Koh, J., Chai, C., & Lee, M.-H. (2015). Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) for pedagogical improvement: Editorial for special issue on TPACK. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. Advance online publication.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-015-0241-6

Abstract: 

“The papers in this special issue have showcased different ways of using TPACK for instructional planning, curriculum leadership, e-learning, and teacher assessment; notably including teachers in the fields of early childhood and special needs, which have not often been studied. Several areas in the field of TPACK can still be further developed. Firstly, TPACK has contextualized knowledge for ICT used with specific content and pedagogies. Unique kinds of TPACK specifications still need to be developed as languages of pedagogical improvement for different contexts; which are examples of what Harris et al. (2009) defined as TPACK Activity Types. Harris and Hofer (2011) have begun some work on such kinds of activity types in different subject areas. More of such studies are still needed. Secondly, Chai et al. (2013) suggested that the TPACK framework can also be extended to the assessment of the design of online activities. Thirdly, how teachers use their existing knowledge as epistemic resource to create TPACK under the influence of their epistemic and pedagogic beliefs needs further unpacking. Chai et al. (2011) have alluded that the nature of TPACK as a form of knowledge is not that of “verified true beliefs” but “usable design knowledge.” The process of generating TPACK could be partly through the dynamic activation of epistemic resources, which inevitably include the seven kinds of TPACK knowledge that the teachers may possess. Teachers’ acquired ways of framing design problems and the situational and discursive synthesis of the epistemic resources to solve the instructional problems at hand could also contribute to the creation of TPACK. Teachers’ decisions could also be influenced by the multiple demands that they face as part of the context of their work, and their personal intentions with using technology. Further analysis of how contextual factors influence teacher’s TPACK development is thus necessary (Porras-Hernasndez and Salinas-Amescua 2013). Furthermore, how TPACK is generated from the perspective of teachers’ mental models (see for e.g., Krauskopf et al. 2012) needs further theorization and empirical illustration. This constitutes an area of study that can be further explored. As teachers change their pedagogical practices with technology integration, such are examples of TPACK that are being enacted in the classroom. Such kinds of change influence students’ conceptions of learning with technology (Hammond and Manfra 2009; Khan 2011). The fourth area for future study therefore relates to the effects of teachers’ TPACK application on students either in terms of learning outcomes or their conceptions of learning with technology. A final gap observed is the lack of critical perspectives about the TPACK framework (Hewitt 2008) as most papers have accepted the TPACK framework as it is even though a theoretical analysis of the TPACK constructs find the need for much more precision in its theoretical definitions (Cox and Graham 2009). Therefore, studies that consider alternative interpretations of the TPACK frameworks can further enhance the critical discourse and theoretical development of the framework. These are several potential areas that can contribute to the enhancement of the TPACK framework’s usefulness for supporting teachers’ pedagogical improvement.”