Helping primary school pupils to understand the relationship between needs, wants and technology

Abstract

This research might help you...

• To consider the purposes of the activities in your classroom. If you want pupils to reflect on something you will need to give appropriate time, stimulus and means of response
• To use reading and discussing stories as a means of enabling pupils to think about things outside their immediate experience
• To put designing and making activities in a historical context which has personal appeal and involvement
• To link questions to designing and making activities in a way that enables pupils to develop a wider appreciation of technology

I have been struck by how many children in primary school see technology in a limited way; limited in fact to their own designing and making in school. Through these activities they had difficulty in grasping a wider view of technology. In this article I describe my attempts to widen their perception of technology.