Even if a school does have the very latest in technology, they still need well trained teachers for any relevant learning to take place. In parallel with the continual need to update technology in schools is the need for educators to continuously update their own knowledge. This is a problem in technology education as with an already heavy workload, some teachers can be understandably reluctant to have to keep learning new skills themselves.

It might be unrealistic to expect that technology teachers be paid at a higher rate, in order to attract specialists with current knowledge, but that would certainly be one strategy that could be effective. Another way to make sure that what is being taught in schools is up to date might be to develop a policy in schools of regularly featuring ‘guest teachers’ in technology education, who would be specialists in various areas of technology and would be able to give modern perspectives on technology to both students and teachers.

While there are many issues in technology education that need to be addressed, the field of design and technology as a whole is an incredibly important one. With the trend towards a society and an economy which require an increasingly technical-based skill set to be a functional and productive member, it is essential that every student receives a well balanced and well thought out education in the basics of technology, across a broad range of subjects. “Given that technological competence will be a requirement for more jobs in the coming economy, it is imperative that (plans are devised) to ensure that all children are given high quality educational experiences involving computers, interactive videos, calculators, and whatever other electronic wizardry emerges as an important problem solving tool…”. (Groundwater-Smith, Brennan, McFadden & Mitchell, 2001, p 340)

Only through continual debate about policy, including the issues that we have discussed, and review of procedures in technology education can this new area be developed to its maximum potential. While there is much that is already right about the way technology education is taught, there is also much room for improvement.

“Technology needs to become a tool for learning, not another subject to teach…(a teachers) primary goal is to use technology to supplement learning rather than teaching technology in isolation. The use of computers should be so infused that the students think that technology is part of the natural learning process. “ (Campbell)

The need for technology education to be relevant requires that educational settings carefully monitor what changes occur in the real world, in industry as well as every day life. Some argument can be made that any technology learning that occurs is valuable, regardless of how relevant it is, because learning HOW to learn technology can promote students learning new skills independently in the future. However it is important to ensure that the skills taught to students match as closely as possible the skills that they will require in the future.

In a real world sense, one of the most obvious problems with technology education is the cost factor. As we discussed previously, it is important to make sure that what is being taught is relevant to the real world. However the latest and most relevant technology is by nature often very expensive. For example in the area of computing, computers are often outdated less than a year after they are bought, and many software packages are updated even more frequently. As well as the need to continuously update hardware and software there are often extra features such as digital cameras, scanners, colour printers etc that have to be bought, not to mention floppy disks, printing paper, ink cartridges and other consumables. For a school, with a limited budget, it can be very difficult to meet these costs.

All of these costs also serve to divide learners into groups of those who can afford to access the latest technology and those who can’t.

“For the most part, poor children still do not have access to the same school choices and chances that children from better off families do - one example is in computers. Between teachers and administrators there is a sense that technology is creating not just another gap, but a bigger gap between the haves and the have-nots in public education, between poor kids and well-to-do kids.” (Bainbridge)

This is perhaps one of the problems in technology education that is hardest to address. Funds for new computers and equipment do not simply appear out of thin air. The problem is made worse by the fact that computers do not really replace many of the old costs associated with education, they are simply new costs on top of the old ones. Unfortunately there are no obvious solutions to this problem, as once the technology becomes cheap enough to be affordable it is out of date. Technology in schools will continue to be funded through a combination of government funding and school fund-raising activities, as has traditionally been the case. While it can be demonstrated that schools need a substantially bigger budget to maintain up to date technology, political reality dictates that there are many other urgent areas in need of funds that also must be considered. The only real action that can be taken by schools is to make sure that their systems are as ‘future-proof’ as possible, eg they can be easily upgraded when necessary.

Yet another hot topic in technology education is the ‘gendering’ of technology. “Technology is a gendered subject, associated essentially with males. This is a major stigma for the subject” (Lewis) The traditional male domination of technology is spread evenly across all technological disciplines, from traditional areas through to the newer fields of computing. While this gender imbalance is more than likely a socio-cultural relic from the time when technology areas such as carpentry, welding, etc were seen as areas for men only, it is still one that is changing very slowly.

Education as a whole is changing to accommodate these new fields and as with anything new, many issues and problems arise.

In this essay we will discuss some of the issues associated with design and technology education at a secondary level, and examine some of the ways in which these problems might be addressed.

The terms ‘Technology’ and ‘Design’ both have a fairly broad range of meanings so it will be helpful to define the context in which these words are used in this essay. For our purposes a technology is a system or a product which is used as a tool to produce a result, which could be a physical manufactured product, a piece of information, or a more broad-ranging effect that is intended to enhance or improve something in some way. Design is the creative process of planning the use of this technology to accomplish the best possible result.

As a useful example of a new field of technology we will focus chiefly on computers in terms of hardware and software, since this is an aspect of technology education which is rapidly growing in schools today. Also, when ‘technology education’ is mentioned it is intended to cover both design and technology education since design is usually counted as a technology subject at secondary school level.

There are more issues in technology education than this essay has scope to cover but some of the most important ones will be discussed. In particular we will focus on the relevancy of technology education, financial issues associated with the need for expensive equipment, and how technology is perceived to be a very ‘gendered’ field in some ways. We will also consider the need for educators to be continuously trained in technology, since the field can change rapidly and it is very important for educators to keep up to date.

