Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge & Social Impact of Technology

The impact that this project has had on my own TPCK, is that it has made me more aware of how I could be integrating technology within my lessons, although I should not fully rely on technology all of the time, as technology is known to fail. This project has also raised my awareness in the lack of some of my own content knowledge. As I designed an interactive lesson on a topic unit which I was not very confident in, it made me aware of how deep that unit of work is. This has left me feeling unconfident when teaching the knowledge to students as it is very hard content, but at the same time, I have also been able to increase my own understanding of it, and potentially this will help make my presenting of new knowledge to the students easier. This project has made me more aware of my own weaknesses, but in doing so, I am now aware on what I need to improve.

Knowledge of content to be taught, knowledge of how to teach it and knowledge of use of technology are all vital to the successful transition of knowledge to students(Mishra & Koehler, 2006).

  

By using technology, teachers are becoming more reliant on other equipment to teach. Teachers have to constantly have a backup or alternate plan if technology fails. What if the smart board will not work? What if there is a power outage? Teachers have to remain mindful on these issues regarding technology when designing lesson. The social impact of technology in the classroom is that teachers can become too relaxed on using fantastic programs such as YouTube to teach students skills, especially in a practical based subject such as Design and Technology. As the over use of this medium could lose students attention, and students thoughts such as ‘Why do I even come to school when all I do is watch YouTube?’ may begin to take place.

Students’ use of technology can have both positive and negative effects. As the continued use may leave students feeling isolated from the class, as they are constantly working on their own and potentially with their head phones in. Social interactions may suffer in the classroom, group work activities may become harder to do, and confidence to present in front of the group may fall.

The positive features of students using technology within the classroom, is that they are beginning to become a part of a wider learning environment, classes may not just be restricted to the classroom, as the use of the internet and programs give students the ability to explore and interact with people from all over World. Another positive effect of technology integration is the benefit of self-directed student learners. Students begin to function autonomy, therefore developing essential skills for the workforce, which is one of the aims and goals from the Melbourne Declaration(Ministerial Council on Education Employment Training and Youth Affairs, 2008).

If used effectively to create authentic learning tasks, students can learn to interact with technology, and therefor creating a fantastic social interaction.  The virtual classroom is gaining popularity at such a rate, that the desire for students, especially teenagers, to be ‘trendy’ increases the desire for online learning(Flowers, 2001).