Technologies
Capacities
Developing successful learners
Children and young people need to become skilled users of a wide range of technologies, and learning in the technologies equips them with these skills. Technological activities can contribute strongly to the development of problem-solving skills. They promote creative thinking and encourage children and young people to make connections across different kinds of learning and so become innovative, critical designers.
Developing confident individuals
Learning through the technologies can equip young people with important practical skills for daily life and for work, and the confidence that they will be able to continue to learn to use new technologies in the future. They enjoy building models and preparing food, for example, and working with different materials. They can experience a sense of achievement when their products and solutions work well, and they can develop their capacity to deal with change, risk and uncertainty.
Developing responsible citizens
As children and young people come to understand the roles of technologies in changing and influencing societies they can increasingly engage with questions relating to the environment, sustainable development and ethics. They can develop their sense of personal responsibility. Importantly, they can become informed consumers who have an appreciation of the merits and impacts of products and services and who are capable of making reasoned and ethical choices.
Developing effective contributors
The technologies allow children and young people to think creatively about how to solve practical problems. There is particular scope to learn how to work effectively in teams. The technologies promote enterprising behaviour and ways of learning that prepare young people for their future lives and careers. Young people may become computer scientists, chefs or food technologists; joiners, plumbers, engineers or designers. On the other hand they may apply their technological capability in other less specialist areas. All need to embark into work as skilled, thoughtful, adaptable and resourceful people, able to identify and solve problems.