Information Technology (IT) Pathways Curriculum
The IT pathways at Destinations Career Academy are designed to prepare students to pursue either a career or a degree in IT directly after graduation. See how each pathway in the IT career field combines career-oriented electives, project-based learning, and in-person experience to prepare students for their next step.
Say "goodbye" to gas-powered vehicles and "hello" to self-driving cars, robots, and virtual reality games. These are just a few of the countless technological advances of the last decade. What the next generation of inventors will be creating is something brand new. Just imagine if your student is one of them!
Jobs in Information Technology (IT) grow more rapidly every year, increasing the demand for jobs in everything from IT security to technical support. Our IT career pathways prepare your student to successfully and easily enter the world of technology after graduation with real-world experience, mentorship, and apprenticeship opportunities under their belt.
LEARNING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN HIGH SCHOOL
Is your student always fussing with the inner workings of their electronic toys, trying their hand at coding, or building small robots? It's refreshing to know you can help them prepare for the competitive IT job market now.
While earning a high school diploma, your student will also have an opportunity to obtain relevant certifications from companies like Microsoft® and Adobe®, giving them an advantage in the competitive IT job market®. Students learn from industry professionals through IT-focused class trips, mentorships, internships, and live, interactive online sessions.
CHOOSING AN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PATHWAY
"Can you please get off of your phone!?" That's one of the questions most frequently asked of teens. When you were their age, you may have been sitting on your bed, talking to a friend, making plans, or gossiping over the phone. Now your student will learn to channel their knowledge of how smartphones power our world through curriculum and real-world learning experiences that prepare them for a future in IT.
As your student explores our IT pathways, our teachers, career counselors, and their fellow students help them discover if they're more of a natural coder, an investigator fit for IT security, or an information architect. Each pathway starts with an IT Explorations course as part of your student’s core curriculum. IT Explorations introduces them to the IT world in a real and tangible way, which helps them choose the electives that allow them to explore deeper aspects of IT that spark the most interest.
Once they choose a pathway, our curriculum sets your student apart from other high school grads by teaching required knowledge and skills, and challenging them with real business problems to solve through project-based learning. They can prepare to take their first steps into the real world armed with the industry-recognized certifications, college credits, and connections to industry professionals they can use throughout their future.
Cybersecurity Pathway
Your student could be the digital superhero who protects the world from a malicious bug or hacker. Through our Cybersecurity pathway, students learn computer networking foundations and computer science that prepare them to understand network security in a way that not many other high schoolers will. Students grow their expertise in cybersecurity through courses like:
IT Explorations
Computer Literacy
Computer Science
Security+ 1 & 2
Digital Design Pathway
If we could combine Bob Ross with Steve Jobs, you'd get a digital design student, but a little more visionary and probably with better hair. Digital design students acquire a detailed understanding of design techniques as well as knowledge of the high-power design programs behind today's most adopted digital technologies. Students explore and expand their digital creativity with a range of courses:
IT Explorations
Digital Arts 1 & 2
Adobe® Photoshop®
Adobe® InDesign®
Game Design and Programming Pathway
Remember the days of taking away that video game controller, notorious for getting in the way of homework and family activities? Through our Game Design and Programming pathway, your student will make a compelling case for that video game as a development tool for their future. Our students learn to design video games through an understanding of computer science and game development processes based on applied design courses:
IT Explorations
Computer Literacy
Computer Science
Game Design 1 & 2
Programming Logic and Design
Networking Pathway
If the gentle hum of a computer server soothes your student, the Networking pathway may look like the first to explore at Destinations. Computer networking professionals maintain and secure the networks of every company across the globe. Within this pathway, our students explore careers as network administrators, computer support specialist, computer systems analyst, and more. To prepare for a job full of wires and hardware, students in the Networking pathway take:
IT Explorations
Computer Literacy
Computer Science
Security+ 1 & 2
Programming Pathway
Google, now one of the largest employers in the world, started with a few programmers in their garage. If that makes you think, "My student can do that," then our Programming pathway may be the right fit for your teen. Students learn the language of computers—JAVA, HTML3, CSS3—just like a computer programmer, software developer, and information systems manager. Programming pathway students take the following classes to gain their coding chops:
IT Explorations
Computer Literacy and Science
Python
Programming Logic and Design
Additional language, including JAVA, HTML3, and CSS3
Web and Digital Communication Pathway
Remember AskJeeves? We've come a long way from our virtual butler days thanks to digital web developers. Through our Web and Digital Communication pathway, students start to develop important computer programs and techniques to create jaw-dropping websites and original digital media through coursework designed for hands-on learning:
IT Explorations
Digital Arts 1 & 2
Adobe® Illustrator®
Adobe® Dreamweaver®
If your student seems destined for IT, look no further than Destinations Career Academy to capture the attention of a fast-working, different-thinking brain. Our students gain a competitive edge that becomes increasingly harder to come by in a growing IT field. Destinations combines project-based learning and career readiness with access to industry professionals and real-world experiences that prepare your student to step into a secure field as soon as they graduate.
Who knows, your student may save the world with a new tech invention or become a CIA agent preventing the world from the next hacking war.
*Opportunities vary by school; please visit your school page or check with your school counselor.
