How Taiwanese and Americans Think About Technology

Technological changes play a key factor in social and economic development. People’s knowledge, attitudes, and abilities about technology influence the choices and national development (Zhang, 1999). According to a 2005 report of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Taiwan ranks second in world technology competitiveness. This ranking represents the Taiwanese people’s positive outlook on living in a technological world. If Taiwan wants to remain technologically competitive, it needs technology education. A quality program of education for technological literacy is expected to be beneficial to Taiwan for a variety of reasons, including the developing technological talents, upgrading economic development, solving technological problems, and facilitating social adaptation (Lee, 2004). Lee (2004) also stated that technology has not been well understood by the public. Technology educators in Taiwan realize that the more people understand about technology education, the more support they will offer to the programs. Thus, it is valuable to technology educators to understand how Taiwanese people think about technology.