TPACK model
Whether you are an experienced maths or computer science teacher or not, we all need to look at our own practice critically to ensure that we have the technological (T), pedagogical (P) and content knowledge (CK) necessary to design great learning for our learners’ needs. The TPACK model is a simple way to think about this.
As teachers, it is important to be able to reflect on our own practice as learners. The greatest gift we can give the learners in our classes is the understanding that learning is a continual process and to model what it means to be a great learner. Throughout the Hub, you will find examples of pedagogical practice, Digital Technologies curriculum content knowledge and references to the use of technology. While it is natural to be stronger in one area than another, we are aiming to move to a level of practice where our pedagogy is varied and purposeful, our content knowledge is strong enough to give us confidence to find out what we don’t know, and where we have a varied toolbox of technologies to choose from. As with any form of assessment, it may be useful to look at your own capacities against a self-assessment grid like the one below.
| Quantity of knowledge | Quality of understanding | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criteria | Pre-structural | Uni-structural | Multi-structural | Relational | Extended abstract |
| Technology: personal and class use | I use no technology in my teaching and learning. | I rely heavily on one type of technology in my teaching and learning. | I use multiple types of technology in my teaching and learning. | I have a wide variety of technologies in my toolbox and am able to select when to use them judiciously. | I have a rich technology toolbox and am able to identify, source and use new technologies as required by my pedagogy. |
| Pedagogy: deliberate and varied approaches to learner centred design | I cannot identify any purposeful pedagogies I use. | I have a predominant approach to learning design which is didactic in nature. | I have several different pedagogies which I can switch to as a dominant style of teaching and learning. | I have a wide variety of pedagogical approaches and blend several approaches in every learning sequence. | I have internalised my pedagogical approaches so that I can react in an agile manner to learner needs, let go of control when necessary and experiment with new pedagogies confidently. |
| Content knowledge: Digital Technologies | I have very little knowledge of the Digital Technologies curriculum. | I understand the reasons why we have a Digital Technologies curriculum. | I know several aspects of the Digital Technologies curriculum, such as hardware, software and algorithm. | I understand how the different aspects of the Digital Technologies curriculum interrelate but am more confident in some than others. | I can confidently explain, in depth, each aspect of the Digital Technologies curriculum and how they interrelate. |
Once you have completed this self-assessment, you can approach improving your TPaCK level by exploring some of the exemplars to see technology, pedagogy and content knowledge in situ. If you want some specific help with pedagogy, read the Pedagogical practices section in detail. If you need support on the content knowledge, have a look at some of the explanations in the topics and core concepts sections.
You may have very strong skills in designing learning (P) but no expertise in algorithmic thinking (CK) or using Beebots (T). This site is here to help you fill in the gaps so that you can design great learning for every learner in your care. In this section, you will find an example of a lesson focusing on Year 2 level learners in Digital Technologies, English and Mathematics. We have designed a lesson to tackle these, using Beebots. If you don’t have access to real Beebots, you could use an online Beebot simulator. We have provided an example lesson plan and, importantly, some links to resources that will help you to develop your TPACK understanding for this particular example.