Thursday, May 17, 2012

Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Educators: Thoughts/Questions

     I never thought of teaching as an 'ill structured' position before reading this chapter, but compared to physics or mathematics which both have a set way to answer a problem teaching is very difficult to narrow down a 'correct way of doing things'. The main concept I grasped from the first section of the chapter was that due to this lack of structure it is very difficult to say what is the best way to integrate technology. Every teacher is different with a specific style all their own so they can each be unique in their approach to technology integration. Often, teachers even hold themselves back from fully utilizing a technology due to their own 'bias and predilections' on technology. Change is often very difficult for people.

     One important thing I learned about technology was that with all of its benefits there can be certain drawbacks; one great example of this is with email which can be a very effective form of communication, but sometimes email is unable to show the tone, mood or intent of what is being sent which can lead to problems.  These difficulties include: the instability of technology, the opaqueness, and the fact that it is very protean. The fact that technology is opaque means that it can be difficult to understand how it works which makes people fearful of using it.  With all of these difficulties there is only one solution: that each attempt at integration should be custom designed for that particular subject matter and teaching style. This will be especially true for myself being a science teacher who has to deal with labs as well as discussion based learning.

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