TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) is a kind of new knowledge required by teachers for technology integration in their subject teaching. With the connotation of TPACK including TCK, TPK and PCK, the project, exemplified with translation teaching, conducts an action research of an English teacher of Zhejiang Radio & TV University on how she uses information technology to help conduct translation teaching, then integrates technology into translation teaching, and finally acquires and develops TPACK framework. At last, acquiring TPACK has a great effect on the perfection of teachers’ knowledge system, the development of teachers’ teaching ability and promotion of professional development of teachers.
21 Century has been witnessing a rapid and steady progress and innovation in technology, information and knowledge transfer. National Outline for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010- 2020) clearly states that modern information technology plays an innovative and important role in educational development. National Open University, a new university emerging in this era, needs redefining and redesigning in the field of educational context. Thus, with the official establishment of National Open University, I, a professional English teacher of Zhejiang Radio & TV University, often ponder over the following questions: since academic and non-academic education of National Open University is mainly developed through public service platform [
With the above-mentioned questions, I conducted an action research on my own teaching (exemplified with translation course) through such ways as teaching journal, interviews, forum messages and etc. With this research method, I analyze my bewilderment and confusion when applying modern education technology during teaching. Through constant reflection on my own teaching process, I try to find ways to solve my bewilderment―acquiring and developing TPACK.
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), building on Shulman’s construct of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) [
Translation course aims to develop the students’ comprehensive language ability and translation competence, putting great emphasis on translation practice. However, the enclosed and teacher-oriented traditional teaching method pays more attention to language points, with lack of effective communication between students and teachers, between students, and between students and outside world and low interaction quality. With the rapid development of information technology, in order to integrate information technology with translation course, and in order to improve the students’ interaction level and interaction quality in translation course, I try to redesign the teaching content and teaching method regarding translation course with a framework of TPACK (
1) With analyzing the students’ characteristics, designing technological content knowledge based on translation course (TCK)
CK in the framework of TPACK is defined as Content Knowledge. Translation course aims to develop the students’ translation competence through doing a large amount of translation practice [
learners’ career competence is covered. As we know, the technology can help simulate real translation ecological environment for distance learners, most of who are adult students with high self-cognition and emphasize course content integrated with personal experience, hoping learning this course can help them a lot in their work and daily life.
2) With Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), designing an ecological learning environment of translation course
Technology Knowledge (TK) in the framework of TPACK emphasizes modern media and network technologies integrated in course teaching at a deep level. Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK) refers to the knowledge of how various technologies can be used in teaching, and to understanding that using technology may change the way teachers teach [
Building a translation workshop and a virtual community of practice. Using computer to simulate translation context (a translation workshop) in which students, forming a virtual community of practice by means of some interactive tools, such as QQ and BBS, can do various practices. The emphasis in the translation workshop is on the actual working out of the problems that are the same as those in real translation companies.
Building a network translation course platform. This platform includes multimedia display platform, online testing system, service for society, BBS and mobile learning. When meeting with problems, the students can help with each other through online real-time communication. Besides, the students can do mobile learning at any time and at any places. In a word, this network course platform is not only a moderate guide for class teaching, but also provides the students with a platform of self-tutorial and reference before the class and after the class.
3) Researching teaching strategy and designing Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) based on translation course
Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in the framework of TPACK emphasizes the teachers should find various ways to deal with content knowledge. In addition to it, the teaching materials should be adapted or cut out in order to being fit for the students to learn [
Carrying out an interactive content-driven and language-driven teaching approach. This approach is student- oriented, emphasizing complementary interaction between in-class learning and after-class practice by means of information technology, and emotional interaction between students and between students and teachers, which can stimulate the students’ enthusiasm and creativity and promote the students’ comprehensive translation competence and teamwork awareness in this interactive teaching and learning environment. The teacher can choose “real” translation materials from the real world, with which the students can know more information about this world, express their professional thoughts and promote language proficiency. However, since large amounts of online teaching materials are disorderly and unsystematic, the teachers should, according to the students’ requirement and ability, choose or adapt the materials to meet the students’ requirements and ability.
The study conducted an experiment on translation teaching based on TPACK framework in Open College of Zhejiang Radio & TV University. At the beginning of the experiment, because of lack of class hours, I made some good multi-media coursewares to present teaching contents, and offered many relevant materials collected from internet to the students. I was proud of it. But later, I found out that most of the students only paid attention to the beautiful pictures of coursewares instead of my explanation of course contents. And some gave me an absent look. Seeing this, I felt a little bewildered. Maybe the students’ voices can help me solve my problems.
