As a STEM teacher, I have written my own curriculum and used pre-written curriculum over the years. One of the lessons I always make sure to teach every semester is one I call What is Technology? I realized long ago that even though we are the most technological society on Earth, many don’t understand the relationship we have with technology, and that understanding is critical. Why is it critical? Because we use technology and rely on technology every day. It’s impossible to think critically about something that you don’t understand.
So, what is technology? Anything that is man-made is technology. Everything else is natural. And with all technology comes positive and negative impacts. Yes, all technology has negative impacts. You rarely hear about them, but there are always trade-offs associated with technology. Any technology that is created will be used and abused, until it ceases to hold value. That is the importance of having a technology curriculum in schools, because without it, we are just going to be victims. An example is social media. None of us knew all the negative trade-offs associated with social media until years after it was created. Now, we can look back and clearly see both negative and positive impacts of social media. That is why we need technology curriculum instilled into secondary education. Focusing on the history and consequences of technology, just as we do with world and American history, would help us be more informed consumers. If that were the case, students could be better prepared to enter engineering (and similar) courses with a proper foundation established. Every year, I see students who are getting into engineering programs at the college level who did not see a need to study technology during their secondary years, and that could be problematic once a company hires them.
Hopefully, this article will help you start to think about the subject of technology more. I got into teaching specifically to teach technology. I worked in the technology sector for fifteen years, and until I had to teach it effectively to teenagers, I never fully understood technology and engineering. Technology education needs more research and has its place in primary and secondary education.
I teach middle school students STEM in Cobb County, Georgia. A few years ago, I decided to go back to get my master's degree. My capstone project was based on the idea of using gamification in my classroom to increase interest and engagement. When I decided to implement it in my classroom, I made some modifications. I still use Minecraft Education, but I found that using one created by the Microsoft team to be more successful.
I would suggest checking it out to any STEM teacher that has the computers to support it. The link is education.minecraft.net/en-us. Specifically, I teach a course they created titled, Introduction to Computer Science with Minecraft. There are some bugs, but overall, it has been great. It is well designed and is challenging, yet fun. If you need video support, I will post the URL for my playlist that accompanies the curriculum, as well as links to my capstone project below.
Alex Swan III
As a STEM teacher, I have written my own curriculum and used pre-written curriculum over the years. One of the lessons I always make sure to teach every semester is one I call What is Technology? I realized long ago that even though we are the most technological society on Earth, many don’t understand the relationship we have with technology, and that understanding is critical. Why is it critical? Because we use technology and rely on technology every day. It’s impossible to think critically about something that you don’t understand.
So, what is technology? Anything that is man-made is technology. Everything else is natural. And with all technology comes positive and negative impacts. Yes, all technology has negative impacts. You rarely hear about them, but there are always trade-offs associated with technology. Any technology that is created will be used and abused, until it ceases to hold value. That is the importance of having a technology curriculum in schools, because without it, we are just going to be victims. An example is social media. None of us knew all the negative trade-offs associated with social media until years after it was created. Now, we can look back and clearly see both negative and positive impacts of social media. That is why we need technology curriculum instilled into secondary education. Focusing on the history and consequences of technology, just as we do with world and American history, would help us be more informed consumers. If that were the case, students could be better prepared to enter engineering (and similar) courses with a proper foundation established. Every year, I see students who are getting into engineering programs at the college level who did not see a need to study technology during their secondary years, and that could be problematic once a company hires them.
Hopefully, this article will help you start to think about the subject of technology more. I got into teaching specifically to teach technology. I worked in the technology sector for fifteen years, and until I had to teach it effectively to teenagers, I never fully understood technology and engineering. Technology education needs more research and has its place in primary and secondary education.
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Alex Swan III
I teach middle school students STEM in Cobb County, Georgia. A few years ago, I decided to go back to get my master's degree. My capstone project was based on the idea of using gamification in my classroom to increase interest and engagement. When I decided to implement it in my classroom, I made some modifications. I still use Minecraft Education, but I found that using one created by the Microsoft team to be more successful.
I would suggest checking it out to any STEM teacher that has the computers to support it. The link is education.minecraft.net/en-us. Specifically, I teach a course they created titled, Introduction to Computer Science with Minecraft. There are some bugs, but overall, it has been great. It is well designed and is challenging, yet fun. If you need video support, I will post the URL for my playlist that accompanies the curriculum, as well as links to my capstone project below.
www.youtube.com/playlist?list...
alexswan.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/alexs_caps…
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