Technology is literally the art or knowledge of how to make things(techniques) - the knowledge of how to do or make things, from how to bake a cake to how to paint a picture to play the guitar to how to build a computer. Technology includes both applied ('useful') arts such as electronics, carpentry, and machining - that addresses human needs and problems-and so-called fine arts such as painting, music, and sculpture which is work that observes, comments, and reflects upon the hopes, fears, and emotions of the human experience.
Each change in technology- stone age, bronze age, iron age, invention of concrete, invention of arch, electronics— has changed society.
While Technology is the knowledge of how to make things, this is often confused with technological artifacts are the objects produced with that knowledge- a clay pot, an iron sword, a computer, a Youtube video.
This is highlighted by conflicts regarding theft of technology, which focus on theft of information, concepts, and techniques- how to weave cloth, how to make an atomic bomb, how to make a visual interface- vs theft of physical artifacts.
Technological skills are needed throughout science and engineering work, both in laboratory work and in prototyping, and should be embedded in lesson plans.