Technology Education

I was reading a chapter in Neil Postman's book "Building a Bridge to the Eighteenth Century" (2000) and found something he said relevant to this class. This is in regards to teaching about technology in schools:

"Everyone will know how to use computers. But what they will not know, as none of us did about everything from automobiles to movies to television, is what are the psychological, social, and political effects of new technologies. And that is a subject that ought to be central in schools. It requires some knowledge of the history of technology, of the principles of technological change, and of the economic and social alterations that technology inevitably imposes. If we want our students to live intelligently in a technological society, I don't see how this can be done if they are ignorant of the full meaning and context of technological change." (p. 170-171)

I think that Postman makes a really good point. How can we know where we are going if we don't know where we have come from? We should not be ignorant of the history of this technological development that is rapidly transforming the way we live. Children need to have an understanding of how society has changed since technology has become more common, and the implications this has for the present and future. Technological education should combine technological skills with technological history so children have a broader understanding of it. They need to know its personal and social impact. Such an education will aid in their critical thinking and enable them to use technology so that they control it, rather than it controlling them. Postman sums this up well: "My point is that, if we are going to make technology education a part of the curriculum, its goal must be to teach students to use technology rather than to be used by it" (p.171).