Dr. Mishra (2012), one of the creators of TPACK (Technological Pedagogical And Content Knowledge) Framework, argues in this keynote speech that there is no such thing as educational technology — there are simply a variety of different technologies that teachers have access to that we can customize based on our intended classroom outcomes.
This is very true – teachers are masters of turning students’ technological interests (such as Facebook, Minecraft, or Twitter) into educational tools (Fakebook, MinecraftEDU, and Classroom Twitter pages).
With this in mind, I was tasked with repurposing another common household tool (a fork) with a new purpose — cutting cheese. Below is a video documenting my experience:
Overall, I feel like I had a rather easy experience since I was able to adapt the fork to be knife-like. Upon reflecting, I think something else I could have done would be to ignore the top portion of the fork and tried to cut with the straight-edged stem of the fork. This might have made my cheese cuts cleaner.
This activity proves Dr. Mishra’s (2012) point — all technological tools can be repurposed based on the task at hand. This was, after all, what made MacGyver famous!
With that being said, some tools are better than others for different goals. Just as my task would have even easier with a knife, students’ ability to do certain tasks is easier with different tools. For example, it’s easier for a student to use Powtoons.com to create a video rather than try to animate their own video from scratch.
As a classroom teacher, one of my objectives when using technology is to help students find the best tool for the job at hand — one that makes their task easier, and not just use a tool for the sake of using a tool. Based on the TPACK framework, I should also be ensuring that the students are doing authentic work. The students’ creations should be shared with the world, not just completed for the sake of completing something.
Technology is a wonderful tool, but we should always ensure that we are using it for the right reasons, and using the best tool(s) for the job.
Reference:
Mishra, P. (2012, March 26). Punya Mishra – Keynote Speaker @ 21st Century Learning Conference – Hong Kong 2012. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bwXYa91fvQ
Techie Teacher 
Hi Alex!
How funny, we ended up doing the same task using the same tools. The only difference was my fork had a knife edge which made things even easier. Even though we were given the same task with similar tools, mine was differentiated just a tiny bit and it made a big difference. This makes me think that we can alter our use of technology from child to child in order to cater instruction to their individual needs. The outcome of a project may be the same, but by providing students with specific and useful tools we can help them be more successful. I think you hit the nail on the head when you spoke about using technology for the right reasons, not just as an added component to a project. Well done!
I love the MacGyver reference, by the way 🙂
Kat
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Kat – great connection between the different fork edges and offering differentiated supports through different tools in the classroom. In the end, both students achieve the objective.
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