TECHNOLOGY // EFFECTIVE INTEGRATION
One size doesn’t fit all ACCORDING TO DR MICHAEL PHILLIPS OF MONASH UNIVERSITY, THERE IS NO ONE-SIZE-FITSALL APPROACH TO TECHNOLOGY FOR THE CLASSROOM. INSTEAD, HE SAYS, IT’S IMPORTANT FOR EDUCATORS TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE TECHNOLOGY WORKS AND WHETHER OR NOT IT’S THE RIGHT FIT FOR THEIR PARTICULAR CLASSROOM. As educators, we are often exposed to advertisements promoting the use of digital technologies in our classrooms. Additionally, pressures from state and federal curriculum documents and even from school leaders and parents can make teachers feel as though they have to constantly be using the latest hardware and software.
Dr Michael Phillips is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. His work focuses on the knowledge expert teachers develop when integrating educational technologies into their practice. Additionally, Dr Phillips researches the ways in which expert teachers make active decisions about their classroom technology integration. His research regularly involves collaboration with colleagues from Australia, the United States, Europe, Asia and the sub-continent.
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While there are undoubtedly a range of ‘stateof-the-art’ examples in which teaching and learning are enhanced through the use of educational technologies, the ‘state-of-the-actual’ in many classrooms is quite different. Many educators struggle to keep up with the latest technological developments and to consider the ways these might best work for the students they are teaching.
The TPACK framework suggests that the most effective educational technology integration occurs when technological, pedagogical and content knowledge overlap. Photo credit: The TPACK framework, reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org.
education matters primary
