The Purpose Of Technology Education

In a word, it is about INNOVATION! It is about how people think! It is how to apply technology in the solution of problems facing society! The aim is to solve problems and create opportunities within a realistic context. That context can start with the student's everyday environment and progressively move into more global issues.

Examples of technology problems and learning situations could be the cleaning of a stream that has become polluted, the creating and fabricating of an invention to solve a household problem, or the designing and building of a habitat for a unique situation. The thinking process is closely related to that of an engineer, hi-tech worker, designer, or an architect.

Students use their ingenuity with tools, materials, processes and resources to create solutions and opportunities for themselves and others. The nature of learning goes from the very early years of just "knowing" to more developed applications that relate to the medical, agricultural, energy and power, information and communication, transportation, manufacturing and construction technologies. It is a new and dynamic subject in our schools that is as fast moving and as up-to-date as the thinking of technology in our society! It is future workforce thinking!

* From the North Dakota Curricular Framework for Technology Education.
 

Technology Student Association Website