Triple Threat Teacher

To cool for School? No Way!
By Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler Written May 2009


This article described the three areas in which a teacher must have knowledge in order to educate their students in a successful way, and how technology is a huge part of that. The first part was that a teacher must have content knowledge. This means that the teacher must have knowledge of what they are teaching, which seems to be the most obvious characteristic. The second skill teachers must have is known as pedagogy knowledge. This means that teachers must have knowledge on how to teach. I felt the example that was given in the article was a perfect definition of what pedagogy knowledge is. They say that though someone may have a high level math degree, they may not have the pedagogy knowledge, or teaching skills, to properly educate students in the subject. I found this example humorous because I was in a similar situation as a high school student. The third area a teacher must have success in is in technological knowledge. A teacher must be able to use the modern technology available today to help increase the education of their students. This third area was the most discussed part of the article. The article described that while technology today (Facebook, Search Engines, Chat Rooms, Twitter, etc.) may not have been created for the use of education, teachers can still use these technologies for teaching. Through these areas, teachers can work on their TPACK (Technological, Pedagogy, And Content Knowledge).

I felt this article was extremely helpful in focusing on the three areas that make an excellent teacher. I think the obvious fact was that a teacher must know the subject they are teaching. However I think it is always important to remember that knowing the subject and teaching the subject are two completely different things. A good teacher knows the best ways to help their students learn the subject.

The idea presented that a teacher must be able to take new technologies and use them for education is something that I strongly agree with. Though this isn’t easy, I love the following quote from the article: “Teachers need to develop a willingness to play with technologies and an openness to building new experiences for students so that fun, cool tools can be educational.” A teacher can only use the tools to their advantage if they have a willingness to do so. I certainly plan on using “Student technology” (EX: Facebook, Twitter, etc.) because I believe it allows teachers to connect with the student better and thus allows them to educate them in a more effective way.