Putting design into practice: an investigation of TPACK of lecturers in a networked institution

Demand for blended and online learning environments is increasing and concurrent with this is the changing competencies required for teachers to be able to facilitate learning in both face-to-face and virtual space. The Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a measure of teachers pedagogical, content and technical knowledge and their skill to embed technology in practice. Using the TPACK framework, this study explores the relationship between technical skills, learning design and how this relates to content and pedagogy. The study also investigates how TPACK varies by subject area, teaching qualification, and employment. A survey of 112 lecturers from multi-campus university found that TPACK was found to be correlated to the level of interactivity offered in the design of online learning environments. Lecturers who have high TPACK provide more interactive learning materials in their learning design. TPACK did not significantly vary by subject area. TPACK did not also vary between those who received a few training over the past year in comparison to those who didn’t. However, significant differences in TPACK were found in terms of nature of employment and teaching qualification in HE. These findings suggest that there is a need to provide a varied approach to develop staff competencies.