INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

The International Technology Education Association is a professional educational association and information clearinghouse devoted to enhancing technology education through experiences in our schools (K-12). Its website states that ITEA "represents more than 40,000 technology educators in the U.S. alone who are developers, administrators, and university personnel in the field representing all levels of education." ITEA currently has locations in 13 countries "where information is available about the association and its benefits. Each of these locations has an ambassador who may be geographically closer to you or speak your language." The Association has developed Standards and Benchmarks for Technological Literacy in primary and secondary schools. It has also developed Student Assessment, Professional Development, and Program Standards (AETL) . While the large majority of the U.S. population appears to think first of ICT when the word "technology" is mentioned, ITEA correctly views technology in a larger sense, including for example, health and agricultural technologies. Of course the U.S. standards would not be directly transferrable to other nations, but the approach to defining standards and benchmarks is, and the ITEA approach might be emulated widely.