Technology Is All Around You

Technology Is All Around You

by Gary Benenson

As a young college graduate, Gary Benenson worked in maintenance at Camp Hurley with Jerry Harris (introduced in CHAPTER 3), where he received some of his initial training in technology trying to understand, maintain, and repair the camp’s antiquated plumbing system. Gary later became a mechanical engineer and a teacher at the City College of New York School of Engineering. He is the project director of “Stuff That Works,” a series of curriculum guides designed for use by elementary school teachers. This essay is based on the curriculum guides, which were partly funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.—Alan Singer

JOIN THE CONVERSATION—TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY

Questions to Consider:

1. Gary Benenson defines technology and technological literacy in a very different way from people who identify them with the ability to use a computer. Do you agree or disagree with his position? Why or why not?

1. 2. How do Gary’s ideas influence the way you think about promoting technological literacy in your content area?

Technology has become a buzzword in our society, and buzzwords can be hard to rescue from their sudden fame and fortune. We constantly hear phrases like “getting on board with technology in the classroom,” “technology alters the way we communicate, ” and “the explosion of technology stocks.” With all of the discussion of technology, it is vital that teachers have a clear sense of both what technology means and how students learn it. Despite their larger-than-life aura, computers represent only a small piece of the story of technology. Equally valid examples of technology include:

• The table the computer sits on
• The box and the Styrofoam packing material it came in
• The tape used to seal the box
• The symbols that identify its contents and destination
• The pencil and paper you fall back on when the computer does not work!

The first step in achieving technological literacy is to become aware of the myriad forms of technology that surround us in our everyday lives. Technology includes all of the artifacts, systems, and environments created by humans to solve the problems they perceive. Because every example of technology is designed to solve a set of problems, there are some basic questions we can ask about each example:

• What problems was it designed to solve?
• How well does it address each of these problems?
• What additional problems does it pose?
• Under what circumstances could it fail?
• How could it be redesigned to make it work better?

Each of these questions involves a form of critical thinking, and none of the questions is easy to answer, even though the technology itself may seem simple. For example, the tape that seals the computer box is intended to keep the box from opening in transit. It may also be designed to prevent the labels from coming off, or to keep the ink from smearing. However, the tape may make it hard to open the box, and the tape that remains stuck to the cardboard may make the box useless afterward. The tape could come undone if it gets wet, or even if it is too hot or too humid. Maybe the tape should be replaced by string, which would be waterproof and might make the box easier to reuse. Also, string could serve as the base for a handle, which would make the box easier to carry. But there are problems with using string as well. It could get caught on something and create a safety hazard. Technological literacy means the ability to critically evaluate the purposes and effects of a form of technology. It also includes a willingness to make suggestions for how the technology can be changed to make it work better. The first of these activities is called analysis, while the second is design or redesign.

Analysis and design are generally not included in discussions about learning technology. When students “learn computers,” they nearly always do so as users, rather than as analyzers or designers. There are few adults who really know how computers work, let alone how to design them. Learning to use a computer does not mean learning computer technology,any more than learning to drive a car implies an understanding of automotive technology. On the other hand, there are many simple technologies, like tape and string, that nearly everyone can think about and evaluate, and even test for themselves to see which one works better.

Technological literacy is not only about figuring things out for yourself. As in any other subject, there are a host of big ideas, which are best learned for and through activities, in this case analysis and design. Some of the organizing concepts of technology are inputs, outputs, systems, materials, information, energy, environments, controls, constraints, trade-offs, side effects, and failure. The most important processes in technology include brainstorming, scavenger hunts, classifying, sorting, data collection, data analysis, modeling, identifying needs, setting design goals, establishing design criteria, evaluation, troubleshooting, maintenance, repair, reuse, redesign, and communication.

Technology education is a broad undertaking that can provide a context for all of the other disciplines. To compare competing technologies, one has to set up a “fair test,” which is one of the basic processes of science. Collecting data, organizing it, and patternfinding all require mathematical thinking. Negotiating solutions and presenting them are exercises in written, oral, and graphic communication. The problems students solve can and should be their own problems, such as how to reduce the interruptions in a classroom or improve the traffic flow in the cafeteria. As students analyze and design solutions to these sorts of problems, they engage in democratic decision making, which is a basic goal of social studies education. When viewed this way, technology can be a theme for critical thinking throughout the curriculum.