Somehow we are now a third of the way through the year. While the weather may be in flux, Spring has definitely Sprung, and no matter which way we dress for the weather we’re still managing to get it wrong.
This time our reading looks at the different uses of the TPACK model from the perspectives of two of our team, the complex interplay of technology and pedagogy, and – because it remains at the forefront of people’s minds – an optimistic take on ChatGPT.
Spring Reading
What is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge?
Rachel and Joe have both just started revisiting the TPACK model.
Rachel has noted that it appears in a several of the papers gathered as part of the literature review on digital confidence she’s conducting with Rach Challen and Rosemary Pearce. She’s been reviewing the model with particular attention to its use as an instrument for measuring digital confidence.
Joe is interested in how the TPACK model influences his role as a learning technologist, and how the TPACK as a framework can be used to support academic staff within their individual subject in support of content knowledge, learning technologies and pedagogy. Joe is also interested in how the TPACK model informs how as a team we develop, support and impart knowledge within the school, both as a safety net and in spotlighting learning and teaching with technology. Joe is also interested in TPACK as part of his FHEA application.
An Entangled Pedagogy: Looking Beyond the Pedagogy—Technology Dichotomy
Rachel joined the TILT Online Digital Learning Reading Group in discussing the concept of Entangled Pedagogy. Tim Fawns presents a complex view of technology and pedagogy working together which builds on conversations about how we think about the combination of learning and technology; he questions whether the two can or should be separated, and explores how they depend on each other.
“‘Pedagogy first’ has become a mantra for educators, supported by the metaphor of the ‘pedagogical horse’ driving the ‘technological cart’. Yet putting technology first or last separates it from pedagogy, making us susceptible to technological or pedagogical determinism (i.e. where technology is seen either as the driving force of change or as a set of neutral tools).”
Will ChatGPT turn education back to Socrates?
Beth read a blog post, popular with Learning Technologists when it was posted, that looks at the place ChatGPT can take in education – specifically, that of a trainer, rather than an educator. It articulates clearly where ChatGPT and other bots might be useful, but emphasises the value that lecturers add. A speculative and optimistic take on the technology.
“I am not saying that we can simply return to the pedagogy of Socrates. 5th Century BCE Athens was a different time and place. But the basic insight of Socrates, that we should teach students how to ask better questions, seems like a timely response to the educational challenge posed by ChatGPT3.”
