Task 2: T-Pack

First of all we will mention the type of map we have chosen. We thought a mind map was the best option, since it is a powerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlock the potential of the brain. It can be applied to every aspect of life where improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance human performance.

Our palette represents a Buzan mind map in which we have used a central image to connect the different ideas to the central one throughout curved branches and adding colours to be more creative. We have chosen this type as it is a good way to catch the attention of our classmates and clearly explain what ‘’TPACK’’ is, in an interactive way.

We also have been asked for defining what exactly TPACK is (a technology, a theory, a model, an animal, a poetry, an author, or even all of these...). We have answered that the TPACK framework is described as a complex interaction among three bodies of knowledge: content, pedagogy and technology. This interaction, both theoretically and in practice, produces the types of flexible knowledge needed to successfully integrate technology use into teaching.

Going back to the main point, we will say TPACK is composed by three different dimensions:

- Technological knowledge: innovative ways of thinking about and working with technology.

- Content knowledge: teachers’ knowledge about the subject matter.

- Pedagogical knowledge: teachers’ knowledge about the processes and methods of teaching and learning.

These are related between them leading to three new intersections:

- Pedagogical content knowledge: way of teaching a specific knowledge which requires the teacher's interpretation and taylorism to students’ needs and previous knowledge and also mastering different strategies to solve problems.

- Technological content knowledge: understanding of the manner in which technology and content influence and constrain one another. It allows the representation and manipulation of data in new and fruitful ways.

- Technological pedagogical knowledge: understanding of how teaching and learning can change when technologies are used in particular ways.

After that, we have put into words how would TPACK be useful for us as Primary School teachers. We consider this framework as extremely beneficial for us, because it offers several possibilities for promoting research in teacher education, teacher professional development and teachers’ use of technology. Moreover, it allows teachers and researchers move beyond oversimplified approaches that treat technology as an “add-on” instead to focus again, and in a more ecological way, upon the connections among technology, content and pedagogy as they play out in classroom contexts.

On the other hand, if we have to relate TPACK with our degree and say if it will be useful for us in the future; we will surely say TPACK is crucial in our job as teachers in order to integrate technology into teaching. For example, most software programs are not designed to be used in educational contexts, so teachers need to reject functional fixedness (Duncker, 1945) and develop skills to look beyond most common uses for technologies, reconfiguring them for customized pedagogical purposes. Thus, TPK requires a forward-looking, creative and open-minded seeking of technology use, not for its own sake but for the sake of advancing student learning and understanding. We have to teach our students to manage the technological tools of the modern times they have been borned in.

To sum up, we believe values and affection are not included in TPACK model, although they are an important part of teacher’s action . As a consequence, it is not enough in order to understand the work of a teacher, since not only a professor needs to have a high understanding of his pertinent subject, but also needs to know how to deal with students. Teachers should create a positive, restorative and respectful work-environment in which pupils feel comfortable and eager to learn.