Technology Education (TechEd Industrial Technology Industrial Arts) 

What Is Technology Education?

"Technology" is more than the computer in your office or the satellite dish in your backyard. Technology is any invention or innovation that affects the way we live, like CD and DVD players, microwave ovens, cars, calculators, magnetic resonance imaging machines, and forks. These examples of technology are the results of human technological activity. Technology is "innovation in action."

Technology Education is concerned with more than the gadgetry humans use to improve their lives. Technology Education develops within students the knowledge and skills required to participate in technological activity, to be innovative. Technology Education allows students to investigate and experience the means by which humans meet their needs and wants, solve problems, and extend their capabilities. It is concerned with the essential knowledge and skills needed to develop, produce and use products and services and with how to assess the impacts these activities have on humans and the world.

What Is Taught in Technology Education?

In Technology Education courses, students gain knowledge and skills in the design, production, application, and assessment of products, services, and systems. The study of technology allows students to reinforce, apply, and transfer their academic knowledge and skills to a variety of interesting and relevant activities, problems, and settings. In addition, students gain an understanding of the exciting career opportunities available in technology and what employers require to gain and maintain employment in the 21st century. In short, students are prepared for succeeding in a world influenced by technology.

What campuses offer Technology Education?

What Is the Purpose of the Technology Education Essential Knowledge and Skills Standards?

Technology Education is a key component of a balanced curriculum in Texas schools. The Technology Education Essential Knowledge and Skills adopted in 1997 are guidelines to assist communities in planning, developing, and implementing Technology Education programs. They provide a framework that describes what students should know and be able to do in six technology content areas and recommends a coherent sequence of courses for middle and high school programs In Texas Technology Education is organized into six content areas:
• Bio-related technology
• Communication technology
• Computer technology
• Construction technology
• Energy, power, and transportation technology
• Manufacturing technology

The six content areas are organized into five categories or levels based on the goals of the courses. The five categories are:
• Overview - A wide range of experiences in multiple content areas
• Exploratory - Introductory knowledge and skills in a specific content area
• Technical - Enhancement and mastery of knowledge and skills in a specific content area
• Scientific - Application of technology to facilitate the learning of scientific concepts
• Research - Self-directed investigations in the identification and resolution of relevant technological problems

The expectation of increased student learning and performance at each level provides a coherent sequence of courses that support a student's academic and career objectives.