Thank you TPACK and TIP!

Years of research, debate and theorizing on the best and most effective means and methods of education have left today’s educators with a plethora of resources from which they may construct their teaching philosophies on.  With the ability to ‘pick and choose’ those practices which prove most beneficial to one’s overall instructional goals, teachers can now provide students with a much more unique and individually tailored education which is much less likely to leave ‘non-traditional’ students behind.  Many of these methods stem from the objectivist and constructivist models, both of which actively support the integration of technology within the classroom setting. 

The TPACK model allows educators to begin to develop an appreciation of technology as an integral learning tool within the classroom.  This basic understanding and appreciation is especially important in a program with special challenges such as mine.  Most of my students come from extremely disruptive and even violent backgrounds and home lives, so an instructor’s lesson must unfold smoothly and flawlessly in order to capture and hold their student’s attention.  With this population of students, any type of disruption, rather it be a technological problem or perhaps a miscalculated instructional strategy can throw off the entire lesson for the day.  Therefore it is especially important for our instructors to be familiar with the importance of the intricate relationship between content, technology and pedagogical knowledge.

My program is extremely appreciative of the fact that within the last couple of years, a very generous donation was made which allowed us to equip each classroom with an interactive Smartboard.  We were beyond a normal level of excitement when the boards were being installed, a joy that quickly turned into frustration and sheer terror when we couldn’t even figure out how to turn the d*mn things on!  Through the use of the TIP model, we can now rest assured that help is finally here!  This model will allow our instructors to methodologically navigate through the steps to be taken to successfully integrate technology within the classroom.  It is our goal to be able to integrate resources such as these into the lessons with the same fluidity and precision as we once did when we were limited to textbooks, handouts, overhead projectors and 2-D models.  By using the TIP model we will now be able to provide our students with a vast amount of information which was once not as readily available.  Teachers will also be able to determine whether the relative advantage of integrating technology into a particular lesson or unit will be useful, and if so, how?  The TIP model will also allow instructors to focus on measurable objectives and expected outcomes from which they may then choose how to best integrate the use of technology to support these objectives.