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

Curriculum content descriptions

Define and decompose real-world problems taking into account functional requirements and economic, environmental, social, technical and usability constraints (ACTDIP027)

Elaborations
  • determining the factors that influence proposed solution ideas, for example user age affects the language used for instructions, dexterity affects the size of buttons and links, hearing or vision loss influence captioned or audio-described multimedia as alternative ways that common information is presented on a website
  • investigating types of environmental constraints of solutions, for example reducing energy consumption and on-screen output of solutions
  • identifying that problems can be decomposed into sub elements, for example creating a decision tree to represent the breakdown and relationships of sub elements to the main problem or identifying the elements of game design such as characters, movements, collisions and scoring
  • starting from a simplified system, gradually increase complexity until a model of a real-world system is developed, and record the difficulties associated with each stage of implementation
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
  • Ethical understanding Ethical understanding
Cross-curriculum priorities
ScOT terms

Information and communication technologies,  Problem solving,  Functionality,  Usability

Interactive

Design thinking across the curriculum

This cross-curriculum resource is designed to introduce Stage 2, 3 and 4 students to the design thinking process through a series of videos and interactive activities. This resource is also downloadable as a SCORM file: the downloaded version will only work if you upload it to a webserver, such as Moodle or Canvas.

Online

Computational thinking

Find out about Computational thinking. 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

Design thinking

Find out about Design thinking. 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

Create an app or game

This is a unit for Year 7 from the Scope and sequence resources from the DT Hub. The topic of creating a digital solution is organised into four key elements. Use this flow of activities to plan and assess students against the relevant achievement standards. Students follow the problem solving process to design and create ...

Online

Robotics and embedded systems

This is a unit for Year 8 from the Scope and sequence resources from the DT Hub. The topic of creating a digital solution is organised into four key elements. Use this flow of activities to plan and assess students against the relevant achievement standards. Students follow the problem solving process to design and create ...

Interactive

Refugees welcome here

This resource embeds the use of online collaboration tools and 21st century learning skills in a student-centered hands-on project designed to welcome refugees into their community. The syllabus outcomes are aligned to NSW Stage 4 English, Geography or Visual Arts but this could be used with older or younger students by ...

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.

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Data knowledge and skills tutorial: part 2 - authenticating data

This video demonstrates ways in which data can be authenticated in spreadsheets. It is the second in a series of four.

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Lockwood & Mooney review: Computational thinking

This article provides a literature review of how computational thinking fits into a school curriculum. The aim of the report is to provide educators with an overview of the current research in this field and the work that is being done in teaching computational thinking.

Video

DTiF Classroom Exploring AI in the Classroom: Teacher debrief

Digital Technologies in Focus curriculum officers discuss a lesson about Artificial Intelligence and curriculum links for teachers

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Faith Lutheran College – – Final report

This report provides details of Faith Lutheran College's participation in the Digital Technologies in Focus project, including a Research question, criteria for success, data collection, resources, challenges, milestones and next steps.

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Faith Lutheran College – PL ecosystem

This document illustrates the network of people and resources that make up Faith Lutheran College's Professional Learning ecosystem.

Video

Data knowledge and skills tutorial: part 3 - structuring data in a spreadsheet

This video demonstrates ways in which data can be structured in spreadsheets. It is the third in a series of four.

Online

Sphero young inventors

In this lesson students will explore the use of Sphero in the everyday world by adding accessories to invent solutions to workplace or other problems or simply by inventing an adaptation to the device. In each case, they are to build the accessory and create the code required for the device to serve a particular purpose. ...

Downloadable

DT Challenge - 7/8 Arduino - Sound

Let's make our own devices with the Arduino! We'll take a deep dive into building devices from the ground up, and you'll see how all pieces of technology are built! Learn how to create a temperature monitor, or a musical instrument, or make an automatic torch! Jump right in and let's make some noise!

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Computational thinking poster

This infographic provides an overview overview of the concepts related to computational thinking.

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 ...

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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.

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Expert webinar video: Andrew Harris - Lead Teacher, Agricultural Education, Hagley Farm Primary School

Andrew Harris from the Hagley Farm School in Tasmania shares ways in which the school is teaching Digital Technologies and its meaningful use in agriculture . For example, Andrew provides examples of ways students learn about digital systems and data collection.

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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.