Practical Application of Technology to Bolster College and Career Readiness

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Empowering Futures: Possibility Development and the Role of Technology in College and Career Readiness

Proposal

Traditional approaches to college and career readiness often engage students too late, typically focusing on the final years of high school. This delayed intervention leaves many students—especially those from under-resourced schools—without the foundational guidance needed to explore their interests and chart a meaningful path forward. To address this, this presentation highlights an early intervention program that integrates technology to support students from grades 7-10. This digital platform encourages early self-reflection and career exploration before academic pressures take hold.

Technology within this program is strategically deployed as a facilitator of self-reflection rather than a decision-making tool. Students are guided to explore their interests, set goals, and develop a plan for post-secondary success through a structured process that prioritizes long-term self-awareness over immediate academic performance metrics. The program’s use of technology enables students to reflect deeply on their strengths, develop individualized career paths, and build ownership over their futures.

In addition to supporting students, this approach recognizes the gap in personalized guidance due to high counselor-to-student ratios. By utilizing technology, the program bridges this gap, providing students with consistent, personalized support that encourages reflection and action. Moreover, family involvement is a key component, ensuring that students' decisions are made within a supportive, informed network.

This presentation will demonstrate how technology can foster agency and ownership in students’ post-secondary planning when used as a partner to educators and counselors, not as a replacement. By engaging students early and promoting critical self-reflection, this program challenges the traditional reliance on GPA and test scores as the sole indicators of success. The session will share practical strategies for using technology to empower students, ensuring that they become active participants in shaping their futures, rather than passive recipients of information.

Finally we consider how technology can aid readiness for tertiary education---whether vocational education, university, or secific career training in the post-secondary years---for young people everywhere.

Author

• Ryall Carroll, possblme