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Serious Games Bring Career Exploration To Children Around The World


Following my prior post, WhyPower: STEM Serious Games Creating Career PathwaysACT has teamed up with Numedeon, the creator of Whyville, to bring career exploration to children around the world. 

As a result, a month ago Numedeon launched a new Educational Serious Game, the ACT Career Club, for kids 8-15 years old that allows them to explore more than 500 careers, in the areas of science, arts, social service, technical, business, and administration.

The ACT Careers Club provides a playful context where players find out what they know about 500+ different occupations. The project further engages Whyville in careers education and workforce development.

How to Play

The Serious Game is based mainly on quests – CareerQuest--that last 2 minutes each. The goal is to locate a given occupation in its Career Cluster and Career Area before the timer expires. Once the goal is achieved, players can further explore each occupation in more detail.

1.   Look for the occupation you're supposed to find in the game panel. You may be given the name of the occupation or a short description.

2.   If it looks interesting to you, click the "Join Quest" button. If not, wait for the next one, which will start within 30 seconds. You can also leave a quest at any time by clicking the "Leave Quest" button.

3.   Once you've joined a quest, decide which Career Cluster you want to enter. The arrows on the floor of CareerQuest Home represent the 6 Career Clusters.

4.   When you've entered a Career Cluster Room, the Game Panel will tell you whether you've chosen the right Cluster Room. When you're in the right one, your next task is to find the right Career Area.

5.   The different objects in each Career Cluster Room represent the different Career Areas. Mouse over the objects to see what they represent, and click on the one that you want to try.

6.   Once you've zoomed into a Career Area, the Game Panel will once again tell you if you're on the right track. Still stuck? Click on "GET CLUE" for a hint. Click it again for even more clues!

7.   Once you're in the right Career Area, look for your occupation among the ones listed on the screen. Click on it to earn your clams!

Happy questing!


About ACT

ACT's is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people achieve education and workplace success

Every tool that ACT creates--from tests, surveys, and workplace credentials to research reports and training--is designed to give people the information and understanding they need to make good decisions and reach their goals.

To learn more about ACT, visit http://www.act.org/