By Andra Bryan Stefanoni

news@joplinglobe.com

PITTSBURG, Kan. — After watching a clip from the movie “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” students in a technology class at Pittsburg High School faced what at first seemed to be an impossible task.

Their instructor, Larry Dunekack, gave them a plastic cylinder lying on its side and asked them to invent something that could reach into a marble-sized hole in the plastic container.

Their goal? To retrieve a marble that was representative of the “crystal skull” for which Jones was searching — without tripping an alarm.

The winner performed the task in less than 20 seconds.

It might have felt like a game, but the students weren’t playing. They were working toward developing modern technological literacy using one of the oldest forms of technology on the planet: a tool.

Technological literacy

A report by the national Committee on Technological Literacy puts forth that while most people think of technology in terms of computers, iPods and digital video recorders, it’s more than tangible products. The committee represents the National Research Council and the National Academy of Engineering.

The report argues that “technological literacy ” — an understanding of the nature and history of technology, the ability to use it, and an ability to think critically about technological development — is essential for those living in a modern nation.

It also states that an important area of knowledge for future graduates is the engineering design procedure: starting with a set of criteria and constraints, and working toward a solution.

Dunekack puts it more simply: “Technology extends human potential. Technological literacy is the ability to use, manage, assess and understand that technology.

“People assume that having computers is a tech-rich environment. But really to be tech-rich, you need to cross through every part of the work force and our personal lives.”

Enter the newly opened Center for Applied Learning at the high school.