TPACK

The TPACK model is looking at technology integration in terms of a teacher's knowledge and planning. It breaks teacher knowledge into three different categories. These are Content, Pedagogy, and Technology. It then identifies that these different types of knowledge are not always independent of each other. They each overlap there therefore there is Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Technological Content Knowledge, and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge. There is also the intersection of all three types of knowledge which Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge which is known as TPACK. TPACK is using a teacher's knowledge of their content, their best teaching practices, and effective and engaging technology to create the best possible learning experience for students. 

The TPACK model would be used during the planning process for a teacher. For a given lesson the teacher would select the content and the learning objective, or what they want the student to learn and then be able to do. This is their content knowledge. The teacher would then select the activities that the student would experience during the lesson and how the teacher would be assessing if the students were meeting the objective. This is the pedagogical knowledge. Lastly the teacher would choose technology that would support and enhance the activities in the lesson. The most difficult part of this is finding technology that enhances activities, but specifically finding available technology that enhances the activities. Many teachers have not been exposed to the different technologies they can use in their classroom. They therefore find it easier to not integrate technology, rather than spend a lot of time searching to maybe find a technology they can use. Also, there may be a technology that a teacher may want to use but if it is not a free program their school probably does not have the budget to buy it. 

One great technology that teachers can use in the classroom is the virtual tour or virtual field trip. This is a video of a tour through a place like a museum. These are generally free and save the school the time and money of actually traveling. Students can do this in the classroom or can do it for homework as well depending on their internet access. Other great technologies are googleDocs and wikispaces. Both of these allow students to publish their work, but also they allow multiple students to share and work on a document at once. This is especially great for group work that takes an extended period of time. There are numerous other types of technology that can be used in a classroom. Enough that most likely no one teacher can in cooperate all of them into their classroom. 

Harris, J., & Hofer, M. (2009). Instructional planning activity types as vehicles for curriculum-based TPACK development. In C. D. Maddux, (Ed.). Research highlights in technology and teacher education 2009 (pp. 99-108). Chesapeake, VA: Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education (SITE).
Koehler, M. (2014, July 23). TPACK.ORG. Retrieved December 8, 2014, from http://www.tpack.org