Technological pedagogical content knowledge (tpck): Confronting the wicked problems of teaching with technology

Abstract

In this paper we describe Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) as a framework for teacher knowledge for technology integration. This framework builds on Shulman's construct of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) to include technology knowledge. We argue that the development of TPCK by teachers is critical to effective teaching with technology. We begin with a brief introduction to the complex, ill-structured nature of teaching. We consider the nature of technologies (both analog and digital), and how the inclusion of technology in pedagogy further complicates teaching. We propose to view teaching with technology as a wicked problem, in which teaching is viewed as a highly complicated form of problem-seeking and problem-solving that derives from flexible and integrated bases of knowledge. We offer our TPCK framework for teacher knowledge in detail, as a complex interaction among three bodies of knowledge: Content, Pedagogy, and Technology. We describe how these bodies of knowledge interact, in abstract, and in practice, to produce the type of flexible knowledge needed to successfully integrate technology in the classroom. Finally, we argue that the complexity of developing and applying TPCK suggests that a greater emphasis should be placed on the idea of teachers as curriculum designers.