School Design and Technology Lessons are 'Out of Date'

This is news? Universities are a decade or so behind, waiting for the old professors to die off if they can't keep up. If you want an education, read. Schools can only certify you as being BS tolerant.

GA Fejj.
The basics don't go out of date.
If you can get a kid to build a Chinese repeating crossbow which is technology well over a thousand years old he'd have learned a good deal.
They can keep upto date by arseing about with their gizmo laden phones.
Teach 'em some fundamental skills, how to apply critical thought and how do devise and run test of a concept. Plenty of CAd too, of the (Cardboard Aided Design type).
Del

Agree with both of you Gents. The students need to learn and MASTER the basics first before they graduate from high school.

Too many times in the past when I got stuck delivering lecture to undergrad engineering students and Master Candidates (as a Doctoral Candidate) instead of the Prof doing so, I was floored to learn through questioning and answer sessions that a good many of them lack the proper knowledge of the basics....you wonder how they even made it that far knowing the little that they knew! IMO, too many electronic toys where even a one-arm Chimp could run a design software package! WTF!!!!!

Looks to me as though the brown stuff has finally hit the fan and that the demise of electronics, systems and control and CAD due to lack of funding and a reluctance to pursue what lots of heads see as expensive option is finally being seen for what it is. The joke is that they now blaming the teachers lack of training. This is nonsense and hides a push towards what are perceived to be easier DT courses such as Product Design. I had to justify why Systems and Control should be kept even though results were good. Needless to say I lost. Modern heads would get rid of Engineering, Latin, Russian, Chinese and anything else considered requiring higher skills in favour of a bland curriculum in the search for a higher place in the league tables. Likewise when the highest requirements for computer equipment lie surely with high end CAD, DTP and Photographic portfolio evidence we often have to cope with old cast off machines with slow processors and half a gig of ram. I rest my case.