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: TLED 408; SPED 313; SEPS 297, 400, 402, 408, 450, and 485; STEM 112, 221, 222, 231, 241, 242, 243, 250, 251G, 321, 323, 330, 351, 360, 370T, 417.
Students must take and pass the PRAXIS I test prior to enrolling in their senior practicum course (SEPS 408). They must take and pass the PRAXIS II (Technology Education) test prior to registering for student teaching (SEPS 485). Students graduating from approved teacher education programs after December 31, 2006 must pass Virginia's Communication and Literacy Assessment to be licensed to teach in Virginia.
The Technology Education program is based upon Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology (International Technology and Engineering Educators Association, 2000). The focus is to make all students technologically literate where the study of technology focuses on the human altered world as opposed to the study of science which investigates the natural world. A considerable amount of attention is now being placed on technological literacy from organizations such as the National Academy of Engineering, National Science Foundation, and the National Research Council. Additionally, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (i.e. the Nation's Report Card) will begin assessing technological literacy in 2014.
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 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 (modules) 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
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 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 have caused many school divisions to seek teachers to fill technology education teaching positions.
For more information about the technology education program, contact the program faculty:
Dr. Todd Fantz
Technology Education Program Director
Education Building 228
757-683-4305
tfantz@odu.edu
Dr. Petros Katsioloudis
Industrial Technology Program Director
Education Building 228
757-683-4305
pkatsiol@odu.edu
Dr. Philip A. Reed
Department Chair
Education Building 228
757-683-4305
preed@odu.edu
Dr. John Ritz
OTS Graduate Program Director
Education Building 228
757-683-4305
jritz@odu.edu