Madison Metropolitan School District
Career/Technical Education Department

Technology Education

 

Definition

Technology is the application of knowledge and resources to extend and enhance our human capabilities. Technology Education involves students with the human imagination, its engineered devices, tools, and processes, in order to build knowledge and skills.

As a school subject, Technology Education develops the technological literacy and capabilities of students. This curriculum focuses on the development and applications of technology, and the effect that technology has on people, society and the environment. The knowledge and skills learned are: 1) standards based; 2) broad and comprehensive; 3) derived from applications of technology in industry; and 4) interdependent with society.

Purpose

The purpose of Technology Education is to provide the knowledge, competencies, skills, and opportunities for students to succeed in a technological society.

The curriculum provides all students the opportunity to explore and have experiences at an introductory level, as well as provides advanced student opportunities to develop specific occupational skills. The Technology Education Program provides students an excellent opportunity to acquire career information, develop insight into and understanding of technology's impact on society, and provides the opportunity to explore and develop leisure time interests.

This program supports the idea that general education and technical education, as well as specific preparation for post-secondary education, are essential and compatible in preparing individuals for earning a living and fulfilling life goals.

Characteristics

Technology Education integrates skills from other content areas such as math, science, and language arts with the knowledge and skills unique to this content area. For example at the middle school level, measuring, calculating, and estimating are used with other math skills to develop and evaluate products. Science principles and applications are used in the research, design, and development of products. Language Arts skills are used to research and document the results of projects and products. Reading skills are used to interpret the instructions to perform tasks or assignments.

Social aspects, historical impacts, present conditions, and future implications are addressed in the teaching and learning environments. Technology Education simulates the workplace, including the cultural and social interactions that occur therein. The following grid depicts the interaction of process and product standards for Technology Education. Numbers in parentheses refer to MMSD Technology Education Standards.


Interaction of MMSD Technology Education Standards
Product
Oriented
Process Oriented
(1) Nature of Technology (2) System Analysis (3) Creative Process (4) Social Impact
(5) Technical Information        
(6) Tools & Equipment        
(7) Materials        
(8) Engineering        
(9) Career Development        

Technology Education is required instruction at the majority of our middle schools and is elective instruction at the high school level. All middle school students enrolled in Technology Education address grade level performance standards. High school students who elect Technology Education opportunities are assessed using competency criteria, or occupational skill standards within a specified career area.

 

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