Thematic considerations in integrating TPACK in a graduate program

The integration of technology into classrooms is an increasingly important issue in America's schools, and at the core of this integration is the training of teachers. Teacher educators seeking to impact teachers' use of technology should recognize the needs of these learners as well as their knowledge as practitioners, in order to expand their knowledge and help them think about technology in creative ways. In this chapter, the authors describe the design and implementation of the Master's program in Educational Technology at Michigan State University (MSU) as an example of an institution's attempts to improve their facility to incorporate technology into the classroom practice. The authors briefly define the concept of the TPACK and how that theoretical model is important in thinking about technology with teacher practitioners, and how it helped to focus the design of the Educational Technology program at MSU. The authors then outline central TPACK themes that run through each of the stages of this program, and how each level, in turn, informs the others. Finally, the chapter offers concrete examples of TPACK in practice at each stage of the Master's program in educational technology.