This course is designed to guide students through the process of exploring and choosing potential career pathways. Students will engage in self-exploration activities such as skills and interests assessments and apply what they learn to the process of choosing a career. Course features include an exploration of post-secondary educational options and requirements, informational interview and job shadowing experiences, as well as problem solving and goal setting activities. This student-centered course focuses on helping students get to know themselves so they can find the future that’s right for them! Instead of a final exam, students will complete an end-of-course project. To complete this project students will use the assignments in each unit to help them begin to develop an Educational Development Plan (EDP). An Educational Development Plan is designed to help students identify their career and educational goals as they relate to academic requirements. An EDP is a way for students to document their progress toward career and educational goals. If students have already started an EDP at their schools, they can use this final project to update it with the most current information about their career and educational goals. Prerequisites: 8th Grade Reading Level
Course Objectives:
· Organize career information and labor market trends from a variety of sources.
· Explain the advantages and disadvantages of working for self, others, being an employee of a large or small organization.
· Analyze information & preferences from work-based opportunity.
· Interpret information from a variety of career assessments to identify career interests and abilities.
· Apply a decision-making model and use career assessment information to choose a career pathway.
· Gather, interpret, analyze, and refine data.
· Analyze and synthesize information and data from multiple sources.
· Determine goals and develop an action plan to accomplish them within a given time frame.
· Participate in work-based opportunities such as job-shadowing, mentorships, work experiences, etc.
· Apply career and labor market information to seek and obtain employment and/or pursue educational goals.
· Research availability of educational programs, financial requirements, and resource and
· Participate in real-life experiences associated with technology-related careers.
Course Outline:
Unit 1—Get the Facts
Unit 2—Find Yourself
Unit 3—Find your Path
Unit 4—Explore Your Path
Unit 5—Get Educated
Unit 6—Finding Job Opportunities
Unit 7—Find Your Future
End of Course Project
Resources Included:Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.
Additional Costs: None
Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue transcripts or diplomas. A final score reported as a percentage of total points earned will be sent to students upon completion of a course. Your school mentor is also able to access this score within the Student Learning Portal. Schools may use this score for conversion to their own letter grading system.
Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.
Technology Requirements: Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.
Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements: https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements/
Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.
Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments.
Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:
- Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
- Download and install software
- Use a messaging service similar to email
- Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
- Open attachments shared in messages
- Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
- Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
- Save a file as a .pdf
- Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
- Insert images or links into a file or html editor
- Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
- Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
- Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
- Use presentation and graphics programs
- Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
- Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
- Create and maintain usernames and passwords
Additional Information: N/A