Providing Students a Purpose for Learning

I was recently introduced to a program that works with students in figuring out what type of career path might interest them later on in life. As I sat down and researched how it all worked, I was left wondering why there wasn’t such a thing like that when I was a kid in early elementary. And then I remembered I was old and my school district didn’t have a computer until I was in high school.

Technology at Its Finest
We have all encountered those questionnaires, sometimes they are personality tests and other times they are in the back of a magazine, where after answering ten or so questions, they somehow figure out what type of person you are or perhaps even the sort of person you should marry someday. The questions are usually fun to answer and it is always a good time reading at the end what they perceive from your replies.

Now there is technology that does basically the same thing but to a much grander scale. It is usable with early primary students all the way through college students (and I can even think of a few adults who could benefit from it). The program (the one I encountered was Xello) asks a series of questions about likes, dislikes, personality, skills, and knowledge both in and out of school and through your answers, they build a personalized plan for your future. They recommend the careers that might interest you and the classes you will want to take to make your dream job happen. To put it simply, they provide a reason for learning as they detail why you need certain classes if you are interested in pursuing a particular career.

Your Own Personal Guidance Counselor
As it is individualized, each student will have their own login and password as they proceed through the grade levels in search of achieving the career they are after. The program provides guidance every step of the way. This technology is certainly amazing as it almost replaces the need to a certain extent for a high school guidance counselor.

I came from a class of only fifty students and my high school guidance counselor had about five minutes on his schedule to speak to me about my future. He didn’t offer up any colleges that could best suit my needs or even suggest a career that I might be good at based on my grades. My first two years of college was spent trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.

With programs like Xello, you are provided knowledge about what careers could interest you and then they can suggest classes from there to help you get to where you want to be. Students have a purpose for learning! As an educator, this is great news as one of the biggest complaints from students and even their parents is why must we learn this. With this technology, the teachers will have access to what the student is trying to pursue and then they can figure out a way to help them get there.

This is in stark contrast to educators that have no idea what their students want to do with the rest of their lives. With these kids, we are just offering up a potpourri of education and hope something sticks. By introducing this type of new technology to the classroom at all grade levels, the kids are learning for a purpose and the educators are teaching to a purpose. It is the best of both worlds.

If this sort of technology excites you as a parent or an educator, join the crowd! These types of advancements are what make teaching the best career ever. With technology like this, we could help make the difference in every kid’s life as we guide them to their dreams. If you would like to learn more about technology you can bring into the classroom, iAchieve offers professional development in the world of tech that your whole staff should find valuable. If we are really wanting to give our students the best education possible, that means bringing in the advancements of the 21st century for their betterment.

Written by Ryan Crawley

Learn more about our Professional Development presentations!

3 Tips to Use Technology Both In and Out of the Classroom

Finding Your Perfect Career

4 Ways That Technology Can Boost Learning