TPCK...

...Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge

That was the topic that I have been reading up on ever since I embarked on this journey at the beginning of this year.

Here's a link to the TPCK wiki put up by the key scholars who first coined the term: Matthew Koehler and Punya Mishra. The construct is an attempt to articulate the bodies of knowledge that teachers draw upon as they design learning experiences for their learners. Looking at the construct, I have a growing sense that there is something lurking beneath the neat and intersecting circles that hints at something more complex and nebulous that looses its very essence once someone attempts to reduce it to its core constituents. Dear reader who has just chanced upon this blog entry...what do you think? Am I worrying too much?

When I first heard about this construct, I was told that there were only a small handful of papers published about it. But as I searched and read and searched, I realised that I was perching on the tip of an iceberg. There were four dissertations completed on the topic in the year 2008 alone. Well, speaking about dissertations, will I ever come to the stage when I get mine done? That seems so very distant right now. Ah, long Arctic day, remember?

So I'm finding more and more studies done on the topic and at least two blogs dedicated to it. I read the papers published, I'm thankful that we live in a world connected by email, blogs and delicious etc because these are tools I may enlist to ask clarifying questions and to engage in discussions. Now, I just need to pluck up my courage and take that first baby step to enter into their community. :-)