Belief+Statement

Educators can have powerful learning experiences while teaching lessons to their students or through professional developments, graduate courses, or instructional moments that allow them to become reflective practitioners. Kim and Zitzer (1999) believe that powerful learning experiences follow certain characteristics - authenticity (real world applications), interaction, learner-centered as well as equal opportunities to all teachers, and continuous connections between learning experiences. Since the beginning of our graduate program in instructional technology, I believe that I have had a great deal of learning experiences that have been applicable to my lessons in the classroom. Learning about the theory and practice of technology integration has been retained and applied to my personal pedagogy due to the authenticity and interactivity of certain courses.

nderstanding the process of pedagogy and how it works in conjunction with content knowledge is essential in having successful instruction. “At the heart of PCK is the manner in which subject matter is transformed for teaching. This occurs when the teacher interprets the subject matter and ﬁnds different ways to represent it and make it accessible to learners” (Mishra et al., 2006, p 1021). However, to integrate technology into Lee Shulman’s original framework of PCK, teachers need to incorporate technology knowledge – leading to the TPACK framework for educational practice (Technology Pedagogy and Content Knowledge). We as educators need to narrow the gap between research and practice; theory and application. This requires a deep understanding of all the aspects of TPACK framework and how they integrate with one another.

School should be a place where teaching is effective, learning is exciting, and where every day is a day of discovery. I aspire to be a Technology Integration teacher working with students in grades K-5 by providing their opportunities to directly interact with the new and ever-changing technology in our schools so that they may explore real-world problems and collaborate with others beyond the classroom.


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References

Kim, L., & Zitzer, M. (1999). Powerful Learning Framework for Teachers. Retrieved by ERIC Database.

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M.J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054.