We hope the following information outlines all you need to know to get the most out of using Panjango. If you have any urgent requests for help please contact Jon at jon@panjango.com or 07880 807 236.
How do I use Panjango?
Step 1: Click the red ‘nodes’ on each of the workplaces to bring up a pop-up box listing various jobs that may be found working in that setting.
Step 2: Click on one of the jobs to bring up the Challenge Box.
Step 3: The Challenge Box presents some introductory careers information and you can then click through the three different challenges - Knowledge, Skills and Experience.
Step 4: Once the challenges have been completed just close the Challenge Box and choose another career to explore.
Step 5: Move around the Panjango world by moving your mouse to the left or right sides of the screen.
How do I use the filter system?
To open the filter menu click on the 'Filter' button at the top of the site (next to the Panjango logo). You can then select or de-select the content you want to display. You can filter by Subject (including Key Stage and Individual Topic), Sector, Gameplay Mode and Curriculum Level. By default, the system displays all challenges, so it's important to set the right Curriculum Level filter for your students at the start of the session to ensure you display the most appropriate challenges for their ability level. Once you are happy with your desired filter, simply click 'Done' and the system will only display challenges meeting your filter requirements.
How many occupations and challenges are there on Panjango?
There are currently 120 occupations and more than 1500 unique challenges - all fully contextualised to the world of work. We are busy writing and uploading content for another 60 occupations and hope for Panjango to feature around 3000 challenges in the near future.
Why don't some workplace pop-up boxes fit on a small screen?
Panjango is currently designed to be used on a whiteboard in a classroom. As a result, some of the workplace pop-up boxes don't quite fit on small screens. We therefore strongly recommend you put your browser into Full Screen Mode to display the workplace boxes fully. If you use Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Mozilla Firefox then press the F11 key to enter full screen. To restore the window back to how it was press F11 again. Alternatively, you can zoom out on your browser. Zooming out to 80% should ensure all challenge boxes fit onto the screen.
What types of challenges are there?
There are three challenge types. Knowledge challenges link the English, Maths and Science curriculum to work-related challenges. Skills challenges help young people develop the skills and competencies needed in life after school. Experience challenges put young people into the mind of a professional requiring them to think about solutions to various work-related scenarios or ethical dilemmas.
At what age group is Panjango targeted?
The Knowledge challenges cover the Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 Maths, English and Science curriculum from curriculum levels 3 to 7. However, there is no reason why younger or older pupils cannot use Panjango. You can now use the 'Change Challenge Level' button in the challenge box to alter the difficulty of the challenge. Simply click the up or down arrow to scroll between the different challenges available. Alternatively, use the Filter to select the appropriate curriculum levels for your pupils. The Skills and Experience challenges are generally suitable for young people of all ages.
Is the filter working? Nothing seems to be happening when I click 'Done'.
To use the filter, simply select your preferences and press 'Done'. A red dot will appear next to the filter button to show that the filter has been applied. The system will then only present challenges relevant to your filter criteria e.g. occupations with Maths challenges at Level 6 and 7 etc. All occupations that do not have relevant content will be greyed out so you cannot click on them.
How is Panjango best used in a classroom?
Panjango is designed to be used with a whole classroom of pupils. We have found the best setup is to divide the class into groups of 4-5 so you have about five or six teams depending on class size. As with any activity, the learning is more impactful in a smaller group. You may therefore want to consider using Panjango with a smaller group i.e. splitting the class between two rooms.
Can the pupils run Panjango sessions by themselves?
Yes! The ethos behind Panjango is about facilitating a Self-Organised Learning Environment (SOLE). Therefore, following a short introduction by a teacher, there is no reason why the pupils themselves shouldn’t be able to facilitate the Panjango session by themselves (with proper supervision of course).
Who is “the referee”?
The referee is the person who facilitates the challenge and awards point to the winning team based on the criteria of the challenge. You may decide it is easiest for the teacher to play the role of the referee. Alternatively, the role can be rotated around the pupils with a player from each team taking a turn for each different career explored.
What is the 'Occupations List’?
The Occupations List presents lists of occupations broken down by sector. This may be useful if you are keen to find a particular occupation, or wish to focus the session on a particular sector of employment. Equally, if you have set quite a narrow filter, it can be easier to find occupations with relevant content using the Occupation List. Please note: the Occupations List is occasionally slow to load but it will open after no more than 15 seconds.
What are ‘team’ and ‘individual’ modes?
‘Team’ mode challenges are designed to be completed by small teams of at least three people who are playing in competition with other teams. ‘Individual mode’ is designed for a young person to be able to play by themselves at their own computer. Please note: at present there are very few Skills and Experience challenges written for individual mode. Therefore please keep this setting on 'Team' mode for the best experience. We're busy writing more content as we speak and hope to be able to offer individual mode Skills and Experience challenge in the very near future.
What do I do if I love (or hate!) Panjango, or find a problem with the resource?
Let us know! We really want to hear your feedback both positive and negative. Equally, we’ve had to write a serious amount of content for the resource so we’re sure you’ll spot a few mistakes. If you do, please let us know and we’ll get them corrected straight away.
What are our future plans for Panjango?
The current version of Panjango is very much a work in progress - a proof of concept version if you like. We will be introducing new features, expanding the scope of the resource and continuing to add new challenges and careers over the coming months. If you have any ideas about how we can improve Panjango then please let us know and we will try to incorporate them into future versions.
Any questions, feedback or ideas - please contact Jon at jon@panjango.com.
We very much hope you get as much enjoyment out of using Panjango as much as we have creating it,
The Panjango Team