WPP - Final Overview

This will be my last blog post for CEP-812. Another MAET course concluded! During the course I've been working on my Wicked Problem Project.

The first part consisted in identifying a need or opportunity where technology could make a real impact. I divided the problem in three parts that are connected to the same solution:

Part 1: We’ve had Google Apps in our school for three years now but my teachers still don’t use many of the tools or features that would make their work a lot easier.

Part 2: As Technology Coordinator I have to make sure that all the technological resources available in the school are being used effectively. I wanted to design a system that would give me better control of all our devices and software.

Part 3: I feel that there isn’t enough communication between different subject areas or grade levels of what interesting or creative activities are being done using technology.

What solution did I find for all the parts of my problem?

Incorporate most of the tools that Google Apps has to offer in creating a site where teachers could request assistance and resources and at the same time they could share how their activity went with other members of the staff, I would not only make part of my job a lot easier but also build a functional demonstration of how using Google Apps could be very helpful for other educational tasks and promote their use in the classroom.

To make sure that my solution had the necessary elements to become a good learning resource for my teachers I analyzed it using the TPACK model.

I began with Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK). In this solution, the same tools that I want my teachers to learn are the ones that they will be using on a daily basis for sharing their edtech experiences and scheduling the use of different technology resources. TPK in this case would help them identify similarities and differences of doing tasks with or without Google Apps. I think it will also be a good engagement strategy since they are using the same thing that they are learning.

For TCK, Technological Content Knowledge, the content in this case is Google Apps. You might say that the whole site is a non-linguistic representation of the content, since it's a physical or digital model of the different tools. This will help create a mental picture of the different functionalities.

Finally for Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK), this solution has a very practical or kinesthetic approach to learning the content. The teachers will first have the experience of using Google Apps as part of the school's needs to keep track of technology integration. Later, they can appropriate the same tools for their own needs inside the classroom.

Watch the next video to learn more about my WP Project: