Braden Boss and Dr. Geoffrey A. Wright, Technology & Engineering Education

Many people struggle defining technology literacy. Some say that there is no “absolute definition of literacy” because technology literacy varies from society to society.1 No matter what society you belong to, how you define technology literacy depends on how you view technology and education.

There are essentially two ways in which technology is used in education. The first way is through technology education, mainly supported by the International Technology Education Association (ITEA). The second is through educational technology, largely supported by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Although different, both ways claim to teach technology literacy.

Technology education is where the fundamentals and principles of technology are learned. Students begin to understand what technology is, how it is created, and how it both shapes and is shaped by society. In technology education courses, students develop an ability to “use, manage, assess, and understand technology.”2

Educational technology is primarily focused on communication and information technologies. Students are required to become familiar with certain digital technologies, specifically computers and related software. The primary objective of educational technology is to teach how to access and process information using digital tools. Educational technology does not include the study of technology itself.

Paradoxically, both of these terms – technology education and education technology – are used synonymously. Consequently when the issue if technological literacy is discussed, definitions are skewed by the type of training and exposure received by each individual (i.e., if the went through an educational technology course or took technology education classes).

In an effort to understand what is being done in the public education system to ensure teachers are technologically literate, we developed a survey evaluating current teachers’ technological literacy. Additionally, our survey evaluated what public school systems are doing to train teachers in technology related issues, processes, tools, and techniques. The survey was based on a thorough literature review and two previous technology literacy surveys conducted by the ITEA and Boston Museum of Science. The survey was then piloted at three different schools (elementary, middle, and high school) representative of each grade level. Once the survey was corrected and updated to reflect the recommendations of those who piloted the test, we submitted the test to three local school districts (Alpine, Provo, and Nebo School Districts).

Up to this point, most of those who completed the survey were female and were teachers at the middle/junior high school levels (grades 6-8). In addition, most taught core subjects (44% Math, 40% Science, 37% English, 35% Social Studies, and 21% History).

All of those who participated in the survey said they were at least somewhat able to understand and use new technologies. Participants were then asked how comfortable they were with various technology and engineering related issues. Most (83%) were comfortable with questions regarding technology, but were uncomfortable with issues related to engineering. The survey also asked how informed they were about different technological issues. Surprisingly, most (89%) were either not informed or only somewhat informed about the majority of the issues presented. However, most (86%) said they were either somewhat informed or very informed about the impacts of multimedia on society. When asked if technology is being taught in the classroom, almost 75-percent said that it was. Of the examples they were asked to give, most cited information and communication technologies. One interesting note was that some said that it was not being taught at all. Those who took the survey were also asked to identify what about technology was being taught in their classrooms. Each item was taken from the ITEA Standards of Technology. The top three items were 1) Information and communication technologies, 2) Relationships among technologies, and 3) The role of society in technology development and use. An important finding from this question was that most of the people said that technology related to digital communications devices (e.g., computers, cell phones, etc.).

Subjects were also asked to define what they think technology is. Below is a sample of their responses.
• “Anything you plug in. More specifically in the classroom it is computers, smart boards, DVD, iPods, wikis, blogs, projectors, etc.”
• “The use of computers and other equipment to enhance the teaching of children in the classroom.”
• “Anything having to do with computers, or is computer-generated.”
• “Tools or methods that enhance learning and teaching.”

Overall, our survey reports that, 1) Technology literacy is largely defined by public school teachers as information and communication technologies, 2) Although many teachers use technology in their classrooms, most do not teach about technology and its effects on society, history, government, and the environment, and 3) Teachers only use technology for instructional purposes.

The research that has been conducted up to this point has been presented at the International Technology Education Association conference in Louisville, KY and submitted to the NSF (National Science Foundation). This is an important topic and we are continuing our research of this and related issues. Consequently, our research in this report is still, in many ways, in its early stages (e.g., since only parts of Utah have been surveyed, the survey will be implemented statewide. The findings will help develop curriculum. Some have even expressed interest in creating a General Education component of Technology at local universities).

It is hoped that in the future those behind the ITEA Standards for Technology Education and ISTE’s National Education Standards will collaborate and develop a set of standards to be implemented nationwide.