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Facilitator's Guide

It would be disingenuous to say that getting a job is the only function of education, but it is a
crucial consideration. The advancement of technology not only presents new fields altogether, but it
modifies, enhances, and expands existing careers, too. Not exactly buried among the curriculum
outcomes for technology (but also not emblazoned atop the metaphorical curricular masthead) is
Students will explore the educational and career pathways that exist in
technology. This is the centrepiece of our unit plan. As aforementioned, though,
we intend not only to explore the career option within the technology sector, but
to examine the changes made to long-standing fields as a result of technology,
what that means for the career, and what career opportunities those changes
have wrought.
Students will be broken up into different groups, each defined by particular
career journalist; accountant; coach; doctor; etc. There will be three distinct
topics that will be taught and with which the students will engage
communication/social media, videography, and future technology. This will allow
students to explore how so-called every day technology or: social media,
videos, etc. has affected long-standing careers, but also to project how it might
continue to affect them and what changes or enhancement or, in some cases,
degradations will take place as a result of this proliferation of technology. Each
topic will feature its own product which the groups will construct and which they
will all eventually present to the class over a two day period.
We have chosen to approach it in this way because it allows the students to
take a grounded, relatively simple approach to a practical issue they will face as
they proceed in their lives & decide upon a career. It also strikes us as engaging
while we're dealing with the big idea of careers over a nine class period of time,
each topic takes up but a pair of classes, so the breakneck speed with which we
fluidly slide between topics should facilitate just enough engagement with each
topic so as to not wear interest thin. Our expertise level is a collective moderate,
and while this unit displays a range of technological interest, there isn't anything
which stretches the capabilities of either the instructor or the students.
Considering that we're dealing with middle school students, we assume that they
will have a passing, surface knowledge about many of these technological
elements, and therefore will be able to more than sufficiently produce work
suitable to our expectations, but there will also be room enough for them to learn
in working within these structural parameters and looking at these every day
technologies in a new, maybe deeper way.
Outcomes:
1. Technological Operations and Concepts
1.1: Understand & use technological solutions.
1.2: Select & use appropriate tools & applications safely, effectively, and productively
1.5: Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes and to identify
trends and forecast possibilities.
2. Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
2.2: Plan and conduct research, manage projects

2.3: Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project.


2.6: Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.
2.7: Communicate information & ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of
media & formats.
3. Citizenship
3.3: Explore & understand the educational and career pathways that exist in technology.
Time frame: Nine classes.
Suggested Grade Levels: 6 8.
Group Size: 4 5 students per group.
Pre-requisite Skills: Students should be able to navigate the internet, use iPads or Netbooks, and have
basic video editing skills.
Evaluation: The evaluation method will be rubric-based assessment of the group presentations.
Resources: Smart Board; iPads & Netbooks; access to the internet; 3D Printer; Oculus Rift; Raspberry
Pie.

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