Digital technologies / Year 3 and 4 / Digital Technologies Processes and Production Skills

Curriculum content descriptions

Define simple problems, and describe and follow a sequence of steps and decisions (algorithms) needed to solve them (ACTDIP010)

Elaborations
  • explaining what the problem is and some features of the problem, such as what need is associated with the problem, who has the problem and why
  • describing, using drawings, pictures and text, the sequence of steps and decisions in a solution, for example to show the order of events in a game and the decisions that a player must make
  • experimenting with different ways of describing a set of instructions, for example writing two versions of the same simple set of instructions for a programmable robotic device
  • explaining to others how to follow technical instructions, for example how to capture and download images from a mobile device
  • defining and describing the sequence of steps needed to incorporate multiple types of data in a solution, for example sequencing the steps in selecting and downloading images and audio to create a book trailer
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Algorithms

Video

Hour of Code: Mark Zuckerberg teaches Repeat Loops

The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. In this instructional video, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg explains what a Repeat Loop is and how to use the repeat block. This is the second of seven clips in the Hour of Code tutorial. To ...

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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

Visual programming

Find out about Visual 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.

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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.

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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.

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Robotics

Find out about robotics. 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.

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.

Video

Unplugged Activity: What is computer science?

Do you know what a computer programmer does? Watch as some experts in the field explain. For more information on the activities introduced in this video, visit http://learn.code.org/s/1/level/1

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Game-based learning

Find out about Game-based learning. 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

Hour of Code: Bill Gates explains If statements

The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. In this video, Bill Gates, creator of Microsoft introduces the If statement. He explains that the If statement is a fundamental concept in computer programming. By demonstrating the use ...

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Algorithms

Find out about algorithms. 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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Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies Years F-6 achievement standards and aligned content descriptions on a page

This PDF presents content descriptions and achievement standards for the Digital Technologies subject in the Australian Curriculum

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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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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 ...

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Voskoglou & Buckley review: Problem solving and computational thinking

This article explores the relationship between computational and critical thinking as it applies to solving technological problems. Research evidence derived from classroom experiments strongly suggests that using computers to solve problems enhances students’ abilities in solving real-world problems involving mathematical ...

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Classroom ideas: Choose your own adventure: years 3-6

This PDF provides a sequence of activities that allow students to view and create planning templates and algorithms when making 'Choose Your Own Adventure' stories. Older students can use the visual programming language Scratch to build their stories.

Video

Computational thinking in the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies

This video provides an overview of computational thinking and how it can be taught in the context of other learning areas.

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Classroom ideas: exploring digital technologies through shopping: years 3-6

This PDF demonstrates how using concepts derived from age-appropriate content, combined with multiple points of entry to and exit from a shopping-related task might remove barriers to learning. Students engage in purposeful and authentic open-ended explorations that require critical and creative thinking and incorporate ...

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Expert webinar video: Professor Tim Bell – Computational thinking

In this video, Professor Tim Bell discusses helpful ways of understanding and teaching computational thinking, a key idea of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies.

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Hour of Code: Saloni teaches If/Else statements with Scrat the Squirrel from Ice Age

The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. In this video, Saloni explains what an If/Else statement is. With the help of Scrat the Squirrel from Ice Age, she goes on to demonstrate how If/Else blocks can be used to program characters' ...