Why technological literacy and for whom?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to raise questions about the intent of technological literacy in society at the present time. Unfortunately at an international level there is no clear perception of what technological literacy is whereas in the United States there has been a substantial debate about the need for people to be technologically literate. At the same time there is a tension between those who assume that technological literacy means "learning to compute," and those who believe it is about the relationship of the outputs of computing to society. The response in American engineering higher education seems to have been the teaching of engineering topics to persons not taking engineering. More generally there is interest in courses in "Technology and Society." Krupczak and other members of the TELPHE Division of the American society for Engineering Education have distinguished between technological literacy and engineering literacy. One approach is to distinguish between the "process" of engineering and its "product" technology. While useful in engineering education at school level and in higher education it is no wonder that the public continue to be confused about the differences between engineering and technology. Krupczak and his colleagues not that "the term engineering is not treated systematically by any of the technological literacy standards which must be to the detriment of engineering, and those wanting to develop engineering standards. Attempts to show how engineering and technology interact inevitably lead to models that conflate the two literacies and shows them to be embedded in the philosophy that derives them. The model shows no disconnect between the designer and the user; they have joint responsibility for its use. At the same time these models have been developed without clear reference to the audience for which they are intended. Audiences that are readily identifiable are the general population, the liberal arts undergraduate population, professionals such as lawyers, teachers, medics, and the undergraduate engineering population. The purpose of this study is to provide a limited examination whether there is a community of scholarship that is relevant to every group that is divided by the extent of knowledge and skill required for a particular audience. Recent controversial activities undertaken by General Motors and Volkswagen high light the importance of such an examination. An engineering view of technological literacy is inadequate for the task it is expected to do. An interdisciplinary approach is clearly necessary.