Technology Trends and Issues
Defining Technological Literacy
Given the current state of technology, a researcher should have little difficulty in finding relevant definitions that embody a spirited understanding of underlying technical and societal interactions that craft a view of the technically literate person. As an exercise, extracting the common elements from various experts ' definitions of technological literacy should result in a generalized perspective that would provide a foundation supporting further literacy definitions for aspects of technology such as computers or genetics. However, this is easier than it sounds. As Gagel (1997) confirms, "defining technological literacy has proven to be an unexpectedly complex and difficult task".
The difficulty in defining technological literacy is exposed by a number of factors. One factor relates to understanding perspective and determining whether the term is best defined by putting the emphasis on "technology" or "literacy" or whether the subject is best approached laterally. Indeed, Gagel describes the technological literacy from a technology perspective as opposed to defining literacy and then establishing parameters supporting technological literacy. Perhaps this approach contributed to the author 's difficulty in defining the term. As technology is so diverse and crosses many boundaries, perhaps the definition of technological literacy should do likewise, and not be restricted to either a "technology" or "literacy" perspective.
Another factor contributing to the difficulty in defining technological literacy involves the improperly weighting of computer influence on the term 's definition. In a speech given by former President, Bill Clinton, this misunderstanding is propagated further. He states, "Today, technological literacy computer skills and the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity and performance is a new basic that our students must master. " (Clinton, n.d.)
Given the current state of technology, a researcher should have little difficulty in finding relevant definitions that embody a spirited understanding of underlying technical and societal interactions that craft a view of the technically literate person. As an exercise, extracting the common elements from various experts ' definitions of technological literacy should result in a generalized perspective that would provide a foundation supporting further literacy definitions for aspects of technology such as computers or genetics. However, this is easier than it sounds. As Gagel (1997) confirms, "defining technological literacy has proven to be an unexpectedly complex and difficult task".
The difficulty in defining technological literacy is exposed by a number of factors. One factor relates to understanding perspective and determining whether the term is best defined by putting the emphasis on "technology" or "literacy" or whether the subject is best approached laterally. Indeed, Gagel describes the technological literacy from a technology perspective as opposed to defining literacy and then establishing parameters supporting technological literacy. Perhaps this approach contributed to the author 's difficulty in defining the term. As technology is so diverse and crosses many boundaries, perhaps the definition of technological literacy should do likewise, and not be restricted to either a "technology" or "literacy" perspective.
Another factor contributing to the difficulty in defining technological literacy involves the improperly weighting of computer influence on the term 's definition. In a speech given by former President, Bill Clinton, this misunderstanding is propagated further. He states, "Today, technological literacy computer skills and the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity and performance is a new basic that our students must master. " (Clinton, n.d.)
Bibliography: BIO (2001). BIO: Biotechnology Update. InvestPrivate Holdings Corp. Publication. [Electronic Version] Retrieved March 2, 2005, from www.investprivate.com/research/InvestBio_VOLI_No1.pdf Clinton, W Harrison, Sarah, (2000), What is Technological Literacy, [Electronic Version]. Retrieved March 1, 2005, from http://www.geocities.com/smharrison2000/literacy.htm International Technology Education Association (2000) Kelly, K., (1994). Out of Control: The Rise of Neo-Biological Civilizations. Reading, p. 472. MA: Addison-Wesley. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (2003). Biotechnology: Division Overview. [Electronic Version]. Retrieved March 2, 2005, from www.cstl.nist.gov/div831/biotech/overview.html Selfe, C Winner, L. (2001). Where Technological Determinism Went. In S. Cutcliffe & C. Mitcham, Visions of STS (pp. 11, 13). Albany: State University of New York