Learning About Technological Careers

Summary

• Students will be introduced to careers related to the technology course they are completing and the college, university and apprenticeship pathways available for each career.
• Students will research the prerequisites for different post secondary pathways
• Students will learn about the skills related to their careers of interest.

Suggested Courses for Ontario: 

GLC2O, TGJ2O, TGJ3M, TGJ4M, TGJ4O

Specific Curriculum Expectations for Ontario:

List of Ontario Curriculum Expectations by course [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF] 

Setting the Stage

Many students begin their exploration of careers based on interests related to courses they are completing. However, such a career planning strategy often only gives a “tops of the trees” view of this career area; the complete variety of careers available is often not known. Exploring careers that link to the content they are currently studying will help students develop a more robust understanding of career options that are available to them. From this exploration, students will develop an understanding of the different post-secondary programs available, the prerequisite courses required for entrance into post-secondary programs, and start planning their own career goals. Additionally, students will understand that the skills they are learning in class are directly related to those they may need in their future career. 

In this lesson, students brainstorm a list of careers that are related to their current course. Next, students choose one of the listed careers to research. Finally, students share what they’ve learned with their peers and reflect on their own career interests and goals. 

This is lesson 1 of 2 in a set that can be used sequentially or as standalone lessons. The suggested sequence for completing these lessons is:

1. Learning about Technological Careers
2. Demonstrating Skills in Technological Careers

Materials & Preparation

• Computers or other devices with internet access (1 per student or small group)
• Researching Careers in Technology Reproducible [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF] - provide as paper or e-copy, 1 per student.
• Learning about Technological Careers Exit Slip Reproducible [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF] - provide as paper or e-copy, 1 per student.

What To Do

• Teachers could start the lesson with a minds-on activity where students are asked to brainstorm various careers related to their current course. This could be initiated as a Think-Pair-Share activity. 
• Once students have shared their ideas in pairs, students could add their suggestions to a class-generated list (e.g., physical list on whiteboard or chart paper or in a shared Google document). 
  • If students are struggling to come up with careers that are related to their course, they could do additional research to discover more potential careers (individually, with partners, or in small groups). As students find additional careers, they can add them to the class list.
  • Note: Teachers who are planning to do the second lesson in this series (Demonstrating Skills in Technological Careers) should record this list as students will need to refer to it in the next lesson. 
• Teachers could lead students in a discussion of how the course is relevant to all these jobs. 
• Once a list has been generated, teachers could have each student select a career from the list that is of interest to them on which to conduct further research. Students should use the Researching Careers in Technology reproducible to record information they uncover.
  • Teachers could require one or several careers to be researched. Alternatively, students could research careers in an area of interest to them, that follow different post-secondary pathways (e.g., university, college, apprenticeship, and direct from school to the workplace).
• To complete their research, students could refer to the following sources of information. Teachers could briefly introduce students to each of these resources and model how to use them to research specific careers. 
  • their school board or district’s career portfolio program
  • the Government of Canada’s Job Bank
  • career profiles from the Let’s Talk Science STEM careers resource site
• After the research is completed, teachers could have students present the information they have collected. Students who have researched the same career, could work together to prepare a common presentation. Presentations could include the creation of a brochure, a media presentation, a website, or gallery walk. Students should be prepared to answer questions related to their research/presentation. 

• Teachers could conclude by having students complete the Learning about Technological Careers Exit Slip reproducible or make a journal entry. Concluding with reflection can help students examine what they have learned about the careers related to this course and their own career goals and potential post-secondary pathways.