Design Section: I have learnt a great deal about how the TPACK framework operates. Through understanding the content knowledge that I already had and developing my understanding of this, I have gained a strengthened understanding of what content knowledge means. I am able to identify what content knowledge I need for a lesson. I then reference it with what technological knowledge I can apply and what pedagogical knowledge works best. I have reaffirmed my knowledge about pedagogical practices through this assignment by realizing that pedagogy changes with the setting or subject. I am now confident to say that I understand pedagogical content in relation to my lesson plans. I have understood that pedagogy is the management techniques and specific intentional teaching actions (Koehler, M. J., Mishra, P., & Cain, W. 2013) . I also relate the pedagogical knowledge of a lesson to the technological knowledge and content knowledge to make a fully rounded lesson. Through this assignment, I have learnt the usefulness of online tools and how to utilize nearly any online tool to be education friendly. By putting all this knowledge together I have developed a stronger understanding of what it means to be a digital educator. I have improved and strengthened my teaching philosophy.
Purpose section: Using the UDL principals in conjunction with my TPACK knowledge, I am able to provide a high standard of teaching and learning within my classroom. Each of the key concepts in the TPACK framework are easily able to integrate into a lesson plan that has UDL considerations (Rao, K., & Meo, G. 2016). This helps me to effectively teach all students no matter their ethnicity or differentiated learning needs. While on placement, I used the UDL lesson planning sheet to plan a sequence of lessons for our technology topic about the types of technology do we use in our daily lives. Within this lesson plan I was able to record what technology I would be using for the lesson (whiteboard, tv, PowerPoint etc.) and how that connects to the content and the pedagogies. I was aware of the need to accommodate for our Maori and Pacifica students. I did this by ensuring that the pedagogies I used were appropriate and respectful for all ethnicities. I considered the resources we had and the forms of technology every student would be interacting in their home lives. This helped me to plan an exceptional lesson that my AT held in high regard and the students learnt the most from.
Connection section: During my time on placement, while I was planning for my lessons I would frequently choose to use the UDL planning document which enabled me to consider inclusive practices, TPACK concepts and the curriculum key competencies together. This helped me to understand and put all these elements together in a practical way that ensured students were catered for and learning to the best of their ability. For our technology lessons, when I included the New Zealand Curriculum's key competencies in my lesson plans I could incorporate more elements as well (Ministry of Education–Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga. 2007). The incorporation of the NZ curriculum key competencies into my lesson plans impacted on how I connected the TPACK framework as this opened my mind to how interconnected these values and concepts are (Education Council New Zealand–Matatū Aotearoa. 2011). I found that I was able to incorporate multiple competencies and tataiako values for one lesson plan when I incorporated the TPACK framework because everything connected so well and worked seamlessly together. The more I thought about the key competencies, the more open minded I became about what to include and use within my lessons.
References:
Carrington, S., MacArthur, J., Kearny, A., Kimber, M., Mercer, L., Morton, M., & Rutherford, G. (2012). Towards an inclusive education for all. In S. Carrington & L. Carrington (Authors), Teaching in Inclusive School Communities (pp. 3-38). Wiley.
Koehler, M. J., Mishra, P., & Cain, W. (2013). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK)? The Journal of Education, 193(3), 13-19. Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Ministry of Education.
Ministry of Education. (2011). Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori learners. Ministry of Education.
Rao, K., & Meo, G. (2016). Using universal design for learning to design standards-based lessons. SAGE Open, 6(4), 215824401668068. doi:10.1177/2158244016680688
Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Ministry of Education.
Ministry of Education. (2011). Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori learners. Ministry of Education.