Class Work

How Future Technologies Can Help High School Grads

            Students graduating high school face an incredibly difficult decision of “Where should I go next?” The pressure of choosing between a four-year college, community college, or even going straight into the job force, can be intimidating. Creating a narrative game for high school seniors can help them understand decisions that need to be made and differences in outcomes that can occur from each path. 

The audience

            The target audience for this narrative game would be high school students in the United States. As the cost of four year colleges continue to rise, students need to be aware that there are different options open to them, and that college/university may not be the best path for them. The best time to take this quiz is when they truly begin to think of their life after high school, so it would be best to participate in the game late junior year or possibly early senior year of high school. This would be accessible on a news site on any computer, but could be ultimately accessible if it was used as an in-class activity for any college-prep courses or a core class taken the junior year of high school.

The technology

            The best technology to help high school students understand their different paths is to create a narrative game. This would be the best method because it would allow the students to make different decisions and put in factors that could essentially tell them if they chose what path is best for their goals and capabilities. This is also a method that can be accessed from school computers without needing any additional technology, so schools in all income levels can have students participate in it. 

How it works

            A narrative game is a great way to communicate information in an interactive setting. In the game there would be three different main paths; college, community college, and the job force. The game would run through decisions that would occur on each path, and in the end the game would tell the player whether their goals for the future align with what they want to do after high school. 

            To create this game will take a team of professionals. Someone will need to gather and analyze data, from student loan data, all the way to different educational levels in the U.S. workforce. The core of the game will need to be coded by professionals who have mastered interactive coding. There will also need to be a team of graphic designers to help make the game look aesthetically pleasing.

            Even with high production costs, this is a story that needs to be available for students. Taking on student debt is an issue that is not communicated to high school students.  Most information given to high school grads is saying college is the only path to success. High school students need to be walked through the rising climax of each decision; they need to put themselves in the main characters shoes. Being a part of the story will help them understand the seriousness of their decisions and different paths they could take. 

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