Questions to Consider:- Many teachers are concerned about “drawing a line” between themselves and their
students. Do you think “MrSteinGlobal” is an appropriate or inappropriate use of tech-
nology?
2.Do you have confidence in your own ability to use technology in the classroom and in
lesson preparation? Explain.
SECTION H: WHAT IS TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY?
Technology Is All Around You
By Gary Benenson
As a young college graduate, Gary Benenson worked in maintenance at Camp Hurley with Jerry
Harris (chap. 2), where he received some of his initial training in technology trying to understand,
maintain, and repair the camp’s antique plumbing system. Gary later became a mechanical engi-
neer 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 teach-
ers. This essay is based on the curriculum guides, which were partly funded by a grant from the
National Science Foundation.—Alan Singer
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 such as “getting on board
with technology in the classroom,” “technology alters the way we communicate,” and “the
explosion of technology stocks.” In a recent speech, Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan
identified “technology education” with teaching students how to navigate the Internet. 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 arti-
facts, 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?196 CHAPTER 7