Technology vs. Hi-Tech

During the past few months [as I expanded the webpages from technology4kids 1st Edition in North Carolina State University's www4.edu environment to technology4kids 2nd Edition in GoDaddy's environment], I have discovered that the word Technology is occasionally at odds with the term Hi-Tech. Search Engine Technology has enlightened me to how Hi-Tech has overrun more ordinary technologies such as bicycle maintenance, LEGO block robots, or even woodworking. Communication technology is extraordinarily valuable and, as the host for Hi-Tech computer developments, has revolutionized our lives. Though my family and I are avid participants in the Hi-Tech communities, we still ride our bikes, do extensive woodworking, and dabble in solar energy which are also Technology.

Technology: Manufacturing, Power & Energy, Construction, Transportation, Communication, and Medical

There are currently six identifiable units of Technology Education including Manufacturing, Power & Energy, Construction, Transportation, Communication, and Medical. ITEEA defines Manufacturing "as the advances that maintain manufacturing efficiency, how human consumption affects manufacturing, how manufacturing affects the standard of living of various peoples, and how processing and changing raw materials can produce more desirable products." ITEEA defined Construction technology as "the factors influencing the design and construction of permanent and semi-permanent structures, the practices related to construction maintenance, alteration, and renovation, and the functions of the primary systems installed in those structures." ITEEA defines Energy & Power technology as "the relationship between energy and power technologies and all other technologies, and how modern energy and power systems impact cultures, societies, and the environment. It also offers an examination of how energy and power systems can be made more efficient and how they may be utilized in problem solving." ITEEA defines Transportation technology as "the complex networks of interconnected subsystems that each transportation system comprises and the roles of these components in the overall functional process of the system, also analysis of the improvements and the impacts of transportation technologies on the environment, society, and culture." I will continue to look for good definitions of the remaining technologies and post those at a later time. The point I need to make in this post is that Technology is more than how we use computer software. More later . . .