I: Why don’t you take notes during class? You can’t follow me?
S1: The courseware you do is very interesting, so I only pay attention to the courseware.
S2: You speak so quickly that I can’t figure it out.
S3: The contents involved in the class are too much, so I don’t know what kind of notes I should take. If I take all the notes the teacher mentioned, time is not enough.
The students’ answers help me find out the keys to my problems. I applied information technology in the translation class, whose aim is only to present contents and collect related information. Therefore, information technology was only assistance in translation teaching instead of really being integrated in the process of students’ learning. In this approach, the students become the appreciators of coursewares, while I become a projectionist. For too many teaching resources (as to PCK, I didn’t make it), I was only concerned about whether I could finish the courseware I had prepared, so I spoke too fast to deliver my thoughts logically and systematically. In fact, the more involuntary attention the students get, the fewer language materials they acquire. Therefore, I just turned “banging knowledge by means of people” into “banging knowledge by means of computer”. So how can I make true technology integration into translation course and own TPACK?
With the above-mentioned questions, I began to make a corresponding adjustment on how to integrate information technology into teaching. I read some articles on mind map by accident. I know major categories radiate from a central node, and lesser categories are sub-branches of larger branches. Categories can represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items related to a central key word or idea. Then I tried to recommend MindManager to the students. For example, when introducing such translation theories as famous translators and translation criteria, I ask the students to present the contents by MindManager. In addition to it, I encouraged the students to look through related materials by internet so as to broaden their horizon. Then the students’ feedbacks are as follows:
S1: I feel this tool is a little troublesome at first, but later, I find it can help puzzle me out, for example, I use mind map to present translation criteria put forward by many famous translators, with which I believe I can bear it in mind.
S2: The teacher asks us to look through the relevant information and lets us decide which part we are interested in. It is quite different from the past: it was the teacher who decided the materials we must learn.
S3: Among so many online resources, I learn to how to choose important resources and share them with the students by means of the organized and clear mind map, which makes me proud.
The students’ reactions make me realize that I can’t use technology for technology’s sake. In fact, the more information the teacher provides because of advanced technology, the less knowledge the students acquire [
Then, I tried the following strategies: 1) Dividing the students into some groups, from which a student host is chosen. Each group is a virtual community of practice and translation workshop. Hating or refusing being banged knowledge, the adult learners prefer learning in simulation environment, where they can solve the “real” problems that are similar to those in real life [
With some proudness, I wrote down some in my teaching dairy:
1) After a long time’s learning, both I and the students are used to consulting internet when meeting some problems, and discussing and communicating with each other by means of modern communication tools, which seems to be an implicit, natural and normal behavior.
2) It seems that I apply technology only for technology’s sake. I can’t really integrate educational technology into teaching and learning of the course in the perspectives of magnitude, depth, and variety. Therefore, my view of technology integrated into teaching is solidified and static. In designing learning activities and carrying out teaching strategies, I failed to improvise on my class and integrate educational technology into teaching according to pedagogical knowledge [
With conducting an action research on translation course, I always reflect on the problems and bewilderment when integrating educational technology in translation teaching. The enlightenments I get are as follows:
1) In this information age, there are some changes in teachers’ knowledge system, that is, technology will have an effect on teachers’ knowledge system.
The TPACK framework, going beyond seeing content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), and technological knowledge (TK) in isolation, is the complex interplay and dynamic balance between all three components [
2) A corresponding change in the components of teachers’ teaching ability
In this information society, the teachers’ teaching ability is an organic marriage of teachers’ knowledge system and teaching practice. TPACK is dynamic with TK in the TPACK framework changing constantly. Therefore, the teachers’ teaching transferring ability [
3) Promoting the teachers’ professional development
The teachers’ professional development is a dynamic process of the teachers’ enriching and perfecting themselves [
My thanks to the anonymous reviewers for reading and commenting on the early drafts of this article.
The project is supported by the Program for Research on Educational Technology of China (Grant No. 146241759), the Foundation of Distance Education: Development and Innovation (Grant No. 2014ZX02).
Xiaoyang Shu, (2016) An Action Research on TPACK’s Influence on Teachers of National Open University: Exemplified with an English Teacher of Zhejiang Radio and TV University. Open Access Library Journal,03,1-6. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1102336