Technology in TPACK model

As Judy Harris explains in the video about the TPACK model (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDwWg_g0JGE), we should not build a house around a faucet. On the contrary, we should incorporate technology in order to enrich our classes taking into account our curricular and pedagogical needs.
According to this model, when we design a class we need to make three important decisions in the following order:

• curricular knowledge, i.e. deciding on the topic to be covered and the objectives to be achieved by the students.
• pedagogical knowledge, i.e. selecting the type of acticities we want to do, the final outcome, the teacher and students roles, assessment strategies, and so on and so forth;
• and only after all this has been set we can focus on technology knowledge, i.e. choosing and looking for the appropiate technological resources that will help us to achieve our aims for that class.

Even though these three elements are very important, the TPACK approach goes beyond taking them into account in isolation, emphasising the new kinds of knowledge that lie at the intersections between them, resulting in four other kinds of knowledge teachers need to consider when teaching with technology. In this graph you can clearly see them:

published by tpack.org

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK): Knowledge that allows you organise and adapt the content in the best way to be taught.

Tecchnological Content Knowledge (TCK): Knowledge about how content and technology influence each other. It implies knowing what type of technology is the best for teaching the content and how to use technology effectively in the classroom.

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK): Knowledge about how education and technology influence each other. It implies knowing what type of technology is available at the moment, and how it can be adapted for educational purposes, since most of it has not been created for pedagogical purposes.

Finally, the intersection of all three circles results in: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK).

Let's incorporate technology into our classes, but only after we have made informed decisions about why and how we are going to use it. Technology is just another tool we should have at hand to be used when needed.