Looking Forward

An Interest Project Award for Senior Girl Scouts

Written by Campus Girl Scouts

Technology

Technology is rapidly changing the way people in American society gather information. Widespread use of the Internet means that more information is available than ever before, and good information is a requirement for good decisions. This section will help you understand how to use the Internet and other technology resources to gather and evaluate information pertinent to your future.

You must do one activity from this section.

1) With permission from your parent(s) or guardian(s), surf the Internet and find at least five websites that pertain to what you would like to do after you graduate high school. Consider looking at web sites for professional associations, unions, prospective employers, trade schools, and colleges and universities. There are many sites which give information about post-secondary education. Locate several and make a list to share with friends, classmates, or your troop or group. Save the list to use as a resource as you make transitions in your life.

2) With permission from your parent(s) or guardian(s), use the Internet to search for several job postings that interest you. What qualifications do they require? What kinds of education would you need to be a good candidate for that job (think about post-baccalaureate degrees too)? Research how to get the skills needed for your jobs—a college offering a compatible major, a technical or career school, or other options as relevant. Find out what schools are considered the leaders in your field(s). Visit their web sites and see what their programs entail. See if you can find a school which offers online application.

3) With permission from your parent(s) or guardian(s), go online and visit the web sites for a state university, a private college, a community college, a branch of the military (look for the recruiting page), a trade or technical school, and a large corporation that’s hiring. Look for information about how to apply, cost or salary, requirements to apply, information related to what you’d like to study/work in, and benefits or drawbacks of that particular institution such as location, resources, accessibility, etc. Which web sites gave the best information? Were the web sites appealing? Did you learn something you didn’t know before you visited the site? Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of each of the institutions you (virtually) visited. Are you reconsidering what kind of place you’d like to spend your future at?

4) Interview four adults who work in different fields about the technology they use in their jobs. (Some good places to start might be fire fighters, medical personnel, teachers, and others whose technology might not be so obvious.) Ask about the technology at the cutting edge in their fields, or the most advanced applications of technology in their fields. Find out what kind of training is available to them to learn about their technology, or what kind of skills they needed to use their technology effectively. Does the technology help them to do new tasks in their fields, or does it simplify older tasks? Compare and contrast the uses of technology in the fields you learned about. Discuss your findings with another adult or with your troop or group.

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