21st Century Skills and TPACK

I am beginning to wonder how people keep up with their personal blogs.  With teaching, grading, exercising, and trying to spend quality time with my family, I am finding it harder and harder to turn my computer on these days.  Well, at the very least, my handful of followers should expect at least one or two entries per week.

So, on to the 21st Century Learner and TPACK.  I am quite intrigued by this particular lesson for several reasons.  First, let me state that I absolutely love Venn diagrams.  Okay, so that really isn't one of the reasons I feel compelled by this lesson, but since I have the microphone here, I might as well share a bit of myself -personally.  Actually, I think I there might be some merit to my announcing my love of Venn diagrams, but I will touch upon that a little later in this post.  One other thing worth mentioning as a caveat to the reader, is that I suspect I might digress into a rambling, philosophical one-person discussion.  My apologies in advance.

There is no doubt that technology permeates throughout our 21st century social construct.  Truth be told, technology is always a large part of our social construct.  When technology changes, society morphs in response to that new technology.  For example, consider the impact of rail technology on the United States.  The advent of rail allowed people to move farther inland without loosing their ability to transport or receive goods to and from port cities.  In effect, the rail lines allowed people to settle larger inland areas while still maintaining a dependable connection to the global ocean-bound trade routes. It changed society.

Of course, the above example is very simplistic, but it serves to illustrate that when we consider the integration of computers into the education environment, we need not view it as an isolated issue.  We have been adapting to new technologies since archaic homo sapiens learned to throw spears.  The TPACK initiative is very simplistic and even intuitive when you step back to look at it.  I actually find myself wondering why such a thing even need to be considered at all.  Please understand that I did not intend that to be an arrogant statement, rather, I regularly attempt to integrate the various components I see surrounding a particular problem into a holistic approach and/or solution.  Isn't this what TPACK is?  I think that what we need to be asking ourselves as educators is "why?'  Why do we choose to approach a topic in a certain way?  What is our motivation with approach x, y, or z?  I am afraid that synthesizing a solution such as TPACK and touting it as the way to move ahead can create a new set of issues for the children we educate.  When I watch the videos, I get a feel a sense of urgency to jump headlong into a technological (read: computer based) world.  Sure, computers are ubiquitous in our social structure, and should be thoroughly incorporated, but computers do not teach us to think. Additionally, the concept of technology should not be considered synonymous with the word "computer."  A spear is just as effective now in its intended purpose as it was 13,000 years ago. I suppose what I really fear, is a scenario in which teachers take the persuasive arguments set forth in the video (they are persuasive) and set up an environment in which the teaching plan is based solely on making sure that the TPACK intersection box is neatly satisfied (For the record, I am a "glass is half empty" person.  Not necessarily pessimistic, rather I am more inclined to find what can go wrong with a potential solution, and work backward from that point to find a better solution that addresses other potential pitfalls).  

I see the current state of technological incorporation as a bit of a pitfall.  Yes, we need to incorporate, but we need to be mindful not to slide down into a completely technological approach. So much can be gleaned from keeping the kids away from the screen.  I take my students out for recess several times a day.  Why?  Because it helps keep them focused, builds camaraderie,  and develops interpersonal communication on a level that isn't met by merely setting students into project groups (see first few blog posts).  Sure, the group approach in class is a huge step forward from keeping kids glued to their desks, but the public education system needs to start looking at the whole child along with initiatives such as TPACK.  Also consider that technology need not be based solely in the electronic mediums.  What about tools?  What happened to shop classes?  Are they irrelevant now? Sure, as I stated in earlier posts, the blue collar workplace is moving to more advanced technology, but do we become better reasoners because we have access to technology?  Does navigating a software program teach us to think outside of the box to solve problems?  What are some of the other pitfalls of increased incorporation of technology in the classroom?  What of grammatical mastery in a world where autocorrect fixes your mistakes before you even noticed you made them?  What of handwriting and eloquent prose, once part of our social fabric?  What interpersonal skills are gleaned in a Facebook-text message-twitter driven world where we are bought that thoughts can be summed up into short, choppy snippets of information?  This is my inner luddite talking now.  I warned you I would ramble!

So back to the Venn diagram comment I made earlier. The remark was meant to be flippant but reflective.  See, you (if you are reading this) and I are not able to sit together right now to share our thoughts.  Consequently, we are unable to reflect upon each others countenance.  We are unable to clearly argue our points, because although we might correspond back and forth through the comments tab, any such discussion will be a choppy, protracted mess as many of our thoughts will disappear without a face-to-face interaction.  I am afraid that if we do not correctly incorporate technology in our classrooms, we will be providing a disservice to our students.  Use the TPACK concept, but do not forget to be creative with your approach, remember that technology does not imply computers, and look at the whole student rather than the goal when teaching.

P.S. I purposely tried to ignore the spell check prompts while writing this although a few autocorrects slipped by.  So for the most part, what you see is what you get.