Appropriate Technology: Alternative Energy Applications for Industrial Technology Education

An important aspect of our lives in contemporary society is learning how to use tools that are readily available. We look to the world around us and try to make use of knowledge and know-how that could improve our way of life. Humankind has always determined ways to comprehend knowledge and know-how and then through the utilization of tools develop a technology that is beneficial to culture and society. These benefits typically are an improvement to the culture and environment in which we live and are usually inexpensive. The benefit does not have to be on the “cutting edge” of technology, but something that either improves how we live or helps society understand how a technology works in our everyday lives. The discovery, development, use, and understanding of technologies that improve our local way of life or environment can be deemed “appropriate technology”.