Undergraduate Technology Education
The undergraduate Technology Education major at Old Dominion University is a 123-hour program that is designed to prepare students to teach technology education subjects in middle and high schools. It is an approved program for meeting licensure requirements to teach technology education in Virginia and is one of five national programs awarded Outstanding Program status by the Council of Technology Teacher Education. (Program sheet in an Acrobat format.)
Required courses include: ECI 408; ESSE 431; OTED 297, 306, 408, and 485; OTS 112, 221, 222, 231, 241, 242, 243, 250, 251D, 321, 323, 330, 351, 360, 370T, 417, 450.
Students must take and pass the PRAXIS I test prior to enrolling in their senior practicum course (OTED 408). They must take and pass the PRAXIS II (Technology Education) test prior to reporting to their student teaching assignment. Students graduating from approved teacher education programs after December 31, 2006 mustpass Virginias Communication and Literacy Assessment to be licensed to teach in Virginia.
A central role of an educational institution is to offer a curriculum that gives its students a basic understanding of the society in which they live. New emphasis is being placed on the technology component of our school curriculums to help people understand the fundamental aspect of our technological base.
There are an estimated 35,000 U.S. public school secondary technology teachers with each state having its own customized technology program. Technology is an elective in most locations with a few states such as New York and Maryland having requirements for high school graduation.
Technology is often a required course at the middle school with courses such as Exploring Technology, Introduction to Technology, and Inventions/Innovations. More detailed courses are offered as electives at the high school level with titles such as Manufacturing or Communication. With the release of the Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology, courses such as Technological Systems, Innovation and Engineering Design, and Technology Assessment are available as course offerings.
Classroom-laboratories can be found in most secondary public schools. These facilities usually have a research and design area used in the planning stages of invention, innovation, and construction. Facilities have a fabrication space, where students can construct. build, or complete manipulative activities that relate to their work. Selected facilities have testing and experimentation areas. It is not uncommon for technology laboratories to have "clean rooms" as well as fabrication areas. Such facilities are mistaken for technical education areas due to the equipment often used in activities. Finally, many facilities have specific learning stations that allow individual studies on technical topics such as rocketry, telecommunications, computer numerical control, and more. Facilities vary depending upon content emphasis of each program.
Teacher Shortage
Technology education teachers are in short supply across the nation. Some states, including Virginia, have designated Technology Education as a "critical shortage" teaching area. The construction of new schools, adoption of technology education as a core subject, retiring teachers, and other factors has caused many school divisions to seek teachers to fill technology education teaching positions.
See home page of the International Technology Education Association for additional information on careers in this teaching profession.
Program Leader: Walter F. Deal, III, Ph.D.
Education Building, Room 228
683-4305, Fax 683-5227
E-Mail: wdeal@odu.edu
Faculty:
Hassan B. Ndahi, Ed.D.
Associate Professor
Technology Building 110
757-683-5225
hndahi@odu.edu
Philip A. Reed, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Technology Building 112
757-683-5226
preed@odu.edu
John Ritz, Ed.D., D.T.E.
Professor
Chair and Graduate Program Director
Technology Building 108
757-683-4305
jritz@odu.edu