Technological Literacy
The ultimate goal of Technology Education is technological literacy. Technological literacy is the ability to use, manage, assess, and understand technology. Technologically literate individuals understand the nature of technology, the history of technology, and basic hands-on capabilities. They have the ability to think critically about technological developments and they are able to analyze the positive and negative impacts of technology.
In comparison, the ultimate goal of vocational education is technical competency. Technical competency is proficiency in a certain technical area. Example: proficiency in welding.
Students in today's world face unprecedented change, which requires technological literacy to continually cope and adjust. An understanding of technology will help students cope with, adjust to, invent, innovate, design, and problem solve in their technological world.
Technology Education is an educational program that helps students understand and gain competencies in problem solving, designing, producing, using, maintaining, developing, and assessing technology.
Most technologies are designed so the users do not have to know how they work in order to operate them. These designs have little maintainability.
