Addressing the Careers Expectations

1
Addressing the Careers Expectations

• Chris Stephenson
• University of Waterloo

2
Curriculum Changes

• As part of the new high school curriculum all
  teachers are required to address expectations
  relating to career awareness and preparation.
• These expectations are found in the Social
  Impact and Consequences strand which accounts for
  15 of the curriculum content.

3
Teacher Challenges

• Addressing the new career requirements presents
  some unique challenges
• the number of careers are staggering
• teachers are not familiar with industry
• job descriptions change all the time
• skills requirements keep changing

4
Misconceptions

• Teachers also need to address a number of myths
  students believe
• if you can write programs you can get a great
  job right out of high school
• if you can play games you can program
• computing jobs do not require people skills

5
More Misconceptions

• computing jobs do not require communication
  skills
• all computer jobs are boring
• all computer scientists are men
• it is easier to get into a college program

6
Big Benefits

• Teaching about careers also provides excellent
  educational opportunities
• valid rationale for student research
• a way to address employability skills and
  professionalism
• great for discussions and presentations
• life-long benefits for students

7
Grade 11 ICS Expectations

• explain how the pervasiveness of computer
  technology affects daily life
• describe how information is gathered using
  computers and how this can affect peoples
  privacy and right to information
• describe, using presentation software, emergent
  technologies and their potential influence on
  society

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Grade 11 ICS Expectations

• identify a number of available sources of career
  and educational information using networks and
  evaluate their reliability and accuracy
• identify postsecondary educational opportunities
  leading to careers in information systems and
  computer science and report on their entry
  requirements

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Grade 11 ICS Expectations

• identify which careers require computer expertise
  using local or national media
• explain the importance of keeping up to date on
  current articles and thoughts on computer
  technology
• identify opportunities for apprenticeship
  training and coop programs

10
Grade 11 ICS Expectations

• use appropriate strategies to avoid potential
  health and safety problems associated with
  computer use, such as musculo-skeletal disorders
  and eye strain

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Grade 11 ICEM Expectations

• describe the evolution and historical impact of
  the development of computer hardware
• explain how computer technology affects daily
  life
• describe issues that arise from the growing use
  of networked systems (e.g. complexity,
  compatibility, security)

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Grade 11 ICEM Expectations

• examine a number of sources of information using
  a computer network and evaluate their ease of use
  and reliability
• use a variety of software applications to make a
  class presentation on ethical issues in computing

13
Grade 11 ICEM Expectations

• identify postsecondary educational opportunities
  leading to careers in engineering and technology,
  as well as their entry requirements
• use appropriate strategies to avoid potential
  health and safety problems associated with
  computer use, such as musculo-skeletal disorders
  and eye strain

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Grade 11 ICEE Expectations

• comply with ethical and acceptable use policies
  for computer use
• identify social and computer skills that are
  important to employers
• describe job opportunities in local business and
  industry

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Grade 11 ICEE Expectations

• employ time management skills effectively in the
  completion of projects
• effectively communicate the results of projects
  both orally and in writing
• use appropriate strategies to avoid potential
  health and safety problems associated with
  computer use, such as musculo-skeletal disorders
  and eye strain

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Where to Start?

• Teaching about careers involves four distinct
  questions students must answer
• What jobs are available?
• What jobs am I most suited to/interested in?
• What skills do employers want?
• How do I get the training I need?

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Job Availability

• Computing careers can be broken down into four
  broad areas
• software
• hardware
• networks
• support services

18
Software Careers

• Software careers break down into two areas of
  specialization
• programmer
• system specialist

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Types of Programmers

• Programmers fall into one or more of four
  categories depending upon the size of the
  company
• applications programmer
• business and scientific programmer
• system software programmer
• maintenance programmer

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Systems Specialists

• Systems specialists look at larger issues such
  as
• choice of applications
• solving specific user problems
• reports and graphics generation
• production of output
• information storage

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Systems Specialists

• There are two distinct system specialist jobs
• system analysts revise processing procedures to
  meet user needs
• programmer analysts serve as both programmer
  and system analyst

