The Total PACKage
http://tpack.org/
What is TPACK?
TPACK is an acronym for Technological and Pedagogical Content Knowledge. This construct builds on previous work done by Lee S. Shulman of Stanford University in the area of pedagogical content knowledge (1986). Since then, the technological component has been added and, while not the sole contributors/developers, Dr. Matthew Koehler and Dr. Punya Mishra are actively involved in the continuing the work of TPACK and maintain an extensive website dedicated to its continued development. It is here that I will build the platform for coupling Technology (Tablet PC/Camtasia/Video) with Pedagogy (flipped classroom) to advance the goals that I hold for student content knowledge (Geometry). |
CONTENT
TECHNOLOGY
PEDAGOGY
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
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Context
Okemos High School is a suburban high school in an middle to upper-middle class community just southeast of Lansing, Michigan. It has a student body of approximately 1390 students and is the only high school in the district. Okemos High School ranked seventh in the state of Michigan (top 1% or Michigan High Schools) in Newsweek's 2010 list of "America's Best High Schools". Approximately 12% of the students at Okemos High School qualify for the free/reduced lunch program here in Michigan. The schools population consists of approximately 75% Caucasian, 7% African American, 14% Asian/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 3% Hispanic.
This project will play out in the context of a general 9th and 10th grade geometry classroom of approximately 27 - 30 students. The students maintain a six period day with each class meeting everyday for 55-58 minute periods. The mathematics department is a cohesive unit where teachers often communicate about pacing of material covered and that administers common final exams at the end of each semester. The text that is currently used for the course is Holt Geometry adopted by the department in 2007. Students have access to an online version of the textbook as well as additional resources, practice worksheets, and practice quizzes. The classroom is equipped with a document camera, tablet PC and a projector. Due to a technology mileage that passed several years ago, each department also has access to COWS (computers/laptops on wheels) that can be checked out and students can access the network, but this cart is shared among 13 teachers. Students do not typically bring laptops to school so the number of students with access to computers/laptops at home is unknown, although I would image the percentage to be relatively high. |