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It just goes to prove that active teaching is essential in all subject areas, not just those involving STEM. Students need to be taught critical thinking skills, not just memorization of facts.

Great video that explains the concepts of TPACK in a more simplistic manner. I think is does a great job of showing how not integrating such a model could harm our current/future learners- learners of the 21st century.

This is a beautiful presentation, and I know it's purpose is not to teach you everything about TPACK, but you also don't want to dishearten learners or veteran teachers with overloading them with what they should be doing. If I told everyone right now that by next Friday you all should be playing golf and be good at it, most of you would look at me and say no way or I cannot. If I said I want to show you how to putt a golf ball one day, then the next day we are going to work on chipping a golf ball... I am slowly building the foundation of playing golf. For TPACK to work with teachers who are not tech savvy, you have to slowly build the foundation. Maybe designate one piece of technology, and for some it might be something as simple as a digital camera, and properly work that into a lesson. If you want all teachers to be successful using the TPACK model, baby steps might be needed for some, just like some of our students need baby steps and others hit the classroom running in full stride.

The video "TPACK Framework" definitely portrays the most important message of TPACK which is successful implementation of TPACK is not an easy process; rather it is a process that will require creativity from teachers. I really like what Stephen stated with his golf analogy and I feel like the video is great for teachers who are new to the framework by explaining TPACK in a very simple format: you need to have knowledge of the content you are teaching, knowledge of how to effectively teach as well as creative ideas of how you will use technology to tie in the content effectively. Through this video, I can see how the subject being taught can be considered as a resistant force to the framework. It is absolutely possible to apply TPACK in every content area however I feel that it is easier or more obvious to apply it in science curriculum as oppose to language arts (I am in no way saying that it is impossible). In order to make TPACK successful introducing teachers to this framework and ensuring them that is okay if they run into a brick wall because this not a 1-2-3 fix and it will require creative solutions.

some great science resources - teaching nature of science, etc.

Segments that particularly jumped out: - "there are three main components of teachers' knowledge: content, pedagogy, and technology. Equally important to the model are the interactions between and among these bodies of knowledge, represented as PCK, TCK (technological content knowledge), TPK (technological pedagogicalknowledge), and TPACK." -"Many approaches to teachers' professional development offer a one-size-fits-all approach to technology integration when, in fact, teachers operate in diverse contexts of teaching and learning." -"three key components of teacher knowledge: understanding of content, understanding of teaching, and understanding of technology. The complexity of technology integration comes from an appreciation of the rich connections of knowledge among these three components and the complex ways in which these are applied in multifaceted and dynamic classroom contexts."

I like this a lot! I agree that we are moving towards virtual learning experiences more and more in today's world.

The videos cover several areas in algebra for which I know students in my school could benefit from their use.

I am a big fan of the Wiley Online Library. Research articles are so important (and fun). I used this article as a platform for building my own spectrophotometer for under $100 (science fair project with my step-son). You would think that it would not be very effective in the classroom, but after analyzing gelatin solutions and plotting the data using Excel we got an r^2 value around .988, which is pretty good in my book.

Yeah! I love the reliance on empirical data and statistics (R2, yes!)

One of the newest and greatest innovations continues to be video games. In the past, educational games have never quite met expectations, but with grants and contests such as this one, hopefully the games improve and students can learn something while playing video games.

This looks like a great tool for kids today- especially considering how attached some kids are to games. Children need to know how they get sick and what is going on inside of them when they are sick. One concern I have is that the game may be giving the message that all bacteria are bad and will make them sick. This is a common misconception that has led to the over use of antibiotics and hand sanitizer. Children should be taught that although some bacteria are pathogens, most are not, and they actually help other animals (ie. Humans) carry out every day functions. Bacteria ≠ Pathogen.

