TPACK-izzle

The TPACK framework has three kinds of knowledge that all combine to make TPACK. The first is Pedagogical knowledge (PK) which is general knowledge and skills related to teaching. Second is Content knowledge (CK) which is the knowledge of facts, concepts and skills in a specific domain. Third is Technological knowledge (TK) which is the knowledge required to understand and use various technologies. When all three of these knowlegdes combine you get TPACK or TPCK. It is very important for teachers to be able to use TPACK because it keeps the students interested in what they are learning and can perhaps teach them more effectively than old teaching methods (by the book). The one video activity that we watched that really stood out to me was the video where the children were checking the temperature of ice with an ice cream activity. I thought that if I was a kid in that class doing that activity I would be very excited about what I was learning, and would be more attentive in the experiment. It was an awesome example of what TPACK is. It was a hands on activity (PK), it was based on a specific content area (CK), and it used technology with thermometers hooked up to computers to test the temperatures (TK). I think that when teachers have lessons using TPACK that the students learn more and are more interested in what they're learning.