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One of the most significant variables influencing the nature of the workplace and, in a wider sense, society is technology. The structures of workplace settings, the ways in which people interact and the outcomes achieved are affected profoundly by the technological circumstances which prevail. Successful participation in work and in society depends, at least in part, on the capacities involved in managing technological systems, processes and equipment, and Using Technology focuses on these capacities.
Applications of this Key Competency can be found in the workplace where production and service depend on the proficient use of technology, where practices such as multi-skilling require unprecedented levels of use of technology, and where market advantage depends on the ability to use technology to customise products and services. The competency also is applied in further and higher education where access to learning and the learning process itself require technological competence. In personal daily life competence in the use of technology reflects some of the basics of living independently.
Using Technology focuses on the capacity to use technology, combining physical and sensory skills needed to operate equipment with the understanding of scientific and technological principles needed to explore and adapt systems.
The notion of 'technology' is an integral part of Using Technology. Views vary about its definition. At one extreme technology is defined simply as equipment or, perhaps, 'high tech' equipment. At the other extreme the definition extends so widely that its significance as a definition becomes lost. The position adopted here draws on three dominant interpretations of 'technology':
- technology as equipment and materials;
- technology as a pattern of operations forming a process;
- technology as a system of principles and ideas.
The notion of 'using technology' extends from the manipulative and sensory skills required to operate basic hand tools through to the scientific and technological principles required to explore, to innovate, and to adapt. It is from these interpretations that the Key Competency, including its Performance Levels, is constructed.
A component of the definition of competence is that performance is underpinned not only by skill but also by knowledge and understanding. Using Technology draws on knowledge and skills from a variety of areas, but particularly from scientific and technological understanding and problem solving. The focus of this knowledge and skills lies more in how technology is used than in how it is made. Another component of the definition of competence involves the capacity to transfer knowledge and skills to new tasks and situations. It is here that views vary about what constitutes competent performance in Using Technology. In part, the multiplicity of definitions of 'technology' contributes to this problem, but it also derives from concern for the extent to which competent use of one form of technological equipment can be taken to imply competent use of other forms of technological equipment; that is, concern for cross--technology transfer rather than transfer between contexts. The position taken here is that competent performance relates to the ability to use appropriate technology, including the foundation knowledge and understanding, in a given context and the capacity to use that technology in another context; that is, the application of technology to a new situation or task. It does not imply that competence in using a particular technology necessarily translates into competence in using a completely different technology.
Using Technology acknowledges that much of the demand for competence in the area relates to the capacity to have a feel for the application of technology; that is, not only competence in the use of technological systems, processes and equipment but also confidence in approaching and using technology. It would appear that such confidence derives from at least three factors:
- success in !he use of technology, even if it is in basic forms;
- awareness of the extent to which technology is in use;
- the ability to form generalised understanding about the use of technology, again even at rudimentary levels.
In summary, Using Technology involves:
- interpretation and use of !he goals of using technology;
- use of scientific and technological principles and practices;
- social and ethical responsibility in the use of technology;
- accommodation to surrounding environs and personal physical capacity.
Each level of performance draws on all three components of the definition of technology noted above. The relative emphasis, however, changes across the levels. At Performance Level l, the primary focus of Using Technology is the use of technological equipment and materials, and application of the related knowledge base. This includes facility in the functional use of equipment and materials, interpretation of the senses as sources of information and feedback, the use of technological codes and other representations, and !he use of instructions to achieve specified outcomes. At Performance Level 2, the primary focus broadens to include being able to configure and manage a series of operations into a process. It incorporates the proficient use of technological equipment and materials, and application of the related knowledge base. But it also includes selecting technology, using technologies in combination and enacting plans to achieve given objectives. At Performance Level 3, the primary focus of Using Technology broadens again to include being able to adapt a system of technological principles and ideas to a new situation. It incorporates the proficient use of technological equipment and materials, the configuration and management of a process and application of the related knowledge base. Further, it incorporates the processes of using scientific and technological principles to explore, to innovate and to speculate. The applications of Using Technology at this level are many and varied, but of particular note are those which relate to capturing good ideas and customising products and services to produce unique and, perhaps, unconventional outcomes.
PERFORMANCE LEVEL 1
At this level a person:
- clarifies the objectives for the use of technology; and
- uses technological practices within the guidelines for health and safety, environmental impact and ethical practice; and
- uses technological equipment and materials proficiently for the prevailing environs and physical capacity.
PERFORMANCE LEVEL 2
At this level a person:
- interprets the purposes and objectives for the use of technology; and
- configures and manages a series of operations as a process; and
- selects technological practices to conform with the guidelines for health and safety, environmental impact and ethical practice, and uses them within those guidelines; and
- uses technological equipment and material proficiently for the prevailing environs and physical capacity.
PERFORMANCE LEVEL 3
At this level a person:
- defines the purposes and objectives for the use of technology; and
- transfers technological principles to a new situation; and
- configures and manages a series of operations as a process; and
- selects technological practices to maximize socially and ethically responsible use of technology; and
- uses technological principles to reduce constraints presented by environs and physical capacity.
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