“Young Students Game-based Career Navigation”
Concern over the ability of schools to both prepare and inform children about future careers has been growing, considering that the career market is more dynamic and complex than ever before. ACT and Numedeon developed CareerQuest™, a virtual worlds-based career exploration gaming-experience for young students, to address this issue.
Dr. L. Miguel Encarnação & Jim Bower- Numedeon, Inc.
1. CareerQuest™
Young students' game-based
career navigation in a social
on-line learning environment
numedeon, Inc.
Dr. L. Miguel Encarnação
SVP & Chief Innovation Officer
Dr. Jim Bower
Founder & CEO
August 2013 SeriousPlay Conference, Redmond, WA 1
11. Hypothesis
Early-age career exploration
can put school curricula in context and
aid college and career
decision-making processes.
August 2013 SeriousPlayConference, Redmond,WA 11
18. First Step: Use a game-like structure to see if kids will
actively explore the "world of work"
August 2013 SeriousPlayConference, Redmond,WA 18
19. CareerQuest™ findings (prel.)
Stats as of July 26, 2013
• 6,130 visits to the exterior of the ACT club house
• 7,183 visits to the club house lobby
to meet Kyle the Career Guy
• 274,080 total views of club house pages
• 6,237 visitors to the club house game room
• 4,083 visitors participate in quests (i.e., game)
• 44,662 quests played
• 31,773 quests completed
August 2013 SeriousPlayConference, Redmond,WA 19
20.
21. Food for thought
• Curriculum infusion to increase relevance?
• Career “readiness” assessments during
career exploration?
• Career out-of-world “internships” based on
in-world interest?
• Career/PSE recruitment and sponsorship by
businesses based on in-world performance?
August 2013 SeriousPlayConference, Redmond,WA 21
23. Towards a K-Career Continuum
August 2013 SeriousPlayConference, Redmond,WA 23
24. THANK YOU
Demo
numedeon, Inc.
Dr. L. Miguel Encarnação
SVP & Chief Innovation Officer
Dr. Jim Bower
Founder & CEO
August 2013 SeriousPlayConference, Redmond,WA 24
Notes de l'éditeur
What do pre-k kids think about careers?
Many actually do have realistic dreams!
… and explore those regularly.
How about middle schoolers?
Their idols seem to have much less to do with realistic career ambitions; their role models are predominantly celebrities they only know from the media outlets (Rimm, S. (2006). Growing Up Too Fast: The Secret World of America's Middle Schoolers. )
How about high schoolers? 1/3 of freshmen are still undecided; 80% not sure whether they picked the right major.
Many are lost:7% students did not graduate from high school in 2011 (Alliance for Excellent Education (2011)25% are not college ready (ACT, 2011)46% do not graduate from 4-year schools within 6 years (NCES, 2011)36% mal-employment rate for college-grads under 25 (Center for Labor Market Studies, Northwestern U., 2013)8% unemployment rate of recent graduatesBack of the envelope: 22% successful career development & placement K-career !
Pre-existing, potentially very valuable ACT information on careers and their potential for middle-schoolers …
… and high-schoolers …
… doesn’t engage its audience. So, what are the alternatives? …
… We decided to instead go where they are and use a form they recognize.
Can we use a game-like structure to get kids to explore the "world of work”?