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Hardware Careers

• These people design, manufacture, install and
  service hardware
• hardware specialists
• computer engineers
• equipment service people

23
Networking Careers

• This is currently one of the fastest growing
  fields in computing.
• e-commerce and e-business specialists
• network designers
• network administrators

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Support Services

• Support services is the largest area of
  computing and involves
• computer-assisted designers
• computer consultants
• graphics and animation specialists
• database administrators
• desktop publishers

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More Support Jobs

• computer-salespeople
• technical writers
• customer support staff
• help desk staff

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Web-based Careers

• web page designers create the pages and join
  them together
• client/server programmers deal with transaction
  security, speed, ease-of-use
• web page maintainers make the site easy to
  navigate and keep contents current

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Data Processing

• There are still jobs that focus on data
  processing and information control
• peripheral equipment operators
• data entry people
• data control people
• computer librarians

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Assessing Potential

• Teachers need to help students assess their
  potential for the field and for specific jobs
  based upon
• their personalities
• their likes and dislikes
• their strengths
• their weaknesses

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Shortcomings

• Students often lack a number of key
  characteristics required for career planning
• self-awareness
• long-term planning
• realistic skills evaluation
• research abilities

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Envisioning

• To help students focus on career goals/ plans,
  ask each to write a brief autobiography 20 years
  in the future, including
• job they will be doing
• salary they will receive
• where they will work
• how they will keep their skills current

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What Employers Want

• Students often lack an appreciation for skills
  employers want.
• Many companies now have employability skills
  requirements built into hiring practices.

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Employability Skills

• These skills include
• openness to change
• communication abilities
• work-time flexibility
• comfort with detail work
• organizational skills
• self-motivation
• professional ethics

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Personal Organization

• These skills include
• ability to prioritize projects
• ability to deal with conflicting deadlines
• ability to stick to timelines
• managing work time and personal time
• personal initiative

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Computer Ethics

• Means of application
• personal reflection and responsibility
• professional regulation
• legal enforcement

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Learning Objectives

• personal responsibility regarding technology use
• professional responsibility regarding design of
  technology
• ability to do ethical reasoning
• ability to understand technology from a social
  and cultural perspective

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Hackers

• Profile
• male
• between the ages of 18 and 35
• often former employees or students
• intelligent
• highly motivated
• creative

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Types of Hacks

• unauthorized access to satisfy a personal motive
  such as curiosity or pride
• unauthorized access to tamper with or destroy
  information, for example infectious programs
• unauthorized access to steal data or computer
  services to perform acts for criminal purposes
  such as credit card fraud

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Infectious Programs

• worm
• virus
• Trojan horse
• logic bomb
• time bomb
• Many companies hire ex-hackers to work as
  security tiger teams.

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Sample Topics

• Privacy
• Surveillance
• Automation
• Risk and reliability
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer crime

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Why Use Science Fiction?

• Opportunity for
• analysis of ethical, cultural and social issues
• expressing ideas and opinions
• raising awareness of issues
• decision-making and considering alternatives
• Interesting! Entertaining! Motivating!

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Science Fiction Examples

• The Net (privacy)
• The Handmaids Tale (surveillance)
• War Games (risk)
• The Matrix (control)
• Bladerunner (artificial intelligence)
• AI (automation)
• Star Trek (everything!)

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Student Activities

• Practice solving morally ambiguous scenarios
• Presentations where students defend a pro/con
  stand on an issue
• Students develop case studies from newspaper or
  magazine articles
• Role-playing scenarios
• Analysis and report writing

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Methodology

• It is really important to use all of the
  resources you can find, including the people
  resources.

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Textual Sources

• texts
• web searches
• newspapers
• magazines
• software

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Web Sources

• job search sites
• professional associations
• colleges
• universities
• corporations

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People Sources

• school guidance people
• parents
• community businesses
• vendors

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Teaching Strategies

• brainstorming
• job searches
• skill webs
• interviews
• resume writing
• field trips