posted by Stuart Burns, Schools and Learning Support Officer

My World of Work Live! from Skills Development Scotland, is a set of interactive exhibits and activities designed to inspire young people’s interest in careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Every free, fun My World of Work Live! experience is about hands-on learning – building, making, designing – and makes the best use of the latest technology to engage and inspire.

My World of Work Live! brings STEM out of the classroom and into real life and helps young people, parents, carers and teachers understand the breadth of opportunity STEM careers offer and the variety of pathways into STEM industries.

My World of Work Live! is designed for young people aged between 10 and 15 and for teachers and parents who are key influencers for this age group; they allow young people access to My World of Work Live! and influence the decisions they make on subjects and careers.

Bringing a real-life connection to Curriculum for Excellence, My World of Work Live! has accompanying learning resources to help teachers get the most out of a visit and to continue learning back in the classroom.  All activities are aligned to the Career Management Skills framework and support the realisation of Self, Strength, Horizons and Networks and support delivery of the Skills Investment Plans.

All of those working on My World of Work Live! have real life experience of industry, with a passion for education and learning.

My World of Work Live! is in locations where young people experience the world of science, technology engineering and maths, e.g. museums, science centres and other venues.

Locations for 16/17 are:

• Glasgow Science Centre
• National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
• Digital Studio and Careers Lab, Inverness
• Mareel Arts Centre, Lerwick

Schools can book onto our 90 minute Inspiring Activities – all developed in partnership with industry to provide fun job-related challenges designed to inspire young people’s interest in STEM careers. Activities on offer vary across venue and are designed for 10-15 year olds.   Please contact individual venues for availability and booking.

• Hour of Code Video game development
• DIY Gamer Games programming
• Cracking Cryptography Cyber Security
• Robot Sidekicks Robotics engineering
• Sonic Electronics Electronic engineering
• Little Bits Electronic engineering
• Space Junk Space engineering
• Mindstorms Renewables Engineering in the renewable energy industry
• Mindstorms Driving Test Computing and programming
• Land Yacht Challenge Design and automotive
• Laser Cutting – CAD and industrial design
• CreativITy Programming and film-making
• My World of Work Time Machine Music technology
• Digital Doctor  Careers in the health sector
• DNA Extraction – Bioscience
• Roboplast – Environmental science and recycling
• Who Needs Science? All STEM

Interactive Exhibits are designed to be self-serve with little to no instruction needed in how to use them.  They are accessible to all age groups (apart from Virtual Reality, restricted to over 13’s). Exhibits vary across venue.

• Virtual Reality Careers in Construction Narrated career learning scenarios are linked to the ‘My World of Work’ website content with three mini games highlighting different roles within the industry. Coming soon – a downloadable version of the game on the google play store.
• Minecraft Careers World Minecraft is a computer game that gives players a unique and completely interactive, digital world in which to play and learn. Designed to facilitate careers learning, the Minecraft Careers World is complete with a city of industry, commerce and residential areas, agriculture, energy, food production and more.  There are a multitude of learning opportunities and ways to interact and users can spend minutes, hours or even days exploring, completing challenges and building their knowledge of STEM careers.
• Magic Mirror Visualise yourself as a scientist or engineer by ‘trying on’ uniforms in our virtual dressing room.
• Infowall A 70 inch touch screen that uses a fluid, gesture based application to give users the opportunity to explore careers information. The user can explore each sector through job descriptions including salary information, key facts and videos of industry professionals talking about their careers.
• Self-Led Careers Trails Visitors are guided around the new galleries at the National Museum of Scotland to find out about careers in local STEM industries.
• What makes me tick A game designed to challenge and entertain users as they explore their personality in relation to careers. The game is accessed via iPads and is similar in content to aptitude tests and ‘brain training’ games.

For more information on how to book FREE activities for your school or to find our more, please contact:

Glasgow Science Centre – susan.meikleham@glasgowsciencecentre.org
National Museums – eilidh.christie@sds.co.uk or chris.trotter@sds.co.uk
Mareel and Shetland emma.chittick@sds.co.uk
Inverness kirsty.wright@sds.co.uk

The team are also offering to attend in-serve days, parents evenings and teachers meetings to provide updates on the programme and information on how to access.  Please contact Senior Programme Manager louise.chisholm@sds.co.uk