Understanding the TPCK framework is foundational in understanding the interrelationships between content, technology, and pedagogy. “Learning technology by design affords students the opportunity to transcend the passive learner role and to take control of their learning…design is experienced in activity, depends on recognition of design quality, entails a creative process, is understood in dialogue and action and involves reflection in action” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1035).

The interconnectedness of each component in the TPACK framework is essential in “[representing] a transformation of all the knowledge needed to be a teacher, including subject matter, pedagogical, and contextual knowledge, into a unique form of knowledge that impacts teacher practice” (Kind, 2015, p. 185). These components cannot be separated or looked at in isolation from the other parts; the intersection of the relationship is a critical foundation of the framework.

Teachers face various challenges with the rapid rate of technology changing, inappropriate design of software, and the situated nature of learning (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1032). “Merely knowing how to use technology is not the same as knowing how to teach with it” (p. 1033). The learning technology by design approach focuses on “learning by doing, and less so on overt lecturing and traditional teaching” (p. 1035).