Digital technologies / Year 7 and 8 / Digital Technologies Processes and Production Skills

Curriculum content descriptions

Implement and modify programs with user interfaces involving branching, iteration and functions in a general-purpose programming language (ACTDIP030)

Elaborations
  • developing and modifying digital solutions by implementing instructions contained in algorithms through programs
  • developing a digital game that manipulates models of real-world objects
  • programming a robot to recognise particular objects and to treat them differently, for example choose objects based on colour
  • creating digital solutions that provide user navigation and prompts with controlled repetitions, for example an information kiosk that has layers of buttons and prompts the user three times before returning to the beginning
General capabilities
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

User interfaces,  Programming languages,  Branching,  Computer programming,  Iteration

Video

Unplugged Activity: Computational Thinking

This video introduces one of code.org's unplugged activities. It discusses a lesson on Computational Thinking, designed to show you how to take a big difficult problem and turn it into several simpler problems. The goal of the lesson is for a group of students to write a set of instructions for another group of students ...

Online

General-purpose programming

Find out about General-purpose programming. Use this topic from the Digital Technologies Hub to learn more, get ideas about how to teach about it, find out what other schools are doing and use the applications and games in the classroom.

Online

Girls in tech

Find out about Girls in tech. Use this topic from the Digital Technologies Hub to learn more, get ideas about how to teach about it, find out what other schools are doing and use the applications and games in the classroom.

Online

Travel safe

In this series of lessons, students use a basic programming language to design and create an app for younger students to encourage them to use public transport safely. They explore basic user-interface principles and take into account aesthetics and the development of a positive user experience. Their goal is to create ...

Online

There can only be one

In this lesson sequence students write a simple suite of programs that can be used to facilitate an S.R.C. election though the collection and processing of data. It assumes that students have been introduced to Python programming language.

Text

General-purpose programming languages

This video takes viewers through the transition from visual programming (block-based environments) to general-purpose programming (text based environments). It guides teachers as they assist students to move from block-based programming used in primary schools to general-purpose programming languages used in secondary schools.

Text

Tutorial: Python

This tutorial provides detailed instructions to support the learning of Python, a general purpose programming language. The tutorial is designed for educators who are learning to use Python.

Text

Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies Years 7-8 Sample Assessment Task: Digital Systems

The Years 7-8 assessment task focuses on digital systems (integrating Digital Technologies and Science). The digital systems assessment task provides a scaffold to teach about and assess students’ understanding of how digital systems can be used to monitor the classroom learning environment. learn how to create environmental ...

Video

Connecting Digital Technologies to food and fibre - Smart gardens 1

This video explores ways in which students can develop and apply their Digital Technologies knowledge, understanding and skills to create a digital solution through the Curriculum connection of food and fibre. The video is designed for educators who would like to learn how to use a BBC micro:bit to manage the water requirements ...

Text

Micro:bit missions: Take a chance on me (Integrating Mathematics): years 6-8

This resource comprises two activities that allow students to explore the concept of chance in Mathematics. Students use computational thinking while using a micro:bit as a digital system to generate and collect data. Students implement programs involving branching and iteration in visual and general-purpose programming languages.

Text

Classroom ideas: Micro:bit environmental measurement (visual and general-purpose programming): years 5-8

This tutorial shows ways in which environmental factors such as lighting and temperature can be measured and improved using micro:bits and sensor boards, and programmed using pseudocode, visual programming and general-purpose programming.

Text

Data knowledge and skills tutorial: part 4 - analysing and visualising data

This video demonstrates ways in which data can be analysed and visualised. It is the final in a series of four.

Video

Expert webinar video: Dr Michelle Ellis: Learning resources for using micro:bits

Dr Michelle Ellis gives a demonstration of the Edith Cowan University Makerspace visual and general-purpose programming environment. She also shows a range of materials to support the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. This includes teaching resources and lesson plans.

Text

Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies Years 7-8 Sample Assessment Task: Digital Systems - Student activity guide

The Years 7-8 assessment task focuses on digital systems (integrating Digital Technologies and Science). The digital systems assessment task activity guide can teach and assess students’ understanding of how digital systems can be used to monitor the classroom learning environment. Students will learn how to create environmental ...

Online

Coding for GUIs Lesson 1: Structure, style and function

This is the first in a series of lessons to incorporate Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) into your General Purpose Programming. It follows on from the Visual To Text Coding lesson series.

Online

Coding for GUIs Lesson 3: Timers and triggers

This is the third in a series of lessons to incorporate graphical user interfaces (GUIs) into your general-purpose programming. The series follows on from the Visual to text coding lesson series.

Online

Coding for GUIs Final project: A complete application with GUI

This is the final project in a series of lessons to incorporate Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) into your General Purpose Programming. The series follows on from the Visual To Text Coding lesson series.

Online

Home automation: General purpose programming

Investigate home automation systems, including those powered by artificial intelligence (AI) with speech recognition capability. These suggested activities for year levels 7-8 are designed for students using general purpose programming languages JavaScript and Python, with similar content to the visual coding lesson Home ...

Online

Pencil code program: Lady MacBeth Chat Bot

Use this program to create an interactive chat bot who answers questions as if she is Lady Macbeth. Have students analyze, fill in or change parts of, or use the program to create their own variation and rendition of a character. This program could be used to further your understanding of how you could use Pencil Code in ...

Online

Coding for GUIs Lesson 2: Controls for input

This is the second in a series of lessons to incorporate graphical user interfaces (GUIs) into your general-purpose programming. The series follows on from the Visual To Text Coding lesson series.