1 00:00:18,660 --> 00:00:23,680 Ms. Jones, a middle school social studies teacher, came back from her state educational technology conference 2 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:28,780 very excited about a session on game based learning. The presenter mentioned some research that 3 00:00:28,780 --> 00:00:34,820 found that middle school students' problem-solving skills improved when they played simulation games in their history classes. 4 00:00:34,820 --> 00:00:41,400 Always focused under students learning, Ms. Jones was inspired to try this with her class. 5 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:46,420 As soon as she returned home, Ms. Jones searched on the Web for history simulation games for students to 6 00:00:46,420 --> 00:00:51,440 use. She found that one it seemed like it would be engaging for them and the content was related to the 7 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:56,520 social studies curriculum. She planned to introduce the game during the next week. Her students 8 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:01,571 were as excited about playing the game and she was. Unfortunately, as they used precious class time to 9 00:01:01,571 --> 00:01:06,651 play the game, Ms. Jones realize that not only were they struggling with the vocabulary, the students 10 00:01:06,651 --> 00:01:12,351 were focusing more on playing the game than on the historical content the Ms. Jones had hoped they would learn. 11 00:01:12,351 --> 00:01:17,491 While they clearly enjoyed the experience (and asked to play the game again in class), Ms. Jones was unsure 12 00:01:17,491 --> 00:01:24,091 about whether the history that they learned and the problem-solving that they experienced were worth it. 13 00:01:24,091 --> 00:01:29,291 In reflecting back on this experience integrating this particular technology into her students' learning, Ms. 14 00:01:29,291 --> 00:01:34,431 Jones realized that she gotten so excited about the game-based engaging experience that the simulation 15 00:01:34,431 --> 00:01:39,731 provided that she fully hadn't considered how well playing the game would connect with her curriculum. 16 00:01:39,731 --> 00:01:47,671 She also questioned whether the way she encouraged the students to play the game truly helped to improve their problem solving. 17 00:01:47,671 --> 00:01:52,931 As this scenario illustrates, even with the best intentions, it can be challenging 18 00:01:52,931 --> 00:01:57,971 to integrate use of educational technologies in ways that are well-aligned with 19 00:01:57,971 --> 00:02:03,213 both curriculum goals and 20 00:02:03,213 --> 00:02:08,453 teaching approaches. In this module, then, we will 21 00:02:08,453 --> 00:02:13,953 share a way of planning instruction that helps to ensure that technology, content and pedagogy 22 00:02:13,953 --> 00:02:19,113 are balanced and fit together well. If the goal 23 00:02:19,113 --> 00:02:24,253 is balance among curriculum, teaching approaches, and technology use, how is this 24 00:02:24,253 --> 00:02:29,653 accomplished? Since 2005, educational technology researchers 25 00:02:29,653 --> 00:02:35,133 have been exploring this question. We have learned that there is a complex but essential 26 00:02:35,133 --> 00:02:40,873 type of knowledge that teachers need to be able to integrate educational technologies successfully 27 00:02:40,873 --> 00:02:46,933 into curriculum-based teaching. This type of knowledge is known as technology, 28 00:02:46,933 --> 00:02:52,273 pedagogy, and content knowledge or TPACK. While the knowledge needed 29 00:02:52,273 --> 00:02:57,297 his complex, the concept is simple, especially for experienced teachers. 30 00:02:57,297 --> 00:03:03,117 As an experienced teacher, you already know how important it is to know your curriculum. 31 00:03:03,117 --> 00:03:08,417 You also know how helpful it can be to have a broad range of different teaching strategies 32 00:03:08,417 --> 00:03:13,817 available to draw upon so that you can reach as many students as possible. 33 00:03:13,817 --> 00:03:18,897 Experienced teachers draw upon these two types of knowledge simultaneously when 34 00:03:18,897 --> 00:03:24,217 they plan effective instruction. The knowledge needed to align curriculum goals 35 00:03:24,217 --> 00:03:29,297 with appropriate teaching strategies becomes more complicated, however, when we attempt to 36 00:03:29,297 --> 00:03:34,497 integrate use of digital tools and resources. And 37 00:03:34,497 --> 00:03:40,117 all of this happens within the complex contexts of the classroom, such as language differences, 38 00:03:40,117 --> 00:03:45,457 types of technology access, and school culture. When a teacher uses 39 00:03:45,457 --> 00:03:51,597 all of these types of knowledge together, we say that the teacher is using TPACK. 40 00:03:51,597 --> 00:03:56,697 But how can teachers develop their TPACK? One way to do this is to introduce teachers 41 00:03:56,697 --> 00:04:02,399 to different technologies that can be used in their teaching. Unfortunately, this approach can be technocentric, 42 00:04:02,399 --> 00:04:07,559 putting too much emphasis upon finding ways to incorporate use of technologies in instruction. 43 00:04:07,559 --> 00:04:12,899 We've discovered another, more organic, way to help teachers to develop their TPACK: through instructional 44 00:04:12,899 --> 00:04:18,179 planning. Here's what we know about how experienced teachers plan instruction. 45 00:04:18,179 --> 00:04:23,239 Researchers found the teachers' planning is focused upon curriculum- based learning goals and objectives, 46 00:04:23,239 --> 00:04:28,419 and is sensitive to students' learning needs and preferences. Also (and importantly), 47 00:04:28,419 --> 00:04:33,939 experienced teachers' plans are structured with the sequence of learning activities for their students. 48 00:04:33,939 --> 00:04:39,099 So, how can we use what we know about how teachers plan instruction to help build TPACK? 49 00:04:39,099 --> 00:04:44,959 What if any teacher could use a comprehensive list of types of learning activities and corresponding technologies 50 00:04:44,959 --> 00:04:49,959 to help plan effective learning experiences for their students. There are taxonomies of these 51 00:04:49,959 --> 00:04:54,999 learning activity types - or LATs - freely available online that teachers around the 52 00:04:54,999 --> 00:05:00,101 world use in their planning. Beginning in the next module, you will have opportunities to explore these 53 00:05:00,101 --> 00:05:05,241 taxonomies and later learn to use them in your teaching practice. During this process, you'll 54 00:05:05,241 --> 00:05:10,361 build your TPACK and identify effective ways to integrate technology into your teaching and 55 00:05:10,361 --> 00:05:12,267 your students' learning.