Readings

Technologies Education

Recommended Readings

Texts are not required for the course but may assist your learning. Some are available from the university library in hardcopy or digital editions.
Readings

Technologies Education for the Primary Years


AuthorsAlbion, Peter; Campbell, Coral; Jobling, WendyPublished date2017PublisherCengage Learning AustraliaPub placeSouth MelbourneEditionNew editionISBN9780170367684Length320 pages
This new text helps student teachers prepare to teach effectively in technologies education in primary school classrooms. Part A of the book provides the context of technologies education and the new Australian Curriculum: Technologies. Introductory chapters discuss what ‘technology’ is and its role in human society, emphasising the idea of technology as a process rather than a product. Chapters also examine why technologies education is important, how it relates to other fields such as science and engineering, and how it has changed over the years. Part B then focuses on key concepts and elements in teaching technologies to primary students. Topics covered include: creativity and the design process; suitable pedagogies for technologies education; planning; assessment; and where to find appropriate resources. The final part of the book gives an overview of core concepts within the ‘Design and technologies’ and ‘Digital technologies’ subjects of this learning area within the Australian Curriculum: Technologies.

Invent to learn: making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom


AuthorsMartinez, Sylvia Libow; Stager, GaryPublished date2013PublisherConstructing Modern Knowledge PressPub placeTorrance, CAISBN9780989151108Length254 pages
Join the maker movement! There's a technological and creative revolution underway. Amazing new tools, materials and skills turn us all into makers. Using technology to make, repair or customise the things we need brings engineering, design and computer science to the masses. Fortunately for educators, this maker movement overlaps with the natural inclinations of children and the power of learning by doing. The active learner is at the centre of the learning process, amplifying the best traditions of progressive education. This book helps educators bring the exciting opportunities of the maker movement to every classroom. Children are natural tinkerers Their seminal learning experiences come through direct experience with materials. Digital fabrication, such as 3D printing and physical computing, including Arduino, MaKey MaKey, and Raspberry Pi, expands a child's toy and toolboxes with new ways to make things and new things to make. For the first time ever, childhood inventions may be printed, programmed or imbued with interactivity. Recycled materials can be brought back to life. While school traditionally separates art and science, theory and practice, such divisions are artificial. The real world just doesn't work that way! Architects are artists. Craftsmen deal in aesthetics, tradition and mathematical precision. Video game developers rely on computer science. Engineering and industrial design are inseparable. The finest scientists are often accomplished musicians. The maker community brings children, hobbyists and professionals together in a glorious celebration of personal expression with a modern flare. When 3-D printing, precision cutting, microcomputer control, robotics and computer programming become integral to the art studio, auto shop or physics lab, every student needs access to tools, knowledge and problem solving skills. The maker movement not only blurs the artificial boundaries between subject areas, it erases distinctions between art and science while most importantly obliterating the crippling practice of tracking students in academic pursuits or vocational training. There are now multiple pathways to learning what we have always taught and things to do that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Making for every classroom budget Even if you don't have access to expensive (but increasingly affordable) hardware, every classroom can become a makerspace where kids and teachers learn together through direct experience with an assortment of high and low-tech materials. The potential range, breadth, power, complexity and beauty of projects has never been greater thanks to the amazing new tools, materials, ingenuity and playfulness you will encounter in this book. In this practical guide, Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager provide K-12 educators with the how, why, and cool stuff that supports classroom making.

Technologies for Children


Author Marilyn FleerPublished date2016Publisher Cambridge University PressPub placeSydney,ISBN 9781316407554Length 306 pages
Technologies for Children presents a comprehensive array of contextual examples for teaching design and technology to children from birth to twelve years. Aligning with the Australian Curriculum - Technologies, this book focuses predominantly on design technologies, with special reference to digital technologies. It provides both theory and practical ideas for teaching infants, toddlers, preschoolers and primary children. Each chapter explores a different approach to teaching technologies education, along with elements of planning such as project management, achievement standards and pedagogy. Technologies for Children provides a framework for critiquing these approaches in order to make informed choices about them. Drawing on over 25 years of experience, Marilyn Fleer presents clear approaches that are readily applicable in the classroom, and equips students with the necessary skills and knowledge for teaching design and technology education in Australia.