About four years ago, I went to a facility planners conference and they said the most improperly used space in the school is the library. It should not be filled with stacks of books, but it should look more like a media center where you have gaming centers, areas for public wi-fi access and a small section for books, but it would not be the dominant feature of the media center. It would also not close with the school, but be an area that would be open to the general public after hours. We will probably not build another school in Spotsylvania in the next decade, but it will be interesting to see if divisions will be starting to convert what we currently see as a library into something else.

A brief 10-minute video describing the importance of STEM education and its implications. Posted by Chesterfield County Public Schools (ccpsva). 19 Dec 2008

I completely agree with Tristan, it is always awesome to see stuff that we talk about in our coursework being implemented in the field. I feel like sometimes important topics to me are forgotten when we translate them into teaching in the classroom, but this proves me wrong. And makes me feel great about the future of STEM education.

I had never heard of "STEM" until a Chesterifield CPS principal mentioned it. I had to stop her and ask what "STEM" was, which, as a scientist, was very embarrassing. I think it is great that CCPS has embraced the synergistic effect of STEM subjects functioning together. Awesome!

First and foremost, I really like the diagram that this website created for defining tpack, it really helped me to grasp a more through definition of TPACK. Second, a notable excerpt from the article: "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) attempts to identify the nature of knowledge required by teachers for technology integration in their teaching, while addressing the complex, multifaceted and situated nature of teacher knowledge. At the heart of the TPACK framework, is the complex interplay of three primary forms of knowledge: Content (CK), Pedagogy (PK), and Technology (TK)."

Thank you for posting this. As an old science teacher, what I am seeing is the Scientific Process being expanded upon in this article. As teachers, teaching students to be thinkers and not regurgitators of facts is very important. I would much rather a student understand the process of "if I do A to B and C happens, but I wanted D to happen, what do I need to adjust to A and B to get the result I want." Rather than spitting out D happens when you do a to B. It is also interesting to see him mentioning at the top that the arts make STEM "sizzle" when you see what is happening at UVA.

It is interesting to see how STEM is being looked at in other places. One thing in the article, that I haven't heard someone else stress, is the importance of empathy. I think that empathy would ensure that the students would maintain interest in a topic. However, the article makes me wonder what curriculum will look like in the future if we make these changes. Certainly, different children in different places will have different interests and will want to learn about different things, which is fine, but will be difficult with the current system of standards. I also think that teaching and learning will be done in different "teams" rather than traditional classes where all subjects are compartmentalized and divided. Another interesting point, in one of the videos, was how the students should do the investigation and research rather than the teacher. I think this is a fundamental part of project based learning.

PBL - Dream Big Project - dream bedroom - scale drawing - working with budget - 

Resourses + free image

I don't have too many go to sites yet (I hope that improves in the near future) but I did run across this compilation of youtube videos related to science that I think will be helpful in the future. Given some of them are way too basic to use, but there used to be really cool look inside the cell type stuff. The original site shut down so I had to find where someone else posted the links on their blog so my apologizes if you can not access it at this time.

Hey Eric- Thanks for posting this website- I was looking through the videos and happen to come across some that I think might be useful for me when I start teaching very soon!

This resource is webcast from UC Berkeley Lectures, maybe not the most practical for the classroom but its always interesting to look out how others are teaching similar content.

This site provides lessons on a wide array of earth science topics that kids can access at home which includes interactive videos, games, activities and lessons. It also provides great resources for teachers that can help foster creative lessons with the content. The website is a little confusing at first because each link (topic) will redirect you to another website (i.e. National Geographic) but it exposes you to different approaches to teaching the content.

Wow! There is a lot of information on this link directly related to Earth Science. I am currently going through each link and writing down notes to help me with some of my future lectures. Thanks so much for the link that brings it all together so that I don't have to have a search overload for some of these great resources!

This site shows STEM in action! Showing kids that STEM disciplines are not foreign to each other, but rather that the combined effort of many fields culminates the scientific process is paramount to the success of the next generation. STEM subjects should not be approached as separate entities. They are intricately intertwined with each other for the advancement of knowledge. The project shown in this video is an awesome example of STEM subjects coming together.