Technological literacy was defined, though not so named, by John Dewey at the turn of the past century. Dewey described how schooling could lay the groundwork for understanding the practice and implications of producing for society's needs. He talked about the importance of technologically literate individuals and collective knowledge production in the development of thoughtful citizens capable of critical thinking. Furthermore, Dewey built his ideas on the concept that in a democracy, everyone is important and responsible to and for what is done in the name of progress. Many in technology education programs focus singularly on defining occupations as vocations related to work, or even industrial progress, rather than those activities in which individuals are engaged to construct their life and their society, which would include work. Thus, it is only by building on Dewey's notions of education through occupations that a more responsible route into the global society of the 21st century can be found.