Access Your Potential® is focused on equipping students with the technology, financial and career skills they need to succeed. That's why we've created technology skills and financial literacy curricula that are free for all to use. Please download, teach and share with others.
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We’ve collaborated with Code.org to create a technology skills curriculum for middle school students to help students make connections between technology topics they might be interested in and potential careers. Lesson summaries by topic are included below. Those lessons that require the use of computers are indicated with an asterisk (*).
- Problem solving - Personal Innovations
- Technology Foundations - What is a Computer?
- Data Science & Analytics - Problem Solving with Big Data
- Programming - Hour of Code*
- Web Development - Creating Webpages*
- App Development – User Interfaces
- App Development – Intro to App Lab (students 13+)*
- Cybersecurity - Simple Encryption*
- Internet of Things - User Center Design
Problem solving - Personal Innovations
Getting students excited and connecting their own personal interests to computer science. Students are asked to share something they know a lot about and teach it to a small group. Groups make a “rapid” prototype of an innovative idea and share it. Students watch a brief video about computing innovations.
Technology Foundations - What is a Computer?
Students develop a preliminary definition of a computer. To begin the lesson, the class will brainstorm possible definitions for a computer and place the results of this brainstorm on the board. Next, students will work in groups to sort pictures into “is a computer” or “is not a computer” on poster paper. Groups will place their posters around the room and briefly explain their motivations for choosing some of their most difficult categorizations.
- Facilitator Guide
- Activity Guide
- Computer Diagram
- Exemplar
- Pre and Post Assessments
- Pre and Post Assessments - Answer Keys
- Career Video - What makes a Computer, a Computer
- Summary
Data Science & Analytics - Problem Solving with Big Data
Students look at how data is collected and used by organizations to solve problems in the real world. Then students are presented two scenarios that could be solved using data and brainstorm the types of data they would want to solve them and how they could collect the data. Each problem is designed to reflect a real-world service that exists. After brainstorming, students watch a video about a real-world service and record notes about what data is collected by the real-world service and how it is used.
Programming - Hour of Code*
Learners of all ages get an introductory experience with coding and computer science and the potential careers these skills can lead to. Students have the opportunity to choose a number of Hour of Code lessons from Minecraft to Star Wars to Frozen. All lessons provide the opportunity for students to learn the basics of coding in a fun and engaging way.
*Lesson requires students to use computers.
Web Development - Creating Webpages*
Students learn the basics of creating webpages using HTML and CSS coding languages through an online tutorial. HTML is the markup language that you surround content with, to tell browsers about headings, lists, tables, etc. CSS is the stylesheet language that you style the page with, to tell browsers to change the color, font, layout, and more. With this lesson, students are able to use these languages and see these changes come to life on sample webpages.
*Lesson requires students to use computers.
App Development – User Interfaces
Students look an important phase of app design - prototyping a product that attempts to address user needs. In teams, students examine a paper prototype for a chat app called "Txt Ur Grndkdz". Through using this paper prototype, students get a chance to see how a simple paper prototype can be used to quickly test ideas and assumptions before we ever get to the computer. After "using" the provided prototype students begin to identify ways to improve the next iteration.
App Development – Intro to App Lab (students 13+)*
This tutorial is designed to quickly introduce the App Lab programming environment as a powerful tool for building and sharing apps. The tutorial teaches students to create and control buttons, text, images, sounds, and screens in JavaScript using either blocks or text. At the end of the tutorial students are given time to either extend a project they started building into a "Choose Your Own Adventure", "Greeting Card", or "Personality Quiz" app. They can also continue on to build more projects featured on the code.org/applab page.
*Lesson requires students to use computers.
Cybersecurity - Simple Encryption*
Students are introduced to the need for encryption and simple techniques for breaking (or cracking) secret messages. Students try their own hand at cracking a message encoded with the classic Caesar cipher and also a Random Substitution Cipher. The most important aspect of this lesson is to understand how and why encryption plays a role in all of our lives every day on the Internet, and that making good encryption is not trivial.
*Lesson requires students to use computers.
Internet of Things - User Center Design
This lesson will guide students through an abbreviated version of the design process they will be seeing throughout this unit. Students first brainstorm a list of potential users of smart clothing. As a class, they then group these ideas into broad categories and each group will choose one category of user. Groups repeat this process to brainstorm needs or concerns of their user, eventually categorizing these needs and choosing one to focus on. Finally, students design a piece of smart clothing, using the specific needs and concerns they brainstormed to guide their decision making.
Our Financial Literacy Skills Curriculum aims to ensure pupils (aged 13 - 18) have a broad understanding of essential financial terms, products and services so they can make informed and effective decisions with their financial resources, but also ensuring the foundational financial knowledge and skills expected in most jobs. The sessions also develop multiple employability skills.
Sessions are between 45minutes-1hour long.
- Financial Literacy Fundamentals
- Lesson 1: Credit and Debt
- Lesson 2: Insurance
- Lesson 3: My Money and Me
- Lesson 4: Financial Planning
- Lesson 5: Consumer Fraud
Financial Literacy Fundamentals
This introductory session will provide students with the fundamental principles to managing money.
Lesson 1: Credit and Debt
An introduction to credit, debt and consequences of excessive debt. The session also explores student loans and different types of bank accounts.
Lesson 2: Insurance
This session explores what insurance is and its impact, including different types of insurance and key terminology.
Lesson 3: My Money and Me
This session helps pupils to navigate pay slips and understand tax and national insurance. It also explores and explains key terminology such as pensions and interest rates.
Lesson 4: Financial Planning
An introduction to budgeting and ways to manage their money efficiently. This session also explores important considerations when planning financially including disaster preparedness.
Lesson 5: Consumer Fraud
This session aims to get pupils considering their financial security and exploring possible threats such as online scams and fraud identity theft.
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