What is the TPACK Model?

TPACK stands for technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge. It is a framework that allows teachers to understand how these categories connect to one another in order to effectively teach students using technology. To enhance an individual’s learning, TPACK reflects on the educator’s expertise, teaching methods, and use of technology. The content knowledge consists of topics, concepts, facts, and theories. Pedagogical knowledge includes assignments and assessments. Technological knowledge refers to how technology is incorporated into learning lessons and the quality of technological tools (ie., apps and websites) that students can access. The intersections of these three main categories consist of technological-pedagogical knowledge, technological-content knowledge, and pedagogical-content knowledge.

Applying TPACK Model to the Life Cycle of a Butterfly Science Lesson

In week 7, I created a grade two science lesson on the life cycle of a butterfly and I thought it would be beneficial to my learning by taking the lesson I created and applying the TPACK model.

  • Technological Knowledge
    • Students will watch the YouTube video, The Life Cycle of a Butterfly by ClickView
  • Pedagogical Knowledge
    • Matching cards activity where students match the title of each phase of the life cycle to a small explanation describing what occurs during that stage
    • Multiple choice test
    • Group presentation
  • Content Knowledge
    • Instructor presents knowledge of each phase of the life cycle during field trip to Victoria Butterfly Gardens
    • Instructor helps students identify each phase of the life cycle using their own knowledge
  • Technological-content knowledge
    • Instructor adds one YouTube video to the lesson plan because it provides another way of information to be presented to students to influence their learning
  • Pedagogical-content knowledge
    • By the instructor creating multiple assignments and assessments, students have many opportunities to showcase their knowledge and understanding of the topic
  • Technological-pedagogoical knowledge
    • The YouTube video, The Life Cycle of a Butterfly by ClickView, is appropriate to the development of the lesson

What is the SECTIONS Model?

SECTIONS stands for:

  • Students
  • Ease of use
  • Cost/time
  • Teaching media
  • Interaction
  • Organizational issues
  • Networking
  • Security and privacy

When choosing between media and multimedia tools, this method speeds up the often intuitive process by making it more analytical.

Applying SECTIONS model to Khan Academy

I used Khan Academy a lot in high school and found it extremely helpful so I thought it would be interesting to apply the SECTIONS model to this online educational tool.

  • Students
    • Students within grades K-12 can benefit from this platform
    • Tool is limited to those who have access to the internet
  • Ease of Use
    • This online tool is very simple and easy to use
    • Does not require any skills or training
  • Cost/time
    • FREE!
    • Self-paced – students can spend however long they need to learn a specific topic
  • Teaching media
    • This tool provides a series of YouTube videos on each topic to learn the content
    • Contains practice questions to test your understanding and knowledge
  • Interaction
    • Students have the option to decide how they would like to interact with the tool (i.e., watch videos, complete practice questions, or read about the concept/topic)
  • Organizational issues
    • Can access this tool through any institution such as a schools and libraries that contain a computer and have access to the internet
  • Networking
    • Can widen the number of people in this course through use of tool
    • Individuals can work on their own or in groups on lessons and answering practice questions
  • Security and privacy

Example of Khan Academy Lesson (Fractions)

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-third-grade-math/imp-fractions/imp-fractions-intro/v/cutting-shapes-into-equal-parts