Professional Development Workshop: Integrating Technology in the Classroom

The TPACK Framework and the Benefits for Faculty and Students 

 

Let's face it the world is changing in terms of how we are delivering curriculum to our demographic of students, and AIU believes in the usage of technology and other enhancements to broaden the experiences of its students and faculty.  We believe in this pedagogical framework so much that we require all new faculty members to complete this Professional Development module so that they will have a richer knowledge of how their curriculum should be built, while also integrating the required components of the courses that they are teaching.  

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We serve such a diverse demographic of student; however, we also believe that every course should also prepare them for the rigors of excelling in their desired professions, and this also means providing exposure to varied mediums of technology.  Our programs utilize a hybrid methodology of course instruction (online and campus based learning), and it is critical that each student has exposure to both methods of instruction from the onset of their programs.  

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Please take a moment to review some of the key components of the TPACK pedagogy that was used in creating this online course module, and we encourage you to share your thoughts about this Professional Development module with your Program Chairs.  You are also welcome to email our Training and Development team at AIUTrainingTeam@aiuniv.edu.  

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We've briefly covered why we are choosing TPACK as our framework for this workshop but what exactly is it and why is it beneficial to you as an instructor?  According to Mishra and Koehler it imperative to incorporate technology as recently teacher education has shifted focus to general "pedagogical practices independent of subject matter;" however, it also requires that the instructor transforms their teaching by finding more creative ways to represent and present subject matter while also making it accessible to all students (pg. 1018-1026, 2006).   Our university is continuously evolving, and as our classrooms continue to adopt the hybrid model of classroom instruction we have to embrace these resources that can enhance content knowledge.  We choose to intersect pedagogical content knowledge, technological content knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge as all three frameworks help instructors to adjust to the ever changing world of technology today (Mishra & Koehler, 2006).  The combination of these fields forms the acronym TPACK.  

 

Our Professional Development workshop uses all elements of this model by allowing instructors to engage in more diverse and complex manners while also allowing the content to be presented in ways that engage learning in a whole new dimension.  We embrace allowing the learner to draw upon their prior knowledge and experiences, while also analyzing how the new knowledge can enhance that learning.  The TPACK model focuses on building that knowledge and developing new epistemiologies or potentially helping that student to strengthen their existing understanding (Mishra & Koehler, 2006).  Our instructors are allowed to use their prior knowledge and experiences to enhance their experience here in the AIU learning community by engaging in the resources, but they also have an advantage in that all of our development resources require that they engage in learning like their own students.  Our goal with this model is to not only allow the instructor to become comfortable with engaging with technology, but we also want them to critically analyze areas of opportunity to improve the diverse learning experiences that their students may have.  

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We strive to make analytical thinking engaging and unique for each learner, so we hope you enjoyed your experience in this online course module! 

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