TPACK: A Framework for the CITE Journal

In 1986 Lee Shulman proposed that crucial aspects of pedagogical practice are uniquely connected to specific content areas and coined the term “pedagogical content knowledge.” Extension of the concept to “technological pedagogical content knowledge” (now referred to as technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge, or TPACK) in recent years recognizes the central role of content and pedagogy in uses of educational technology – a role previously missing in many discussions. Even though some technologies may indeed facilitate student learning, content and pedagogy are crucial ingredients in this success. If the pedagogical content knowledge required for each discipline differs, it follows that the ways in which technology might best be used for each discipline may also differ. During the same era in which this concept was being articulated (see Mishra & Koehler, 2005, for an overview of the history), several teacher educator content associations and educational technology associations formed a collaborative organization. The participating representatives possessed a common belief that technology should be introduced in the context of content instruction and that teachers should take advantage of the unique features of technology to teach content in ways they otherwise could not. This consortium, which subsequently evolved into the National Technology Leadership Coalition (NTLC), was grounded in the ideas that were later incorporated in the TPACK framework.