Yurdakul, I. K., Odabasi, H. F., Kilicer, K., Coklar, A. N., Birinci, G., & Kurt, A. (2012). The development, validity and reliability of TPACK-deep: A technological pedagogical content knowledge scale. Computers & Education, 58(3), 964-977.
The first year of any teacher’s career is typically very challenging. It requires a great deal of perseverance and versatility, especially in regard to learning and using new technology. This article discusses the development of a TPACK (technical pedagogical content knowledge) scale in order to determine the level of success that preservice teachers will have with educational technology integration in the classroom. In essence, this scale measures how well a teacher will be able to use technology in their instructional practices.
When teachers lack skills in any of the areas of TPACK, there is a very good chance that no matter how much they use technology in their classrooms, the impact on student achievement may be minimal at best. The authors highlighted several barriers to technology integration that include things like the lack of technology-supported pedagogy, skill, and even classroom management. The authors also suggest that in order for changes to be made in these areas, a shift from techno centered to techno-pedagogical integration must take place.
Being in a classroom is a big responsibility. Many teachers enter the field of education with great intentions and high hopes. However, one thing that I can say from personal experience is a hindrance is this lack of technology skills. When I began my teaching career, there wasn’t a push for the use of technology in the classroom. I just happened to be interested, and therefore, I tried various strategies, programs, and forms of media to keep my students engaged. There were some tremendous successes…but there were also so tremendous failures. The one thing that made the most impact in my opinion was that what I lacked in pedagogy, I made up for it in content knowledge and classroom management, so I understand the need for this scale to be created. It is great that the shift is from tech-centered integration to connecting tech with pedagogy. In my experience, this is by far, the best way to make sure that students get what they need from the lessons teachers present.
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