Outside of the classroom, one place I love to spend my time creating and experimenting is in the kitchen. From trying new recipes, making things up on my own, to just plain eating, I spend a lot of time there. However, I was recently presented with a challenge to complete in the kitchen that did not fall under the usual categories. The challenge was this:
Have someone else pick out three items for you:
I ended up with a cereal bowl, a dinner plate, and a serving fork. With these three items, I was to assemble a veggie plate with whatever vegetables I had in my fridge. Check out the video below to see how I did! And feel free to try it for yourself :) After the cooking challenge, it was easy to see a connection to the world of education. Recently, I’ve been introduced to the TPACK framework. TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge. You can read about it here, or watch a quick video here! Essentially, there are three types of knowledge that work together to engage and ultimately, teach students.
The TPACK framework and the sweet spot.
Photo From: Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2009)
I need to point out that the technological knowledge doesn’t mean knowing how to use computers, iPads, and smart boards. What it does mean, however, is #choosingtherighttools that will best enhance your students’ learning. Here is where my cooking challenge comes in. The serving fork that was selected for me was clearly not the best tool to cut a cucumber. It made me feel a little frustrated, made my task more challenging, and ultimately had a negative effect on my final product. Granted, the challenge wouldn’t allow me the person choosing my tools to know what I was doing so they unknowingly picked the wrong utensil. If I had been able to tell them, or even #choosetherighttool myself, my veggie plate would’ve turned out a lot better, or at least prettier.
Although it’s not always possible to allow our students the choice of any tool they would like to use, we can, when appropriate, choose the tool that is best suited to the content. This notion reminds me of a time I was taking an online class. We were assigned to use a certain online tool to explain a specific concept. However, I was struggling to find any content about the concept on that specific online tool! I found myself extremely frustrated thinking, “I should be able to do this!” In the end, my final product was something similar to my cucumber. I do not believe it was my best work, but I did what I could with the tools my teacher chose for me. At the time, I didn’t know about TPACK. However, after knowing now and realizing I experienced using the wrong tool as a student myself, I will be sure to take TPACK into consideration in my future lesson plans. Here’s to #choosingtherighttools! Marcotte, C. (2013, April 24). TPACK in 2 minutes [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FagVSQlZELY Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.
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