Digital technologies / Year 5 and 6 / Digital Technologies Knowledge and Understanding

Curriculum content descriptions

Examine how whole numbers are used to represent all data in digital systems (ACTDIK015)

Elaborations
  • recognising that digital systems represent all types of data using number codes that ultimately are patterns of 1s and 0s (called binary digits, which is why they are called digital systems)
  • explaining that binary represents numbers using 1s and 0s and these represent the on and off electrical states respectively in hardware and robotics
  • recognising that the numbers 0, 1, 2 and 3 could be represented by the patterns of two binary digits of 00, 01, 10 and 11
  • representing whole numbers in binary, for example counting in binary from zero to 15, or writing a friend’s age in binary
  • exploring how division by two can be used as a technique to determine the binary representation of any whole number by collecting remainder terms
  • representing the state of an object in a game as active or inactive using the respective binary values of 1 or 0
General capabilities
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Data representation,  Indices

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Data Representation

Find out about Data Representation. 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.

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User interface

Find out about User interface. 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.

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Digital systems

Find out about Digital systems. 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.

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Systems thinking

Find out about Systems 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.

Video

What are pixels?

Meet Kevin Systrom and Piper Hanson as they explain how digital images work. What are pixels, those tiny dots of light, made from? How are colours created and represented? What does Kevin say about the way mathematical functions are used to create different image filters. What is the difference between image resolution ...

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How computers compute

Watch as Jamie Teherani from MIT, demonstrates how a big, mechanical computer made from wood works. What does it have in common with the high-tech computers of today?

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Books for exploring Digital Technologies concepts

This PDF provides a list of suggested books or similar that identify and discuss key concepts, key ideas and related ways of thinking about Digital Technologies.

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Binary

Find out about the binary number system, a base-2 number system. 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.

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Recognising AI

Use the tasks in this lesson to introduce concepts that underpin artificial intelligence (AI). The majority of the tasks are unplugged (do not require a digital device). Use the downloadable AI cards with your students to explore what they know about AI.

Assessment

Assessment resources

Browse assessment resources.

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Anti-bullying AI

Sometimes we write and post things on social media in a hurry. Such posts can hurt people and even make them feel bullied. Wouldn't it be great if an Artificial Intelligence application could check our posts as we write them, and warn us if they were potentially hurtful?

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Creating my own spreadsheet to convert binary to decimal

A spreadsheet can be used to do calculations quickly using formulas. How can we make a spreadsheet that converts a binary number to a decimal number? This lesson provides some guidance and Excel files for student and teacher use.

Downloadable

DT Challenge - 7-8 Python - Turtle

Control a turtle and draw amazing pictures with code. In this challenge you'll learn the fundamentals of programming by using instructions to position a turtle on the screen, drawing lines, patterns and shapes in the same way computers draw images. Computers use the input from users and the environment to give us feedback ...

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Data bias in AI

Artificial intelligence can sometimes be biased to certain shapes or colours. When such AI systems are applied to situations that involve people, then this bias can manifest itself as bias against skin colour or gender. This lesson explores bias in AI, where it comes from and what can be done to prevent it.

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Home automation with AI

Home automation is all the rage. You talk to your mobile phone to control the lights, the fan, the air conditioner, or your pool pump. But how does it work? In this lesson, we explore the AI that could power a home automation system.

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Project Quantum: Online assessment system

Project Quantum helps computing teachers check their students’ understanding, and support their progress, by providing free access to an online multiple-choice assessment system and question bank. To use Project Quantum, you will need to create a free account.

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Expert webinar video: Nathan Alison, Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria (DLTV): Focus on systems thinking. How do we teach it well?

Nathan Alison from Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria (DLTV) explains what systems thinking is and how it is used in the context of Digital Technologies. Nathan explains what we need to consider when teaching digital systems, covering topics such as networks, hardware and software protocols, people and processes.

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Literature reviews: what, why and how

This PowerPoint explains the benefits and techniques of literature reviews.

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Supporting Implementation of Digital Technologies: Progress report – Focus on curriculum and pedagogy and learning outcomes (2019)

This PDF is an extensive report on the success of the Digital Technologies in Focus (DTiF) project, with a focus on curriculum and pedagogy and learning outcomes. The evaluation gathered qualitative data to create rich case study accounts of six schools' engagement in the project and its impacts and outcomes.

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Expert webinar video: In conversation with Paul Mead from She Maps: A wide-ranging discussion from women in Technology and unconscious bias to digital systems and the ethical and safety considerations of using drone technologies

Paul Mead, from STEM education provider She Maps, discusses unconscious bias in young students and how She Maps is spreading the word about women who work with technologies in the field. He discusses digital systems and explains how geospatial systems and geographical information systems are used to collect, analyse and ...