The Technology, Engineering and Design Education program is designed to provide middle and high school students essential and enduring 21st Century skills. It is a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) program that uses languages, technologies, sciences, and the arts to understand, communicate, and design. The program has three principle curriculum strands:

• Core Technology
  The Core Technology Strand consists of one middle school and eight (8) high school courses. The core strand provides students with a broad understanding of technology and its importance and its effects upon society, the economy and the environment. The core program weaves academic and technical concepts and skills using modeling and other strategies. Students apply, design and build conceptual, mathematical, graphic, and physical models to better understand enduring STEM concepts. In addition to academic technical skill development, students acquire higher level problem solving and critical-thinking skills as well as teaming and other essential "soft" skills.
  
  
• Visualization
  The Visualization Strand is comprised of two courses that use simple and complex graphic tools to focus on the sciences. Students develop data and conceptually-driven graphic models of core concepts of biology, earth and environmental, physical, and the social sciences. This strategy permits the students to develop complex technical skills while developing increasingly sophisticated understandings of the sciences through communication, understanding, and analysis of core scientific concepts.
  
  
• Pre-engineering
  The Pre-engineering Stand is comprised of four (4) middle school and eight (8) high school courses developed by PLTW (Project Lead the Way). Both the middle and high school programs integrate STEM concepts. In the middle school program, students use engineering technology to design engineering graphics and models, and electronic devices and robots. The high school program is designed for students interested in pursuing careers in engineering, engineering technology, or related science fields. It introduces students to the scope, rigor and disciple of engineering and covers a broad range of subjects such as digital electronics, computer integrated manufacturing, civil engineering and architecture, aerospace, and biotechnical engineering.

The three technology program strands are not meant to be isolated programs, but rather combined and woven as needed by the students being served. Just as in the larger educational program, students should be guided into courses and programs that have a synergistic relationship. This provides students with the opportunity to apply otherwise academic and abstract concepts in ways that are meaningful, powerful, engaging and reflective of the skills and understandings necessary for success in the 21st Century.

Along with the curriculum strands, the North Carolina Technology Student Association (NC TSA) is another essential element of the state's Technology Education Program. This student organization provides the opportunity for students to engage in activities directly reflecting the curriculum. Along with learning collaboration and leadership skills, students have the opportunity to engage in student-centered, complex tasks that are authentic and developed over an extended period of time. Beyond the powerful influence of the activities, participation in the NC-TSA helps transform one's program by affording both the teacher and his or her students the opportunity to learn from others by attending regional, state, and national conferences.

North Carolina's Technology Education Program is a powerful program designed for all students. For the mainstream student population it provides a meaningful curriculum. For the struggling students, it provides a reason to stay in school and for the most precocious students, a demanding, open-ended curriculum that is provocative and challenging. It is a curriculum that weaves virtually all other areas in ways that are powerful, interesting and reflective of 21st Century skills and high wage occupations.

For more information, please contact TechEd@dpi.nc.gov .