One of the toughest dilemmas in the transition to distance learning is how to facilitate engagement with industry and employability skill development through work-based learning and career and technical student organization (CTSO) activities. Virtual tools have emerged as a way to expose students to careers, continue building leadership skills and maintain business partnerships during school closures.
For instance, in a recent webinar, CTSO advisers Jen Girvin and Kent Seuferer described how they flipped an in-person Iowa HOSA conference to a live virtual conference in less than 36 hours. Each competitive event was hosted as a Zoom meeting, using the waiting room function to allow in one competitor at a time. The event included general sessions, which Zoom meeting mode allows for up to 300 attendees, and the facilitators set up a virtual workshop room that users could move freely in and out of during the event. Communication was key: The advisers made ample use of email and shareable folders to help everyone involved make the transition.
CTSOs are also moving officer meetings and planned fundraisers online, like the Monticello High School FFA Plant Sale, which enabled customers to order plants online and sign up for pick-up time slots.
With in-person work-based learning largely discontinued, CTE educators and students can take advantage of live and on-demand video interviews with industry professionals and virtual worksite tours. The Nebraska Department of Education and connectED are two sources for virtual interviews and workplace tours across career areas, while industry-specific resources include Ag Explorer, Manufacture Your Future and a collection of virtual field trips to hotels around the world.
The District of Columbia was well placed for the switch to virtual industry engagement, having partnered with Nepris before school closures to develop more equitable work-based learning opportunities across the District, where students have highly variable access to professionals and mentors from different industries. They developed DC Career Conversations, a web-based tool where industry professionals, teachers and students connect by live video. District CTE director Richard Kincaid described during the recent virtual Work-based Learning Conference, co-hosted by national ACTE and Iowa, how this approach has helped them recruit new partners and is now helping them maintain relationships with existing partners during social distancing.
Looking for additional CTE curriculum and career exploration resources for your students? Visit ACTE’s webpage of CTE distance learning resources, watch Division-specific webinars on CTE distance learning and read the new CTE Distance Learning weekly publication. This newsletter, created by the California Department of Education’s Career and College Transition Division in partnership with ACTE, CTEOnline.org and the San Diego County Office of Education’s Office of College and Career Readiness, will be highlighting sector-specific lesson plans, webinars and resources for the remainder of the school year.
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