The technological process: stages and workshop areas

What is the thechnology

• -Technology is the sum of techniques, skills, methods and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the achievement of objectives, such as scientific research.

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Factors in the technological process

• When a solution has been found, it is converted into a technique. This is a skill - something we know how to do and that is used for future technological solutions. This is the base of technological evolution.
• Scientific knowledge and its application are needed to obtain an efficient technological solution. The process involves a combination of procedures and resources to obtain a result.

Classroom workshop

• In the classroom workshop we are going to do two types of work:
• Problem analysis: giving ideas to solve problems, discussing solutions in groups, learning things to help us, etc.
• Hands-on activities: cutting, sticking, using a saw or a drill ...
• Clearly these are different activities that need different spaces. For example:
• Classroom: where we can work on and develop our ideas and projects before we take them into the workshop.
• Workshop: where we can use tools, workbenches, high stools and special machinery ...
• Library: a place for consulting material which will help us complete our projects.
• Storeroom: two areas, one for the materials which we will use and another for each group's projects under construction.

Stages of the technological process

• As a way of practising technological processes, we are going to design a drip irrigation system. Let's look at the stages we have to follow.

APPROACH AND ANALYSIS OF NEEDS AND PROBLEMS

• Before we begin a project, we should ask ourselves what are our needs. The more details and data we have, the easier it will be to get the design right and come up with an appropriate solution.
• In this case, we can find the needs or problems in the instructions for the final task.
• You are going to design and build a homemade drip irrigation system to optimise the consumption of water for plants in a garden or a school vegetable plot.
• Once we have identified the problem, we have to study it in depth.

COLLECTING INFORMATION AND ANALYSING PREVIOUS CASES

• At this stage, we look for information about solutions found for problems similar to ours and about technical aspects that might affect our project.
• We should learn about drip irrigation, its advantages and disadvantages, and compare it to other watering systems.
• To get this information, we can use gardening books, talk to experts, or look for information in shops or on the Internet.
• Once we have all the information, we should analyse and organise it. Then we can choose the data that we think is the most important from each source.
• Looking for information and studying similar cases allows us to choose different solutions.
• We can use the case that is most similar to ours as a model. In the following stages, we can make changes to adapt it fully to our needs.

DESIGNING THE INDIVIDUAL IDEA

• Now that we have gathered and analysed all the information, we can start to work on the design. By examining existing models, we can create a new version that satisfies our own needs, introducing small changes or combining ideas that we find interesting.
• At this stage, we should try to make our drawings attractive and clear so that they are easy for our classmates to understand.

COMING TOGETHER AND CHOOSING THE BEST SOLUTION

• To find a group solution to all the ideas, we can draw a table with the main aspects of our projects.
• Once we have agreed on the different aspects we want to evaluate, we can grade the design's different parts. We choose the design that gets the most points in total. This kind of evaluation is called F.A.C.E. value.
• Another good solution is to mix different positive aspects of other designs to make your final design.

SIGNS

• Signs are the resources (graphic, light, sound or text) that we use to show or highlight an instruction. There are four types of graphic signs: mandatory, warning, emergency and prohibition.
• It's important to recognise these signs in the classroom workshop:

Stages of the technological process

• As a way of practising technological processes, we are going to design a drip irrigation system. Let's look at the stages we have to follow.

APPROACH AND ANALYSIS OF NEEDS AND PROBLEMS

• Before we begin a project, we should ask ourselves what are our needs. The more details and data we have, the easier it will be to get the design right and come up with an appropriate solution.
• In this case, we can find the needs or problems in the instructions for the final task.
• You are going to design and build a homemade drip irrigation system to optimise the consumption of water for plants in a garden or a school vegetable plot.
• Once we have identified the problem, we have to study it in depth

COLLECTING INFORMATION AND ANALYSING PREVIOUS CASES

• At this stage, we look for information about solutions found for problems similar to ours and about technical aspects that might affect our project.
• We should learn about drip irrigation, its advantages and disadvantages, and compare it to other watering systems.
• To get this information, we can use gardening books, talk to experts, or look for information in shops or on the Internet.
• Once we have all the information, we should analyse and organise it. Then we can choose the data that we think is the most important from each source.
• Looking for information and studying similar cases allows us to choose different solutions.
• We can use the case that is most similar to ours as a model. In the following stages, we can make changes to adapt it fully to our needs.

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