Trends in technology education in Asia and their implications for New Zealand

Abstract

Technology and education are both rapidly being internationalized. In order to promote exchanges and cooperation in technology education between Asian countries and New Zealand, it is necessary to study the trends in Asian countries. The following trends were found in five Asian countries or economies (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan): (1) flexibility in technology education in national curricula is increasing; (2) information technology is being increasingly incorporated into technology education; (3) the design process is becoming a new focus of technology education; (4) and the integration of technological content organizers is a new direction in technology education. The implications of these trends for New Zealand are that there should be more dialogue between New Zealand and Asian technology educators, and that computers should be applied as a vital tool in technological learning and teaching. (KC)