An important issue in technology education is that information has to be relevant. Unlike many other fields such as maths, chemistry, English etc, which have a certain body of information or theory that does not change very often, most theory in technology fields is regularly changed, often drastically. Because of this there is a need to be constantly monitoring the state of technology and updating knowledge and skill-sets, as well as software and hardware. We will explore these issues in more depth later, but it can be seen as absolutely vital that what is taught in technology education is relevant to what skills are required in the real world.

As well as the requirement for technology education to be relevant in the sense that it is up to date, there is also the requirement for the learning to be relevant to the real world. Since so many different jobs in the real world use such a wide range of specialized software and hardware packages, there can be some argument made that the teaching of computing technology should be separated into more specific paths in secondary schools. For instance there is little use teaching the fine details of a graphic design program to a student whose skills are in mathematics and accounting, when they could be learning about accounting software packages. “…technological problem solving, through a focus upon a solution, should relate to each child's real life environment, allowing the child to make appropriate and meaningful connections from it.”

(Twyford & Jä-rvinen, 2000)

Another issue related to the teaching of history and theory that is central to the practice of design, is the teaching of aesthetics. While the term ‘aesthetics’ can in one sense refer to the technical quality of a piece of art or design, Hagaman (1990, p.2) describes the term ‘aesthetics’ as a more general way of thinking about art and design. “Aesthetics historically is a branch of philosophy with its own substantive content. This content deals with general questions about art such as ‘What is art?’ ‘What's the difference between a work of art and a copy?’ ‘Are there criteria that can be used in evaluating all works of art?’ and ‘Is the concept of originality in art a meaningful one?’” This concept of teaching learners how to critically question the purpose of their own artworks is an important one if they are to be able to justify the choices they make in the future. Also, by encouraging the development of these self-analytical tools at an early age, educators can contribute to the capacity of learners for further growth throughout their lives.

Hagaman goes on to examine the nature of aesthetics. “…philosophical aesthetics, like all philosophy, is based on wonder. Philosophers wonder about things others take for granted. Young children do the same until their sense of wonder is deadened by socialization, education, or some combination of the two… We need to focus early on the openness, willingness to voice wonder, and desire to find meaning in problematic situations that may have no definitive solution…” (1990, p.3)

It could be argued that this sense of wonder is one of the important creative sources of inspiration for any artist or designer. By training learners to listen to this ‘inner voice’ in reflecting on the quality and substance of their own work, and by promoting knowledge of the history and theory that has laid the groundwork for modern style, educators provide the tools for learners to become successful practitioners of modern design, able to draw on a rich pool of prior knowledge in creating successful, meaningful art.

By fostering the development of technological literacy educators can genuinely contribute to social reform in a meaningful way. “Design and technology offers learners a rich blend of knowledge, skills, strategies and dispositions to develop their identities as individuals, and to help them design shared, sustainable futures… Ultimately learners can detect and deconstruct dominant power structures which create inequities… It calls for deep, rather than shallow, understandings of technology. Thus the notion of a technologically literate learner is not a narrow one.” (SACSA 2002, p.2)

By enabling learners to become fluent in the language of technology and aware of the historical processes that have led to the shaping of modern society, in a very real sense we give them the power to make significant changes to the world in which they live. Rushkoff elaborates on the power that technologically and socially literate individuals wield in the information age. “People who lack traditional power but still seek to influence the direction of our culture do so by infusing new ideas… a black man is beaten by white cops in Los Angeles. The event is captured on a home camcorder and within hours the beating is replayed on the televisions of millions… what began as a thirty-second video clip emerges as the battle cry for full-scale urban looting.” (1994 p.8)

In design in particular it is extremely important to have an extensive understanding of the history of art and design. In practical terms this knowledge is essential in the process of design in terms of developing style, and in reference to ideas and concepts. Design is a discipline that must always be seen to be modern, up-to date, even ‘fashionable’. It could be argued that the only way for a designer to achieve this is to have knowledge of what has already been created, so that older styles and techniques can be ‘evolved’ to create something new.

While it is important that some reference is made to history in explaining why we do certain things in certain ways, it is equally important for technology educators to consider the relevancy of what they teach. Technology is seen to be very much a practical and modern discipline, and in teaching history without emphasizing exactly what relevance this topic has to the broader outcomes of becoming technologically literate, educators run the risk of losing their audiences interest. Pressley and McCormick (1995, p.99) state that “People pay more attention to content that is interesting” and while this statement may indeed seem very obvious, it is surprising how many educators fail the simple task of motivating their learners to become interested in what they teach.

One of the underlying goals of technology education is the development of technological literacy, which is the ability to be generally conversant in the use of technology. With the rapidly growing application of computing systems to all facets of everyday life, there is an increasing need for people who are well educated in technology and design principles to create and operate these systems. Lewis (1999) argues that “All high school graduates ought to be technologically literate, meaning that they can understand the nature of technology, appropriately use technological devices and processes, and participate in society’s decisions on technological issues"

To be relevant, history and theory must be made an integral part of this technological literacy, allowing choices to be made and justified in the context of previous outcomes. The South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability (SACSA) framework reflects on the necessity for drawing on previous experiences in the teaching of technology. “Today it is recognised that technologies are not just ‘made’. They exist because of human purpose, intention and decision-making. People bring together knowledge, experience, resources, ideas and values to create products, processes and services for a variety of reasons.” (2002, p.2)