Cooking With TPACK

Why is LaShawn cooking with such weird utensils you may wonder?  Well… it is to demonstrate that we could re-purpose the tools and make a vegetable tray. I am not sure who would want to eat our delectable carrots after viewing how we prepared them.  A whisk is not the best tool for cutting carrots, however LaShawn’s inner Julia Childs came out and she creatively garnished the carrots with grated sprinkles! It would have been easier to peel the carrots with a carrot peeler and to cut them with a knife. The bowl and plate were sufficient if the dinner party was only for approximately 3 people.

Re-purposing taking one thing and changing it up and making it work for another.  My mom loves to tell the story of me when I was about 10.  My Dad loves pumpkin pie, and at the time I enjoyed cooking so I baked him a pie.  I then proceeded to make whipped cream and there wasn’t any milk so I used grape juice.  It was a liquid, right?  Well it actually was not that bad. I am not the only one that has combined existing materials to create something new.

Each of the above examples required creative thinking.  In order for my students to become creative thinkers, I need to provide well thought out experiences that provide the opportunities for repurposing.  For example, if I were to have my students go through the same process that LaShawn and I did, I could then ask them create a story using whatever technology they had available to do that.  If the goal of my lesson was to have the student tell a story from beginning to end they would need to put their pictures in order from beginning to end. It does not really matter if it is low technology (printed paper, or a picture showing each step) or high technology (pictures they took imported into a flip-book given various tools to choose from to create their story). What is important is the process student go through to recreate something new while learning the content. The final step would be to share what they have learned about the process and the content.

The TPACK framework web is a visual reminder for me to remember to not teach in isolation; my content, teaching methods, and technology need to be included in all lessons. To develop creative thinkers I need to provide the opportunity for repurposing.

REFERENCES:

Everything Is a Remix. Kirby Ferguson, 2011. Web. <http://everythingisaremix.info/about/&gt;.

Kereluik, K., Mishra, P. & Koehler, M.J. (2011). On learning to subvert signs: Literacy, technology and the TPACK framework. The California Reader, 44(2), 12-18.

Mishra, P. & Koehler, M.J.(2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017-1054. Retrieved from http://punya.educ.msu.edu/2008/01/12/mishra-koehler-2006/