Although in several countries technology education is being introduced as part of the education of all citizens, we have almost no idea of how children learn technological ideas and skills. We need a research program that can shed light on how children learn at least the principles of technology most relevant for literacy. One of the problems with educational research is its fragmentation.
Individuals make discrete contributions without really impacting the educational system as a whole.
This conference provided opportunities to think about a common strategy for studying technology education and determining what kind of research would best support literacy goals. For years individuals such as James Rutherford and Andrew Ahlgren have called for the introduction of powerful technological ideas and skills as part of the education of all. ITEA's Standards for Technological Literacy is a similar declaration of what is important in technological literacy. After clarifying a common ground of technological ideas and skills for literacy, we need to ask how children could really learn these ideas and skills. The conference was the outcome of preliminary conversations among different individuals.