Academic Engagement and Technology: Revisiting the Technological, Pedagogical and Content Knowledge Framework (TPACK) in Higher Education (HE): The Academics’ Perspectives

Abstract

Research into the use of innovative information and communications technology (ICT) for academic purposes is growing quickly. Much of the current research explores the opportunities presented by ICT and social media as innovative tools for teaching and enhancing student learning (O’Brien & Glowatz, 2013; Duncan & Barczyk, 2013). This paper suggests that the role of the academic in navigating the use of ICT in their teaching in Higher Education (HE) has been overlooked in discussions. Koehler and Mishra (2009) propose the technological, pedagogic and content knowledge (TPACK) framework to explore the relationship of technology in teaching. O’Brien and Glowatz (2013) investigate the suitability of the TPACK framework in the context of academic engagement in order to investigate its relevance for academics teaching in HE. This paper suggests elements of the teaching dynamic are overlooked and evaluates the use of the TPACK framework in the exploration of technology in higher education by academics. Specifically, the authors address the key question ‘How do academics currently make use of technology to teach at higher education?’.

Keywords

• TPACK
• eLearning
• Irish Higher Education
• academic engagement