Technological literacy may be defined as a knowledge of and competence in a technical method of achieving a practical purpose. This definition thus contains two components: technical (scientific) methods and practical purposes. Historically, industrial education has concentrated on the second component. The practical uses of technology should continue to be the central focus for curriculum development in industrial education; however, more effort should be placed on helping students develop a larger understanding of our technological society. One way for industrial teachers to accomplish this is to use the technological literacy approach (as opposed to the traditionally used project and occupational skills approaches) when designing their industrial education program. The technological literacy approach contains the following eight steps: determining the industrial occupations or occupational sector the course is to cover; developing or selecting a conceptualization of the key dimensions of the industrial area; identifying applicable technologies and available equipment; selecting sample projects to give students hands-on experiences; identifying other means of acquainting students with alternative technologies and applications; beginning the course with a presentation of the conceptualization of the industrial area; and relating all projects and other learning resources and activities to the conceptualization and key dimensions. (MN)