Tuesday, September 22, 2015
TPACK and Unprepared Teachers
In an time of increased technology and the importance of technological knowledge, teachers are often under informed on how to best incorporate technology into their classrooms. Teacher education programs and school districts push the importance of using technology in the classroom, but that is often where the instruction ends. Many are left to navigate the incorporation themselves with little to no explicit instruction on how to use technology to best serve their students. Most technology now being used in classrooms incorporate content and technological knowledge, but are missing important pedagogical knowledge. Teachers are so concerned with creating a technology rich curriculum and getting students to interact with as much technology as possible that they are forgoing important pedagogical instruction. This research ties into the article discussing the struggles of new teachers in the sense that teachers are often left to fend for themselves after graduation. While there are professional development opportunities available, there are little to no everyday resources for teachers to turn to when curriculum help is needed.
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Being a student that is getting ready to teach this is a very scary reality. There is such a shortage of teachers that schools have somewhat forgot about the teachers that they do have. Also you said it best in saying that teachers are so concerned about making technology apart of the classroom that we lose that important face to face instruction.
ReplyDeleteBut while pre-servise teachers are coming in comfortable with technology, this doesn’t translate into knowing how to use it to engage young minds or to tailor a lesson to meet the learning needs and styles of individual students. Although teacher candidates know how to operate the devices, they need to be taught how to use them to help kids learn. All of you will be my first "white rats" to allow me to learn how to assistant your TPACK into the actual instructions in the classroom, which makes me feel guilty since I am going to make a tons of mistakes from this "experiment" in order to revise my teaching to help the future pre-service teachers...
DeleteTeacher education programs are trying to teach today’s preservice teachers how to use the wide range of technologies – from old-school software and tools such as PowerPoint, videos and laptops to those ubiquitous tablets and smartphones – as classroom tools, not just as social devices for communicating with friends or playing games.
ReplyDeleteBut because of rapid technological change, the need to fit more class requirements into a curriculum already filled with state-mandated courses, and the hiring practices of schools recruiting new teachers, many teachers colleges are finding it difficult to integrate technology education into their teacher preparation programs.
The result is a “to each its own” approach to teacher education, as the teaching colleges strive to work technology in without taking content and pedagogy out. Presently schools of education develop their own technology-based curricula that build on best practices in the field, in compliance with the recognized standards in the profession.
I did the research regarding TPACK in WVU and am applying and experimenting the Technology curriculum based on my research and the vision from our program. I hope all of you can implement what you have learn from TPACK as you become the teacher from my ongoing experiments in our class!
I agree that teachers are often under informed on how to best incorporate technology into their classrooms. I also agree with teachers becoming so concerned with creating a technology rich curriculum and getting students to interact with as much technology as possible that they are forgoing important pedagogical instruction.
ReplyDeleteI agree with kaylee on this. Technology is the main point in most lessons. Teachers focus in introducing technology instead of teaching the lesson. In today's age I feel that teachers are either underinformed about incorporating technology or that's all they do. With all the new information that is available I see the future of education no longer using textbooks. But instead using technology only to teach lessons.
ReplyDeleteI agree with kaylee on this. Technology is the main point in most lessons. Teachers focus in introducing technology instead of teaching the lesson. In today's age I feel that teachers are either underinformed about incorporating technology or that's all they do. With all the new information that is available I see the future of education no longer using textbooks. But instead using technology only to teach lessons.
ReplyDeleteWe do go over a lot of teaching strategies in school and it will always be hard to pick and choose what will be most beneficial to us until we actually get to the classroom. Technology in different schools would also come into place here as well, for example when we leave OPSU one of us could start teaching in a larger school and be exposed to all kinds of new technology and another one of us could go to a smaller school who might not have the funds to have smart boards in every classroom. We also have to think about the kids we are teaching, as they grow up they are going to be exposed to a whole new world of technology that we did not have growing up. Technology is never going to go away or stop growing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this blog on the use of technology in the classroom. Nowadays, the school district believes that students know so much about technology that they do not need further instruction. Technology is beginning to be a very important tool in everyday lives and some students are becoming uncomfortable without it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this blog on the use of technology in the classroom. Nowadays, the school district believes that students know so much about technology that they do not need further instruction. Technology is beginning to be a very important tool in everyday lives and some students are becoming uncomfortable without it.
ReplyDelete