Students will be able to...
- Identify the people in their family, or community, who have technology-related jobs.
- Create interview questions to find out about their jobs.
- Conduct an interview.
- Identify the different types of roles and skills needed in the technology industry.
- Identify technology skills needed in non-technology organizations.
- Reflect on how technology could be part of their future careers.
Computer science hero classroom resources
This lesson can be done over two class periods.
Students prepare for the interviews. This class could be combined with a journal writing day.
| Duration | Description |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | Welcome, attendance, bell work, announcements |
| 15 minutes | Introduce lesson and warmup activity |
| 15 minutes | Prepare interview questions |
| 10 minutes | Other activity (suggestion: Journal Writing) |
| 5 minutes | Debrief and wrap-up |
Students share and report on the interviews.
| Duration | Description |
|---|---|
| 5 minutes | Welcome, attendance, bell work, announcements |
| 45 minutes | Each group presents their interview highlights and key reflections |
| 5 minutes | Debrief and wrap-up |
You may come with stereotypes and myths about technology jobs. There are many different types of roles and skills needed in the technology industry. There are many roles that don't require you to sit at your computer all day long and write code.
Here are a few examples:
- Artistic designers
- Music creators
- Script writers
- Project managers
- Marketing specialists
- Web designer
As you get to know people in your community, you can discover individuals who are willing to be mentors for your classroom in the days ahead.
- Before students start thinking about who to interview, find out how much your students know about technology companies in your city or town. Spend some time to search online. Write on the board some examples of technology companies, or companies that have technology departments.
- Ask each student alone, or with partner, to brainstorm on a piece of paper 3-4 people who have technology-related jobs. Encourage students to think of a different variety of jobs.
- Encourage students to think of people that they know personally.
- Encourage students to think about the different people around them:
- those who work in technology organizations.
- those who have technical positions in other types of organizations.
- could be friend, relative, or even someone that you can approach
- Find a partner, and share your list with each other.
- Agree on 2 people from your combined list to interview together.
- In pairs, have students prepare a list of interview questions for each person.
- Encourage students to create a variety of questions, for example:
- What does your typical work day look like?
- What do you like, or not like, about your job?
- What inspires you?
- What are some challenges?
- What educational background is needed to do your job?
- What kind of technical skills are needed in your job?
- What advice do you have for students?
- Each pair should make a plan of how to conduct the interview in the coming week.
- This should be done outside of class time.
- Contact the person first to arrange a time and place to meet
- Be punctual; if working with a partner, remember to introduce all parties involved.
- Tell interviewee the purpose of the interview is for you (students) to learn more about technology related careers.
- Ask politely for permission to share some of their answers (within the classroom).
- Avoid questions that may be awkward or too personal (like salary), and always thank the person for their time.
- Take some notes, while still listening and being attentive.
- Students should talk with each other about key points, and personal take-aways.
- Here are some reflection prompts for students:
- What surprised you?
- What was interesting?
- What did you learn?
- Did you feel inspired or get ideas about possibilities jobs you could do in the future?
- Write 1-2 paragraphs of reflection
- As a team, prepare a few PowerPoint slides (or photos, brochures, or grab bag items) to capture your interview findings and reflections, which to use for sharing with peers.
- Ask each pair to share highlights, and key reflections, with the class.
- This can be done in one class period. The presentation time per group should be adjusted so to accommodate all students, so that no one feels left out.
- As a guideline for a 5-6 minute presentation, they can prepare 2-3 slides for each person interviewed.
- Students can also play short video clips from their interview as well.
- Students who have little experience with interviews may practice interviewing one another in the class with a few simple questions.
- Some students may struggle to think of others to interview. They may be encouraged to consider asking a teacher or staff in the school as potential interviewees.
- Be sensitive to assist students who are new to the community, those not living with family, those who don't speak English at home, or have other situations that they may feel embarrassed about.
- Working with a partner can alleviate awkwardness for students who can't think of anyone to interview and anxiety related to a face-to-face interview.
- Motivated students could video the interview as well, and show clips during peer sharing time, with permission from the interviewee. The final sharing could be done in the format of a prepared video.