ABSTRACT
Th e original meaning of technology was profi ciency. In the proverb “Practice makes perfect,” “perfect” meant technology. Now, it is understood that technology is a process or a process system. Diderot, a distinguished enlightened thinker, materialist philosopher, and education theorist in France in the eighteenth century, gave a concise defi nition of technology in the Encyclopedia: “Th e technology is varieties of tools and rules system that is collaborated for a common purpose.” Some scholars also defi ne technology on the basis of its purposes, components and functions, such as Gaynor (1996) who pointed out that technology can be described in diff erent ways: fi rst, that technology is the realization of resources into products or services; second, that technology includes knowledge and resources, which can help to reach established goals; third, that technology is an entity of science and engineering, which can be used in production processes and product designs, and also in the exploration to gain new knowledge. Li Ping (1999) considers technology as an eff ective means used by people to engage in various economic activities in spite of scarce resources, and the extension of technology includes products, processes, human resource, and organizations. Huang Jingbo (2005) holds that technology is a combination of knowledge, methods, skills, and special know-how that is used by humans in understanding and utilizing nature.
