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Technological literacy and critical thinking in public schools: The case of “Understanding technology”

Fri, August 21, 12:00 to 1:40pm CEST (12:00 to 1:40pm CEST), virPrague, VR 18

Abstract

Worldwide, computational thinking is making its way into compulsory education. In Denmark, its most equivalent form is a new subject on the curriculum in primary school education called “Understanding technology”. The new subject is part of a national experiment, which takes place in order to teach children to understand, act in and shape digitalized society and digital technology as constructive and critical citizens. “Understanding technology” is a fleeting and contested phenomenon, but it has also somewhat solidified in the collective imagination of Danish public education as a welfare good in an increasingly digitalized state. But as ideas about its goal of critical reflection on technology mature parallel to continuous digitalization, there is a need to examine the multiple imaginaries at play when certain practices of technological literacy are being foregrounded by various actors with different voices and resources for shaping the future of our engagement with digital technology. This paper situates the “Understanding technology” in a controversy featuring computer scientists, policymakers, school managers, teachers, and pupils.

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