Welcome to TechKNOW Associates' The Career Network page. This project was developed through a partnership between TechKNOW Associates and JDL Technologies. To download a copy of the project, you will need a userid and password. Please go to the Terms of Use page for more information.

TechKNOW Associates Corporation can provide expert, onsite staff development to insure that teachers and children fully implement this and other projects at a reasonable cost. We will train teachers in the classroom with their students, model lessons, and help them integrate technology into their curriculum through a project-based approach.

Links sometimes change. If you come across a bad link, please email our web master at webmaster@techknowassociates.com

New projects are being developed and added to our site on a regular basis. Visit often.

Career Development and Occupational Studies is a central theme of every high school classroom. The Career Network project engages students in preparing for future careers through engaging activities that will help them determine future paths and in mapping out a direction for gaining the skills and knowledge necessary for their future success. Career Network has a real-world focus and natural emphasis on quality student work as students explore the basic principles of career planning such as decision-making, self-evaluation, and goal setting.

The Career Network project calls for cooperative groups of students to conduct in-depth, meaningful investigations into the world of work and career options, as they relate personal skills, aptitudes, and abilities to future career decisions. This project addresses performance standards in Career Development and Occupational Studies, as well as the standards of several other disciplines. Career Network is divided into three distinct but interrelated learning units followed by a culminating presentation:

Phase One: Where Am I Going? – Students will engage in a series of activities that helps them assess their personal goals and match these goals to a career option. They will research at least three specific jobs in their chosen career area and prepare an inventory of the acquired skills, qualities, and experiences necessary for successful employment as well as the job outlook (decline/growth) and possible earnings. They will publish their findings as informational pamphlets.

Phase Two: How Will I Get There? – Students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings. They will interview a person in their career option and/or prospective employers to help them identify the necessary application of academic knowledge and technical skills that are required for particular careers. They will develop a multimedia presentation to demonstrate how concepts from mathematics, science, social studies, English language arts and/or other disciplines are applied in a particular career option.

Phase Three: Welcome to the Real World! – Students will demonstrate mastery of foundational skills through a series of career building activities. They will use multiple resources to research available jobs that meet their chosen career goals. They will write a resume and a variety of cover letters and conduct mock-job interviews. Students will also design a personal school to work plan containing specific stops toward attainment of a career goal.

To download a copy of this project, you will need a userid and password. Please go to the Terms of Use page for more information. If you have a userid and password, click here.

To see the online lesson plan for Career Network, click here.