Compared to other subjects, Learning Area Technology teaching is a relatively new knowledge area world-wide, especially in the South African school curriculum, and it consequently presents new challenges. One of these challenges is the fact that no previous tertiary training programmes exist for the Learning Area Technology; thus new ones have to be developed. Since limited research has been done regarding Learning Area Technology teaching, teachers of Technology are forced to base their professional teaching and learning practices on approaches from other fields of knowledge and adapt these. This is not necessarily ideal for Learning Area Technology teaching in the South African context. The following question can thus be posed: To which extent do existing pre-service training programmes develop the essential competences and skills required for the effective teaching of the Learning Area Technology? Against the background of this overarching aim of the study, this research attempted to find answers to the following research questions: • What are the competences a qualified Learning Area Technology teacher should possess? • What is the nature of Learning Area Technology teacher training in South Africa? • What is lacking in training programmes for pre-service Learning Area Technology teachers in South Africa? To provide answers to these questions, a literature study as well as an empirical study was conducted. To achieve the aim of the empirical study a phenomenological approach was applied in executing an exploratory qualitative study. A random sample was drawn from available tertiary institutions training pre-service Technology teachers in the Learning Area Technology. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with lecturers to enable the researcher to comprehend and interpret experiences and realities in terms of the research question. Findings from the literature study on the competences a qualified technology Teacher should possess indicate that a Technology teacher, upon completion of studies, should posses the following competences to present the Learning Area Technology as a subject specialist: indepth subject knowledge of the various knowledge areas for the Learning Area Technology; suitable pedagogical content knowledge to be able to transform technological knowledge to teachable matter; technological skills in technological processes and techniques; and positive values and attitudes which can be integrated successfully during various learning opportunities. It is also imperative that pre-service Learning Area Technology teachers possess knowledge of appropriate teaching strategies to accomplish critical, creative and problem-solving skills among learners. The empirical research was aimed at establishing the nature of pre-service training programmes in South Africa, as well as identifying shortcomings in the training of pre-service Technology teachers. Data analyses regarding the nature of pre-service training of Learning Area Technology teachers-.enabled the researcher to identify particular shortcomings in preservice training programmes in South Africa. The following shortcomings were identified: insufficient subject knowledge and technological subject skills; limited subject specific pedagogical knowledge; lack of real life situations in learning opportunities; and a lack of modelling of teaching strategies during facilitation of the Learning Area Technology. Based on the findings of the research which was also related to the literature, specific recommendations were made in order to improve the quality of pre-service training for the Learning Area Technology. Recommendations on the identified shortcomings include the following: the training of Learning Area Technology teachers as subject specialists by establishing standards appropriate for tertiary training in order to enhance the development of subject knowledge; the development of subject specific pedagogical content knowledge by implementing micro lessons; revision of time planning and facilities for the practising of technological skills; and sufficient opportunities to practise, analyse and reflect on teaching processes to develop proper and appropriate teaching strategies. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010

Compared to other subjects, Learning Area Technology teaching is a relatively new knowledge area world-wide, especially in the South African school curriculum, and it consequently presents new challenges. One of these challenges is the fact that no previous tertiary training programmes exist for the Learning Area Technology; thus new ones have to be developed. Since limited research has been done regarding Learning Area Technology teaching, teachers of Technology are forced to base their professional teaching and learning practices on approaches from other fields of knowledge and adapt these. This is not necessarily ideal for Learning Area Technology teaching in the South African context. The following question can thus be posed: To which extent do existing pre-service training programmes develop the essential competences and skills required for the effective teaching of the Learning Area Technology? Against the background of this overarching aim of the study, this research attempted to find answers to the following research questions: • What are the competences a qualified Learning Area Technology teacher should possess? • What is the nature of Learning Area Technology teacher training in South Africa? • What is lacking in training programmes for pre-service Learning Area Technology teachers in South Africa? To provide answers to these questions, a literature study as well as an empirical study was conducted. To achieve the aim of the empirical study a phenomenological approach was applied in executing an exploratory qualitative study. A random sample was drawn from available tertiary institutions training pre-service Technology teachers in the Learning Area Technology. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with lecturers to enable the researcher to comprehend and interpret experiences and realities in terms of the research question. Findings from the literature study on the competences a qualified technology Teacher should possess indicate that a Technology teacher, upon completion of studies, should posses the following competences to present the Learning Area Technology as a subject specialist: indepth subject knowledge of the various knowledge areas for the Learning Area Technology; suitable pedagogical content knowledge to be able to transform technological knowledge to teachable matter; technological skills in technological processes and techniques; and positive values and attitudes which can be integrated successfully during various learning opportunities. It is also imperative that pre-service Learning Area Technology teachers possess knowledge of appropriate teaching strategies to accomplish critical, creative and problem-solving skills among learners. The empirical research was aimed at establishing the nature of pre-service training programmes in South Africa, as well as identifying shortcomings in the training of pre-service Technology teachers. Data analyses regarding the nature of pre-service training of Learning Area Technology teachers-.enabled the researcher to identify particular shortcomings in preservice training programmes in South Africa. The following shortcomings were identified: insufficient subject knowledge and technological subject skills; limited subject specific pedagogical knowledge; lack of real life situations in learning opportunities; and a lack of modelling of teaching strategies during facilitation of the Learning Area Technology. Based on the findings of the research which was also related to the literature, specific recommendations were made in order to improve the quality of pre-service training for the Learning Area Technology. Recommendations on the identified shortcomings include the following: the training of Learning Area Technology teachers as subject specialists by establishing standards appropriate for tertiary training in order to enhance the development of subject knowledge; the development of subject specific pedagogical content knowledge by implementing micro lessons; revision of time planning and facilities for the practising of technological skills; and sufficient opportunities to practise, analyse and reflect on teaching processes to develop proper and appropriate teaching strategies. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010

Within Swedish universities students are often required to work in groups to collaborate on projects or to write essays. A salient feature characterizing this type of work is the lack of a stable and fixed location wherein project- related activities can be carried out and accomplished. Thus, by regarding students as instances of nomadic workers, this thesis investigates the nomadic practices in the context of their group work, with particular attention to issues related to collaborative and coordinative aspects. Although the lack of a stable office has, somehow, always characterized students’ activities, the spread of mobile technologies raises relevant analytical issues concerning the relationships between individuals’ practices, the use of particular technologies and the physical environments in which interactions may occur. In this regard, this thesis provides an example of how a philosophical conceptualization of place as the product of human experience can assist in exploring: (a) the relationships between students’ activities, the locales they work at, and the situated use of specific technological artifacts; (b) how students occupy and experience places, by investing them with activities, meanings and values; (c) how different physical environments constrain and shape the way activities are performed. The data were collected by means of ethnographically-informed methods during two different field studies for which two design courses, held at a technical university, had been chosen as settings. Within both of them, the participants were to develop a prototype of novel IT technologies, and to account for the evolution of their projects by means of a report. The two studies aimed at understanding: (a) how students organize their activities at a number of locations, and how it reflects on the activities they engage with; (b) the strategies they adopt and the technologies they use to overcome problems deriving from the lack of a stable workplace, (c) the different ways a workplace is practically created, how it emerges from students’ interactions with the environment they inhabit, and how it is mediated by the technology they use (place-making). Observations, field-notes, video-recordings, semi-structured interviews were used during the phase of data collection. Some participants were also asked to fill in a diary and to take pictures of the different sites used for their project activities. In addition, a workshop, organized as a focus group, was arranged in order to unpack issues concerning students’ usage of various technologies, with respect to number of people involved, ongoing activities and the related chosen locations. The data analysis suggests that taking into account the way a place is disassembled and the way nomadic workers manage to move out of it is central to an understanding of their work practices. Moreover, it shows that the participants experienced planning the division of work as essential in order to manage coordination and collaboration within the groups, to organize collaborative and individual activities, and to allocate them to differing physical places. Furthermore, this thesis outlines in what way a focus on place may assist designers in reflecting on the design of educational environments, and of technological artifacts enabling students to share and integrate heterogeneous sources of information. / QC 20100806