TPACK Critique

   When I hear the word critique, I automatically assume that it is a negative analysis or simply saying what is wrong with a particular topic or subject, but that is not always the case. TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. In a nut shell TPACK is the way in which we add technology into our planning and continuing to follow pedagogy "how am I going to teach this" along with content knowledge "what am I teaching." What I have a hard time understanding is the difference in  Pedagogical Knowledge and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge and  Content Knowledge and Technological Content Knowledge. I get that we are adding technology to the bunch, but what is the real difference? Take the internet for example, most would say that the internet is technology, but others may argue that it is content because of the vast amount of resources that it offers, so which is it? I can say that I use the internet to not only get content, but also how I am going to teach the content. A great example of this is Teacher Pay Teachers. This is a fabulous website that allows for teachers to share their lessons. 
     Often times too many instructors or teachers get caught up on the technology aspect of TPAC. By looking at the TPACK model technology, pedagogy, and content are equally balanced.

 Is that really true? I would argue that knowledge of content is less important than knowledge of pedagogy (even more so now because of how accessible information is). The over-emphasis on the use of technology, particularly in terms of teacher professional development, has led to an imbalance where teachers lack understanding as to how to effectively use instructional technology with learners. In my experience of participating in professional development too many teachers focus on the sole fact to use technology rather than how can technology aid in my instruction. It is only a myth that technology has to incorporated in every single lesson. It is not true. Not every lesson is going to require the use to technology, instead of forcing the issue, use what is going to give the students the best opportunity to meet the learning outcomes. When this occurs often the students are forgotten about.  It becomes what am I going to teach, how am I going to teach it, and what technology am I going to incorporate. We should rather be asking ourselves, what do I want my students to learn and how are they going to demonstrate this knowledge using technology. Instead of saying I want to use spicy nodes what can I use spicy nodes for, we should be asking how can a student demonstrate their finding/knowledge for a particular topic using spicy nodes. There is a difference. It is not about the technology itself. It is about how the technology is to aid in the learning and the facilitating. I feel this gets lost in the TPACK model.
     Now that I feel as though I have put TPACK model on blast, I want to take a moment and say what is great about the model. TPACK looks at the collaboration between technology, pedagogy, and content and argues that teachers need knowledge of all three. This is true! With the help of technology teachers are now beginning to understand and put into practice how formative assessments work. It is I am going to use "X" tool to demonstrate my knowledge of "Y." This is the way it should be use and expressed on both the teacher aspect and the student aspect. If TPACK first understood then used effectively and efficiently, I recommend the model.