TPCK

Each instructional situation in which teachers find themselves is unique; it is an interweaving of three factors: // 1 //// New technologies change our view of what is considered essential knowledge. // // 2 //// Technology changes the way we think. // // 3 //// Technology provides new ways to address and discuss content-related issues. // Therefore, **there is no single technological solution** that will function equally well for every teacher, every course, or every instructional situation and context .Rather, solutions’ lie in teachers’ abilities to flexibly navigate the space delimited by content, pedagogy, and technology and the complex interactions among these elements. Ignoring the complexity inherent in each knowledge component--or the complexities of the relationships among the components--can lead to oversimplified solutions or even failure. Thus, teachers need to develop fluency and cognitive flexibility not just in each of these key domains—content, technology, and pedagogy--but also in the manners in which these domains interrelate, so that they can maximise successful, differentiated, contextually sensitive learning. Creating an awareness of the range of possible learning activity types within a particular content area, may help teachers to know how to select and combine them in ways that are congruent with students’ standards-based, differentiated learning needs and preferences. Research and experience suggests that specific content structures tend to have their own related classroom activities and interactions that are repeatable and believed to be the most appropriate. These activity types (“The best way to teach maths is …….,”) are transmitted from experienced teachers to new graduates and so are ritualised into pedagogical processes common to each content area. Rarely do teachers venture outside of their subject culture, and to attempt to entice them with technology solutions is destined to fail. Activity types for teachers’ use need to be conceptualized and presented in terms of their specific disciplinary discourses, //and not according to the technologies incorporated//. Moreover, given the content-based nature of activity structures using identified activity types explicitly in working with teachers represents a promising approach to professional development in technology integration. Several educational researchers have begun to examine the intentional cultivation and use of activity structures in professional development for teachers. Such ritualizing of activity structures is at both strategic and tactical levels – that is, in sequencing both the  steps for  participating in a particular type of learning activity and the order of activities that comprise a project or unit. The following table lists 40 generic activity types used in most classrooms. Teachers will identify with those most commonly used within their content area
 * Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge **

|| Students extract information from textbooks, historical documents, census data, etc || || Students gain information from teachers, guest speakers and their peers || || Students listen to recordings of speeches, music, radio broadcasts, oral histories, and lectures || || Students travel to physical or virtual sites connected with the curriculum || || Students engage in paper-based, digital or hands-on experiences which mirror the complexity and open-ended nature of the real world || || Students discuss opposing viewpoints with their peers || || Using a variety of sources, students gather, analyse, and synthesize information  || || Students sequence print and digital documents in chronological order || || Students explore print-based and digital documents to understand multiple perspectives on a topic || || Students respond to questions posed by the teacher, peers, or the textbook || || Students develop a visual representation of sequential events || Charts/Tables || Students fill in teacher-created charts and tables or create their own || || Students engage in some format of question and answer to review course content || || Students demonstrate their knowledge through a traditional form of assessment || || Students compose a structured written response to a teacher prompt || || Students author a paper from a teacher or student derived topic || || In oral or multimedia format, students share their understanding with others || || Using teacher or student created webs, students organize information in a visual/spatial manner || information, students develop their own story of an event || || Students write from a first-hand perspective about an event || Magazine || Students synthesize and present information in the form of a print-based or electronic periodical || || Students use pictures, symbols and graphics to highlight key features in creating an illustrated map || || Students write government representatives or engage in some other form of civic action || || Students develop a mental or physical representation of a course concept/process || || Students synthesize and describe key elements of a topic in a physical or virtual exhibit || || Students write poetry connected with course content/ideas || || Students devise a metaphorical representation of a course topic/idea || || Students create a drawing or caricature of a course concept || || Using some combination of still images, motion video, music and narration, students produce their own movie || || Students develop a live or recorded performance (oral, music, drama, etc.) || Note that each of these forty activity types, as they have been described briefly here, do not typically privilege one particular type or class of educational technology. Rather, in identifying activity types, the intention is to help you to become aware of the full range of possible curriculum-based learning activity options. Examine the different ways that digital and non-digital tools support each activity, and select, customize, and combine activity types that are well-matched to students’ differentiated learning needs and preferences and the classroom contextual realities. Your planning for students’ learning should not be an activity-by-activity endeavour. Curriculum-based units, projects, and sequences are much more than the sums of their respective parts. However, by using this approach, you will be able to identify where technology best fits within your learning sequences. **Your important role is how to combine individual activity types into engaging, appropriate, and authentic projects or units**. References; Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2005). What happens when teachers design educational technology? The development of technological pedagogical content knowledge. // Journal of Educational Computing Research, // 32(2), 131-152. Harris, J., & Hofer, M. (in press). //Planning for technology-integrated learning in social studies: Teachers as chefs, not cooks.// Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
 * ** 1. Knowledge-Creation Activity Types ** ||
 * ** Activity Type ** || ** Brief Description ** ||
 * Read Text
 * View Presentation
 * View Images || Students examine both still and moving (video, animations) images ||
 * Listen to Audio
 * Group Discussion || In small to large groups, students engage in dialogue with their peers ||
 * Field Trip
 * Simulation / Practical Work
 * Debate
 * Research
 * Conduct an Interview || Face to face, on the telephone, or via email, students question someone on a chosen topic ||
 * Artifact-Based Inquiry || Students explore a topic using physical or virtual artifacts ||
 * Data-Based Inquiry || Using print-based and digital data available online; students pursue original lines of inquiry ||
 * Information Chain
 * Information Weaving || Students piece together print and digital documents to develop a story ||
 * Information Prism
 * Answer Questions
 * ** 2. Evidence of Learning Activity Types ** ||
 * ** Activity Type ** || ** Brief Description ** ||
 * Create a Timeline
 * Create a Map || Students label existing maps or produce their own ||
 * Complete
 * Complete a Review Activity
 * Take a Test
 * Write an Essay
 * Write a Report
 * Develop a Presentation
 * Develop a Knowledge Web
 * Generate an Narrative || Using documents and other secondary source
 * Create a Journal or Diary
 * Create a Newspaper/News
 * Create an Illustrated Map
 * Engage in Civic Action
 * Engage in Role Play || Students portray another person ||
 * Produce an Artifact || Students create a 3-D or virtual artifact ||
 * Build a Model or Diagram
 * Design an Exhibit
 * Craft a Poem
 * Create a Mural or Poster || Students create a physical or virtual mural or poster ||
 * Develop a Metaphor
 * Draw a Cartoon
 * Create a video/film/animated sequence
 * Prepare a Performance
 * **Are there any more activity types not mentioned above that could be added?**
 * **Which ones are sprcific to your content area?**
 * **Which could benefit from the use of technology?**
 * **Is the technology available to you? Do you know how to use it?**