Blog #4 Educational Technology/TPACK

What is the difference between technology in education and educational technology?

The following definitions come from the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association.

• "Technology Education is also called the Study of Technology or Technological Studies.
• Technology Education teaches about technology as an educational area of content.

• Educational Technology is mainly concerned with the narrow spectrum of technologies used for communication and the dissemination of information.
• Educational Technology teaches through technology, instructing students in the use of a relatively small set of tools developed by technology." (see link below for full text).

Definition of Educational Technology vs. Technology in Education

(Above) I have posted a collage of pictures I used in my Ed Tech class.  This assignment was to take pictures of ours and make them into a collage.  This educational technology can be used in various ways.  Students can gather pictures for various subjects as science and history. This assignment was created by on of UVU's technology education courses for students becoming educators in K-12.

The above example shows that technology in education are courses provided for finding the what and how of integrating technology into curriculum.  The educational technology is the tool taught in educational courses for specific outcomes.  I may have students use PowerPoint as a water cycle retell, this is an educational technology.  As a professional in my school, I may teach my peers how PowerPoint may be used to teach students a desired academic content.

What is TPACK and how does it help us better understand the role and impact of technology?

TPACK stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge.  This awesome graphic was created by Public Schools of North Carolina.  It represents three important areas of teaching that together can be used to reach out to students educational needs.

Technology - This section of TPACK represents all educational technology tools that can be combined with...
Pedagogy - How a teacher chooses to teach the specific...
Content... information students need to learn.

A good example of this may be that a teacher splits students into four groups for a history lesson on the Civil War.  Each group is given an Ipad to research a specific time period of the Civil War.  Each student becomes an expert on the subject, creates a presentation on the Ipad, and then teaches this information to other students.