Students' technological experiences should reflect the interlinking nature of the strands: technological knowledge and understanding; technological capability; technology and society. When involved in any technological activity, students should adapt and apply knowledge, understandings, and skills from a variety of sources. Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 7. develop awareness and understanding of the ways the beliefs, values, and ethics of individuals and groups: - promote or constrain technological development; - influence attitudes towards technological development; 8. develop awareness and understanding of the impacts of technology on society and the environment: - in the past, present, and possible future; - in local, national, and international settings.

Understanding the nature of the relationship between technology and society is vital to technological practice. Technological developments arise from within society. No technology is "value-free": needs arise from a variety of causes and perceptions, and the ways they are addressed depend on a complex set of relationships in society, the resources that are available, the priorities that the society holds, and the culture, beliefs, and values that influence decision making in that society. Decisions about technological innovation are governed by this complex balance of factors, and groups or individuals may have markedly different attitudes towards particular technological practice. While the external impacts of technology are frequently examined, the characteristics of the people and the social and physical environment that gave rise to the developments are sometimes overlooked.

Students should recognise and explore these ideas and factors in considering technological developments and their applications. Examples from history, in our own times, and projecting into a likely or preferred future can be used as contexts for this strand, as should examples from local, national, and international settings. Topical issues which affect technological outcomes and are currently under debate may capture students' interests, be relevant to their own lives and decision making, and provide useful resources.

Technology and Society: Level 1

Achievement Objectives Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 7. share their reasons for their choice of technological activity; 8. share ideas about the ways in which familiar technologies affect their lives, such as cooking appliances; play equipment.

Technology and Society: Level 2

Achievement Objectives Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 7. identify different views about a specific technological development within the local community, such as a roading or waste disposal project; 8. explore and compare the roles of some example of technology in daily life in their own and another time or place, such as retailing; personal hygiene.

Technology and Society: Level 3

Achievement Objectives Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 7. identify and consider different views and feelings of people in relation to some specific technological developments or effects, such as fitness equipment; noise pollution; 8. describe and identify the positive and negative effects of some instances of technologies on people's lives and the environment, such as the introduction of Cook Strait fast ferries.

Technology and Society: Level 4

Achievement Objectives Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 7. identify and compare the range of factors and attitudes that promote or constrain a current technological development in the wider community, such as speed cameras; artificial fibres; 8. explore and discuss the impacts over time on the local and wider environments and society of some specific technology, as in the dairy industry; the introduction of wide-bodied jets.

Technology and Society: Level 5

Achievement Objectives Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 7. explain the beliefs, values, and ethics that have promoted and constrained some recent technological developments, including instances within their own technological activities, such as the school production; food preservation; 8. investigate and describe the present impact, and the possible future effects, of some instances of rapidly changing technologies, such as plant propagation; entertainment.

Technology and Society: Level 6

Achievement Objectives Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 7. identify and assess the factors that affect the ways different groups have responded to, promoted, or inhibited some technological innovation, such as agricultural exports; 8. examine and compare the factors that have influenced, and may affect in the future, the development and impact of some major technological innovations, such as the Internet; data matching.

Technology and Society: Level 7

Achievement Objectives Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 7. investigate, assess, and report on the factors that led to changes in attitudes among some identified groups with regard to some technological developments, such as vaccination; bar-codes; microwaves; 8. investigate and debate the perceived social and economic impacts of some specific examples of technological development, such as those associated with military hardware; developments of new drugs.

Technology and Society: Level 8

Achievement Objectives Within a range of technological areas and contexts, students should: 7. investigate and analyse how beliefs, values, and ethics of individuals and groups promote and constrain technological developments in specific communities, such as the 1960s space race; reproductive technologies; 8. analyse and critically evaluate the social and economic impacts of some significant technological developments in a variety of settings, debating viewpoints, and exploring options for the future.