Careers Unit Help
Posted on Aug 8, 2012 by marcia blanco Latest activity: Aug 21, 2012
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My unit on career professionalism really needs some punching up, particularly in career exploration. I have a handout I give where they explore various career fields, the educational requirements to enter, job descriptn and salary range. It's a stale activity that does little to inspire them. Does anyone out there have anything better?
-Marcia
Adobe Education
Posted on Aug 21, 2012 8:19 AM - Permalink
You can look at the portfolio projects in any of the Adobe Digital Career Curriculums - there are steps in them that address job searching and such, as well as backround resources, perhaps you could cull some ideas from there.
Best,
~Adobe Education
Kristie MacLaughlin
Posted on Aug 9, 2012 3:23 PM - Permalink
If you have a BYOD campus, they might just surpise you. I agree; don't limit the medium. This opens the door for them to express themselves creatively, and you also get a quick grasp of the student's tech capabilities (which you may be able to capitalize on later.)
The added bonus; you don't have to wade through 30 Powerpoints, and your students might be entertained as well!
TJ Fletcher
Posted on Aug 9, 2012 2:17 AM - Permalink
You could do all kinds of things...depending on the type of media you want to work with (or have the students work with).
Want visual...try having them create an infographic about the career field.
Want audio...try having them create 30sec or 60sec radio spots spoofing a favorite commercial.
Want video...try having them create a movie trailer for the career field...again spoofing a popular flick.
Most teachers shy away from projects like these, because they feel they don't have enough "personal" knowledge of the tools to guide the students through when they become stuck. However, the key is to "just let go"...learn along with the student. I might not know where every bell and whistle is, but I can use my troubleshooting skills to shed some light on the situation. It's not a contest to see who knows more...it's a collaboration. Of course, there are other reasons teachers shy away from these kind of projects...lack of time, resources, time, risk of failure...did I mention time? All of these issues can be overcome with a little creative problem solving...even the time issue.
In response to "risk of failure"...which can be a pretty big hurdle to overcome...simply plan to fail. Conduct a post-mortem following the project and gather feedback from your students targeting ways to make the project more successful. What worked? What didn't? How would they improve it? Want to reduce the risk from the start? Involve the students up front before you even begin planning. I've done this on more than one occassion...present the idea, and have them help flesh out the details...including how they will be graded.
Hopefully, this gets the ball rolling...:)