Using Technology in Career Exploration - Oakland Schools

Using Technology in Career Exploration
A curricular unit to meet:
the 6 th - 8 th Grade Michigan Educational Technology Standards (METS) and
the 7 th -8 th grade Educational Development Plan (EDP) requirements (using Career Cruising)
while incorporating online learning experiences.
The Challenges
Student technology skills need to be developed
and/or improved for students to be
technologically literate by 8 th grade (NCLB)
Each student needs to have a completed EDP
(Education YES!)
Students need to demonstrate skills aligned with
Michigan curriculum standards
Teachers, Counselors, Media Specialists
and Career Development Facilitators
often express that they are overloaded
with legislative mandates, curriculum
standards and benchmarks, day-to-day
classroom management issues, and
time constraints… to name a few.
A Creative Solution!
Meet multiple discipline
requirements at the same time
Through a partnership between Learning Services
and Career Focused Education Departments, with
authoring assistance from multiple Oakland County
local school districts, a multi-disciplined,
integrated performance-based curriculum is
available to assist districts in simultaneously
meeting multiple federal mandates and state
curriculum standards in a single unit of study in
order to “work smart”
Students will:
develop technology-based
research skills as they explore
careers that match their
interests,
think critically about their career choices,
learn how to make informed decisions about
their future career choices,
communicate verbally and in writing,
create realistic goals and educational plans, and
build a portfolio of evidence demonstrating
performance of skills.
Alignment with Middle School Curriculum
English Language Arts
Mathematics
Social Studies
Information and Communication Technology
Literacy
Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling
Program: Career Development Domain
Career and Employability Skills
21st Century Skills
Apply Technology Tools
Graphic Organizers
Word processor
Spreadsheet and Database
Line Graph and Pie Chart
Search Engines, Web Resources, Online Citations
Career Exploration Software (Career Cruising)
Presentation Media
Professional Development
Audience: Career development
facilitator, counselor, technology
teacher, media specialist, academic
teachers (a team is recommended)
Resources: Materials (lesson plans, student
resources, assessments and rubrics, and tutorials),
stipends/substitute teachers (TBD), ongoing
consulting and support, Career Cruising coaching
Timeframe: tentatively in October
Contact for More Information
Lynn Lieberman
Educational Technology Consultant,
Learning Services
248-209-2027 or Lynn.Lieberman@oakland.k12.mi.us
Cathy Smith
Career Development Consultant, Career Focused
Education
248-209-2119 or Cathy.Smith@oakland.k12.mi.us

Eleven Modules Comprise the Using Technology in Career Exploration Curriculum
1. Technology Concepts – (1) terms - use accurate technology terminology to complete a
crossword puzzle; create, populate and query a database for specific criteria and create, modify and
print a report (2) responsible and safe technology and Internet use – collaboratively research, share
and write about issues and practices related to acceptable, responsible and safe Internet use
2. Who Am I? – complete an informal self-assessment of interests, skills, preferences, and values on
an electronic graphic organizer; define and record unfamiliar career-related terms; create and use a
database of technology terms; complete a work environment survey
3. Self-Awareness using Matchmaker; Telecommunicate & explore Pathways– complete an
electronic self-assessment of interests (Your Likes & Dislikes) and skills (My Skills) using Career
Cruising; career pathways and specific careers within those pathways are matched to assessment
results; review suggestions; use telecommunications to research career pathways
4. Four careers suitable for you? – (1) choose four careers from the career options presented by
Career Cruising; compare each career using information in the “Suitable for You?”, “Job
Description”, and “Working Conditions” sections of Career Cruising; record and format notes on
an electronic chart; (2) decide if each career is a fit for the student; then, select two careers to further
investigate; and (3) explain and justify the decisions
5. Career exploration for each of two careers using Career Cruising – gather additional career
information for each of the two careers; organize and record notes
6. Lifestyle activity: salary projections and an expense budget – (1) graph salary projections in a
line graph for the two careers using annual Michigan wages; (2) complete a spreadsheet of budgeted
monthly cost-of-living expenses, create a pie chart of the costs in four areas, calculate annual
expenses with taxes; (3) interpret the budget data and graphs and draw conclusions about the
desired lifestyle, what type of entry level salary would be needed to support that lifestyle, and which
of the two career salaries would best cover costs of the lifestyle
7. Justification paper - select one of the two careers to research further with print & electronic
resources other than Career Cruising; write a paper explaining the choice
8. Research one career using a variety of resources - apply information literacy skills to conduct
additional research on one career search using (a) online subscription databases (e.g., MeL), (b)
appropriate Web sites, and (c) print material; (1) construct and implement a search using at least two
search engines to identify different types of Web sites; (2) use criteria to evaluate appropriate and
valid sites; (3) take notes and (4) cite the sources
9. Product to communicate career information – design, create and share an informative
publication, presentation, video, or website about the career that has been researched
10. EDP Update; ACT Explore career suggestions – complete minimum Education Development Plan
standards for Oakland County – select and record career pathway(s) and career(s) of interest in the
EDP and identify short-term and long-term goals; develop an annual education plan of high school
classes; record ACT Explore scores and analyze career results
11. Final written reflection - reflection pieces on (1) “is this a good career choice for me?” – a
decision based on self-assessment, data collected, research, (2) the role of technology - how
technology is used to study careers and the hardware and software students have used in their
study, and (3) how technology shapes careers and is used in careers
Using Technology in Career Exploration 2 Oakland Schools
Introduction Revised March 2007