Educational content with respect to programming and Programmed Technological Solutions (PTS) is commonly contextualised in practical activities such as analysing and designing PTS using instructional materials, e.g. BBC micro:bit. However, we still know little of how teaching regarding this content could be organised in order for students to progress in learning. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the synthesised results from two phenomenographic studies on ways students, aged 10–14, conceptualise PTS in order to shed light on PTS as a learning object, as well as what and how to teach about PTS in technology education.

The two included studies are conducted in a Swedish school context. The first study investigates the different ways students, aged 11–12, conceptualise PTS in the process of analysing structure and function in PTS. The second study investigates the different ways students, aged 10 and 14, conceptualise PTS in the process of designing and coding PTS. In the studies, the instructional material BBC micro:bit was used together with PTS from everyday life. The synthesised results have been further analysed from a learning progression perspective based on the phenomenographic view of learning. The results show variations in students’ ways of conceptualising PTS. In keeping with the phenomenographic perspective, learning can be described as students initially seeing PTS as an undifferentiated whole, which they gradually learn to discern from its structural and functional parts. However, in the processes, there is a complexity of conceptualising PTS in relation to the changing contexts of everyday life and the instructional material BBC micro:bit. Based on the results, it is suggested that students should initially learn to analyse the structure and function of existing PTS in different contexts. This will provide them with the necessary conditions to progress their learning in activities where they design and code PTS.