A secondary education curriculum introducing students to IT skills and in-demand tech careers

IT Exploration exposes secondary education students to five IT career areas and a broad range of computer-based skills and competencies that today’s employers are seeking.

Developed by Minnesota State – IT Center of Excellence, the FREE curriculum and teacher training covers IT fundamentals of programming, networking, security, analytics, game design, and more. The 80+hours of content aligns with IC³ industry-recognized credentials and Minnesota State credit for prior learning. See below for details about the content modules.

Announcing IT Exploration 2.0

The Minnesota State – IT Center of Excellence (formerly Advance IT Minnesota) has partnered with STEM Fuse to provide a new and improved version of IT Exploration on the Educate learning platform. And, there’s no cost for Minnesota secondary schools to use it. The platform allows easy access to online resources, activities and practice tools, and step-by-step guidance to make it even easier for you to incorporate the curriculum into your school environment.

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Flexible Delivery

Create a new Introduction to IT course using this curriculum
Embed IT Exploration modules into your existing school courses
Host after school/weekend programs at your schools
Use a blend of these delivery methods as appropriate

Click this video to see IT Exploration in action

IT Exploration… is for Everyone!

Minnesota State - IT Center of Excellence, in partnership with high school teachers and college faculty offer a FREE IT Exploration (ITX) curriculum that pulls back the curtain, allowing secondary teachers and students to discover the broad range of computer-based skills and competencies that today’s employers are seeking.

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CURRICULUM MODULES & FEATURES

Software Development

Students will understand how software is a fundamental part of our digital world and learn about application development. Write computer programs and learn about various types of software creation.

Infrastructure/Networking

Students learn about software and hardware components that make up the infrastructure supporting the internet and various industries such as arts and entertainment, healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, banking and construction. See how computers are networked.

Security

Students will recognize the importance of cyber security and how it relates to: software, system settings and the protection of personal information. Participate in activities that help you learn to identify threats and ensure better security.

Games

Students will be introduced to game design, careers in games, the gaming culture, and game studies. Discover the principles of making good games, board game design, and hands-on programming and design thinking.

Analytics

Students will explore the various careers related to analytics; Examine the types of analytical skills that provide competitive advantage to businesses; Work on analytical skills and visualization using provided datasets and worksheets.