John R. Dakers says, that there is a need to understand how contemporary life in our societies is lived, that is characterized by fast technological transformations. In this regard “technology education” is a key element to develop this understanding (1).
The problem Dakers introduce is that especially young persons (as the actors in the world of tomorrow) have not sufficient knowledge “about the basic technological nature of the world”. Further Dakers argues: “Many young people have a tendency to perceive technology in terms of its artifacts: computers, cars, televisions, toasters, pesticides, flu shots, solar cells, genetically engineered tomatoes, and so on. Often they do not see technology in terms of the knowledge and processes that create these artifacts, nor, in particular, are they aware of the various implications for society that result from the existence of these technologies”. And Dakers is not really surprised about it because technology education often mitigates “knowledge relating to the fabrication of artifacts” that does not pushes to develop a reflexive and “critical awareness” (1).
And it is “this unreflectivity, this lack of discourse, this missing literacy, that essentially reduces the concept of technology to that of basic raw materials; to stuff that we will transform into artifacts that we perceive as necessary for our needs and wants. In this definition, we control and exploit the world to our own ends, and we continually get better at doing it” (2) -> as a short explanation of one of the problems regarding climate change, high CO2 emissions, etc.