Perhaps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_and_Technology ?

Almost certainly, given that the author seems to have significant connections to the UK.

He refers to it again later; "Engineering apprenticeships have been decimated, and even the old metalwork shops in schools have gone, replaced by ‘craft, design and technology’, which seems to mainly involve making things of cardboard."

When I was in secondary school twenty+ years ago, we had both: Design & Technology (AutoCad !) and a full metalwork shop with everything except oxyacetylene torches. There's nothing like hands on experience when it comes to making real things.

I'd love to know whether all that stuff is still there.

We had hand draw pictures and woodworking. Still fun though.

Design Technology - it's drawing pretty pictures (sorry `design concepts`) of what you would make if your school still had proper shop class.

It is to "metal work" what "information technology" is to programming.

My son has just started doing Industrial Arts at school. A lot of it just seems to be dreadful spouting of design and architecture jargon.

But what do people want from a wheel? How do they relate to it? What colour should it be?

3d printers to the rescue?