What is Technological Education and What are Their Analysis Methods ?

Table of Contents

Technological Education – What is it, Didactic Structure and Technology Analysis Methods?

Technological Education

Technical education refers to a set of content to work in the educational system aimed at compression technologies in their social and environmental context (technological phenomenon).

It is a school discipline that studies the processes of creation and production of goods and services, analyzing socio-technical systems from a critical perspective, based on ethical principles that put Technology at the service of the common good and the preservation of the natural environment.

It includes materials that allow a curricular definition of the area of Technology in the school environment; It includes global theoretical frameworks, of reference, about the area as a whole, and its more general didactic approaches, procedures, and strategies.

Technical discipline is a discipline within the educational task, and a social activity focused on familiarizing students with practical knowledge about basic human Technology to provide greater literacy in the use of technologies. This literacy process must be developed in the field of practical development, the critical interpretation of Technology, and the study of the digital area and programming.

Difference between Technology and Technological Education

“Technology is a field of knowledge where it only refers to specific training of a subject, related the application of technical and technological content, on a given situation. Instead, as a curricular space, Technological Education aims to build capacities that enable students to approach technological systems, intervene, and participate in them.

Precisely it is general training in which it is more interesting to work on the ways of organizing and systematizing the contents, which interact within technological systems, to understand them and understand other systems that are yet to emerge.

Another aspect to consider is that Technological Education does not teach about the scientific foundations involved in explaining a machine’s operation, for example, but in the functions that people delegate to that device. ”

Technological Education Goals

The orientations of technical education vary greatly in different countries, and can be classified into two main groups:

Acquisition of practical skills

A better understanding of the technology phenomenon

In all cases, complexity is graded according to each school level. In general, the guidelines are rarely presented purely, mixing to varying degrees in different countries and educational levels.

Didactic Structure

The only didactic guideline for the development of the subject, applicable to all the compulsory contents, is that Technology is best learned by operating with it and not only by reading or receiving the description of how it should be done or how others do it. That is why product analysis and technological projects stand out as methodological procedures for their praxis. Pedagogical, which articulates and arranges all the content blocks of this proposal of the technology chapter.

Many of these activities are usually carried out in a group and collaborative way, encouraging students to become actively involved in the development of the course content through communication with their peers.

Technology Analysis Methods

The following types of analysis are recommended, with their respective questions:

Morphological: You must speak basically about the shape (may include: measurements, weight, volume, colors). It is about observing and recording in a report, the exterior shape of the object, and observing it without disarming its support structure. The geometric characteristics (section, volume, length, ergonomics, etc.) are emphasized. For a better understanding of the report made, it can be accompanied by a graph (if it is bounded, better) of the analyzed object.

Functional: What is it for? The primary and secondary functions performed by a said object and if it meets the objectives set when created, both in terms of function and ergonomics, should be mentioned.

Operating: How does it work? How is it used? This analysis should be carried out together with the structural one: how the product works and later the function or mission that each component fulfills, recognizing its operating principles.

Functional Structural: What are its parts, and how are they related? It corresponds here to mention each one of the parts that compose it and how they are related to each other. To make the list of components, if necessary, the object will be exploded.

Technological: How is it made and from what materials? Here the analysis includes mentioning the materials with which the object is built (discriminated by component, if applicable), mentioning the manufacturing procedures. An analysis will be made of the materials technology and manufacturing processes.

Economic: what value does it have? (Different costs may be included: production, sale, etc.) In this analysis, the object is valued. It is recommended to find out its sales price in stores and estimate if it coincides with its function and with what has been analyzed in Technology and structurally.

Comparative: How is it different from other technological objects that can replace it? It is the analysis in which we compare our object with others that fulfill the same function. Here, structural differences are pointed out in relation to how each one fulfills its function (effectiveness, precision, operation, etc.). It is also possible to compare the analyzed object with others in a similar but different function and then record the shape similarities and the functional differences.

Relational: How is it related to your environment? It is the analysis of the object and its relationship with the environment, and this implies analyzing all the objects that can be linked to the one being analyzed. For example, electric energy, if it is powered by it, any support device, if you need it, tools, etc.

Reconstruction of the Emergence and Historical Evolution of the Product: How did it originate, and what has been its process and historical evolution? At this level of reading, the object seeks to obtain the motivations that gave rise to it and the time of creation. The objects not only respond to a need that must be satisfied but also have an expressive charge of the epoch of creation: “the spirit of the epoch.” It is this spirit that, through the reading of the object, tries to bring to light. This level of analysis is based not only on the object but also on other sources: texts, reports, stories, etc.

Environmental: Here, the possible consequences of the object or product with respect to the environment are analyzed: if its use generates any toxic or harmful substance for air or water or any other natural element, which could have any consequence on human health in particular or about the planet in general.