Teach Middle East Magazine Sep - Dec 2020 Issue 1 Volume 8 | Page 35

Sharing Good Practice
per Bloom’s Taxonomy. Ultimately,
the desire is for students to create
knowledge and innovate solutions.
Summary and the way forward
Technology
education,
if
well
implemented, has the potential
not only to foster the creation of
knowledge and facilitate 21st century
skills, but also to extend human
potential. Successful implementation
requires
educators
to
adopt
constructivist and constructionist
teaching strategies, and employ
project and problem-based learning.
Yet, a well-implemented technology
education system, while important, is
insufficient on its own to address the
needs of the labour market.
This is where technology education’s
contribution to building 21st century
skills and creating knowledge is most
important.
The link of technology education to
21st century skills and knowledge
creation, and its implementation
The
general
perception
when
implementing technology education
into curricula is that this encompasses
only teaching of limited technical skills
(robotics, coding, design, filming,
etc.), computer literacy, and the
use of digital devices and software
applications. Technology education
has greater potential and needs to
move beyond this narrow view to
include knowledge creation and 21st
century skills.
Technology education has been
defined by International Technology
Engineering Education Association
(ITEEA) as the opportunity for
students to learn about the processes
and knowledge related to technology
that are needed to solve problems
and
extend
human
potential
(ITEEA 2000-2007). This definition
implies that technology education
encompasses teaching technical
literacy, having students practice
the processes, while thinking of the
problems society faces, and creating
potential solutions. The technical
content should not be limited to a
narrow focus on hardware, software
and social media, but a broad range of
technology and engineering, such as;
construction, media, transportation,
medical & biotechnology and space
technology. During the process of
problem-solving, educators need to
consciously and actively incorporate
21st century skills, particularly those
that lie within the ‘competencies’ and
‘character qualities’ categories of the
WEF’s 21st century skills framework.
Technology education is consistent
with
Papert’s
constructionist
education theory, which argues that
learning is a reconstruction rather
than as a transmission of knowledge,
and students learn best when they
are active in making tangible objects
in the real world. As Papert argued,
during the learning process, new
knowledge is created. As the STEAM
movement has gained momentum,
educators need to aim to make the
creation of knowledge come about
not only in STEM, but also include
the arts (A in STEAM), which includes
humanities and social science.
Schools should adopt constructivist
and
constructionist
learning
pedagogies to promote the process
of knowledge construction in learners.
This involves teaching strategies
such as project and problem-based
learning, as well as student centred and
active learning techniques. Educators
also need to provide adequate
scaffolding, as the implementation
constructivist and constructionist
pedagogies are based on students’
prior knowledge. Finally, by applying
engineering design processes or
the design thinking cycle, students’
learning escalates from remembering
and understanding to creating, as
Education systems should work
closely with businesses, who would
not only provide feedback on the skills
relevant for work, but also provide
students, early exposure to the world
of work. Only through this process can
there be the realisation of a true 21st
century curriculum.
References
1. Larsen AME, “Podcast: education for
the fourth industrial revolution,” World
Economic Forum 2018 Jan 26. https://www.
weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/podcast-
e d u c a ti o n - fo r- t h e - fo u r t h - i n d u s t ria l -
revolution/
2. “New vision for education: unlocking the
potential of technology”, World Economic
Forum 2015, http://www3.weforum.org/
docs/WEFUSA _NewVisionforEducation_
Report2015.pdf
3. “Closing the skills gap,” World Economic
Forum 2018. https://www.weforum.org/
projects/closing-the-skills-gap-regional-
skills-projects.
4. Leopold TA, Ratcheva V, Zahidi S, “The
future of jobs,” World Economic Forum
2016. http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-
jobs-2016/
5. ITEEA “Standards for technological
literacy: content for the study of technology,”
3rd edition, 2000, 2002, 2007. https://www.
iteea.org/File.aspx?id=67767&v=b26b7852
Hsing-Wen Wang received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Case
Western Reserve University. She has taught and conducted medical research
at University of Pennsylvania, National Yang-Ming University (Taipei), and
University of Maryland (2006-2015). Since 2015, she is an independent
consultant/researcher and teaches technology in American Community School
of Abu Dhabi.
Lorraine Charles’ expertise is in the political economy, development, education
and livelihoods of the Middle East. She is currently Research Associate at the
Center for Business Research, University of Cambridge. She has worked in the
private sector and as a consultant with NGO and INGOs, as well as in academia.
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