framework. The research showed that the dual-phase approach was succesfull in a primary technology unit, because the teacher could suport the development of knowledge and skills and support the students to complete indipendent technological practice projects. The CAframework principles were achieved in the implementation of the dual-phase approach.

This article is interesting because it combine the CAframework and the dual-phase approach in a primary education within technology. It could offer teacher evidence and convince teachers to use technology and different approaches in education.

http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ882752.pdf

Flexibility; towards a situation where learners have a range of options from which to choose

Last week, in the the first lecture of the course 'Pedagogies for flexible learning supported by technology' our lecturer started the lecture with several questions about flexibility and flexibility learning. "What kind of flexibility options are there in our course, mastertrack, university and educational world?" Thinking about the answers I discoverd that I found it difficult to get a good comprehensive answer to it. I could name some kinds of flexibilities, like time or distance, but started thinking about what else would be possible. Luckely, my lecterer came up with various forms of flexibility, like content, requirements, instructional approach, logistics, according to Collis and Moonen (2001). Collis and Moonen (2001) describe flexible learning as a movement from a situation where the key choices are made by the instructor or institution, towards a situation where the learners has a lot of freedom to choose several opportunies. Flexibility learning intends to meet the needs of the learners, not only by the variety of courses, locations and times, but also by variety in coure resources, variety in types of learning activities, variety in media to support learning and much more.  

I'm going to describe five kinds of flexibility more extensively, with advantages and disadvantages for each kind of flexibility.

Flexibility related to time
The first kind of flexibility I would like to describe is flexibility related to time. When instructors or institutes offer a lot of flexibility in time, the learner can for instance choose when starting and finishing a course, choose when he or she wants to submit assigments and will interact in the course, choose the tempo or pase of studying and the moments of assesments. This could be very beneficial for students when they have a busy life beside their study. A lot of students work and have a very busy social life. If they get a lot of freedom in time it easier to plan their life in such a way it best suits them. On the other hand, a lot of students facing problems planning their study and motivate themselve to study. If students may choose when to submit an assigment or in what tempo or pace it can cause delay for students, because in their busy life they maybe rather choose something they like more than studying.

Flexibility related to content
The second kind of flexibility I would like to describe is flexibility related to content. In a flexible content situation students can choose the topics of the course, the sequences of different parts of the course, a theoretical or practical orientation of the course, the key learning materials and the assessment standards and completion requirements. I think this gives student a lot of freedom to choose subject matter which corresponding their interests which keeps students more motivated. I'm not sure if to much freedom in the content is a good thing. On the other hand it offers students maybe to much freedom, because not every student knows what he or she wants to learn. It is also possible that students only choose courses or topics they are already familiar with or subject were student alreadymuch knowledge about. In that situation students would learn more if the institution or instructor decide what students have to learn. 

Flexibility related to entry requirements
The third kind of flexibility I'm going to describe is flexibility related to entry requirements. If students have a lot of flexibility in this, they can choose of decide the conditions for participation. This is good for students who want to involve in some kind of studies and don't have the required knowledge or skills yet to join a course, because they will still have time to acquire these skills and knowledge during the course and don't be delayed. On the other hand it could effect the level of the course or subject.


Flexibility related to approach and research
The fourth kind of flexibility I will describe is flexibility related to approach and research. In a situation where there is a lot of flexibity in approach and research students can choose for face-to-face organisation of learning, our in groups or individual, they can choose the language to be used during the course, the learning resources and the instructional organisation of learing like assignments and monitoring. It this way students can choose a way of learning they prefer. Some students are better in individual learner, some students prefer oneother language etc. A disadvantage of this flexibility could be that it takes a lot of time and costst to organize this kinds of options for students. 


Flexibility related to delivery and logistics
The fifth and last flexibility I'm going to describe here is the flexibility to delivery and logistics. This includes time and place where contact with instructor and other students occurs, methods, technology for obtaining support and making contact, types of help, communication available, technology required, location, technology for participating in various aspects of the course and delivery channels for course information, content and communication. I think this flexibility can be very handy for students. For example if students can follow a course with distance-learning by technology it is also possible to join lectures on the other side of the world. This can save a lot of time and money. On the other hand this delivery and logistic situations costs a lot of work, time and costs to organiye as well and can give the student also to many choises so his studyprogram can become unclear.

First blog about the course 'Pedagogies for Flexible Learning supported by Technology'

Yeah! I'm writing my first blog as part of the course Pedagogies for Flexible Learning supported by Technology at the University of Twente. Interesting title, is what I immediately thought when I was choosing my electives. Interesting title, but what does it mean?

I will try to describe what I think. With my background as a primary teacher, I have several ideas about organizing education. In my opinion, technology can be very helpfull and supporting in education, if used in the right way. I hope this course will provide some theories and practical examples about using and implementing technologies. I also like to learn more about how pedagogies and possibilities change, or could/should change as an result of these technologies.