Locating TPACK XK between theory and practice: Reflective practice, applied ethics, and technoskeptical dispositions

Abstract

The problem of context, contextualization, and XK has stalked TPACK since its inception. We suggest that efforts in education technology to deepen the theory and scholarship around this domain of knowing have run up against the field's tendency toward discrete interpretations of TPACK, its continued reluctance to explore socio-cultural influences on education and technology, and the inherent tensions between abstracted theoretical models and the realities of practice they represent. Additionally, context raises important ethical considerations that are deeply embedded in educational technology selection and use. In an attempt to reject the binary of theory and practice and also extend the relationships between contextual and ethical knowledge in TPACK, we propose ways the field can extend both research and practice related to XK through reflective practice, professional ethics, and technoskeptical dispositions. Using examples from classroom practices, we have developed reflective and critical questions to elicit connections between TPACK, XK, and ethics which include hyper-local and narrow contexts as well as broader socio-cultural contexts. Intersecting ethics with TPACK helps educators situate the profession of education within society; consider the broad social implications of technology, pedagogy, and content separately and as TPACK; and work toward commitments for learning and social justice through the actions of the good enough.