The Great Media Debate and TPACK: A Multidisciplinary Examination of the Role of Technology in Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This article bridges the fields of instructional design and teacher education, presenting and modernizing the media influence debate and synthesizing it with the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework. Five modern technologies are presented as media comparison studies, analyzed from both the medium-as-variable and medium-and-method-as-variable perspectives, and highlighted in an example teaching and learning scenario analyzed for TPACK. The media debate is newly synthesized with TPACK, acknowledging the teacher as a critical variable in instructional success, and implications for research and teacher education and professional development are presented.

Keywords:

• TPACK, technology integration, instructional design, teacher education, instructional technology, educational technology, instructional planning, teacher knowledge

Author Note

Dr. Jamie Sickel is a former teacher educator and current instructional designer in the Center of Excellence for Learning, Teaching and Technology at Kapi‘olani Community College in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Her research explores the development of technological pedagogical content knowledge and the integration of free and web-based technologies into a variety of learning environments. Please address correspondence regarding this article to Jamie L. Sickel, PhD, Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technologu, Kapi‘olani Community College, 4303 Diamond Head Rd., Honolulu, HI 96816, USA. E-mail: [email protected].