Digital technologies / Year 5 and 6 / Digital Technologies Processes and Production Skills

Curriculum content descriptions

Define problems in terms of data and functional requirements drawing on previously solved problems (ACTDIP017)

Elaborations
  • checking existing solutions to identify features that are transferable to new but similar digital solutions, for example identifying if there are any similarities (such as user age and special requirements) between an existing game and a new game to be created – in terms of the types of data and the needs of the users
  • investigating characteristics of user interfaces that are common for particular types of problems, for example, touch screens – many people respond more intuitively than when using a keyboard or stylus; and the consistent placement of symbols helps with performing actions that require speed, for example in games
  • using and interpreting data, establishing the root cause of a problem, for example using an annotated diagram to identify omissions, duplications or mismatches of data
  • describing in simple terms the nature of a problem and what a solution needs to achieve, for example what need the problem is associated with, who the solution is needed for, what data are needed and what features the solution would need to include
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Problem solving,  Functionality

Video

Telling robots what to do

If you were programming a robot to play a competitive game of soccer, what are some of the things you would consider? Think about some of the most basic functions of a robot, like walking, stopping and turning, to more complicated functions like recognising objects and reacting to them in a specific way.

Online

Data and information

This is a unit for Year 5 from the Scope and sequence resources from the DT Hub. The topic of data collection and presentation is organised into four key elements. Use this flow of activities to plan and assess students against the relevant achievement standards. Students collect their own data and analyse the resulting ...

Online

Sydney Metro – a 3D design focused inquiry – Stage 3

This inquiry-based unit of work was created, trialled and peer reviewed as part of a professional learning program in inquiry-based learning for school teachers. The professional learning courses were part of a pilot partnership between the NSW Government’s Sydney Metro transport agency and Western Sydney University.

Video

What skills are important for programming robots?

Listen as David McKinnon from UNSW describes some of the skills that are useful to have if you want to program robots. David explains an activity that exercises problem solving skills. Why don't you try doing it? Look at a map and find some towns that are close to yours. Use the scale on the map to work out the distances ...

Online

Home energy use

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and sustainable energy use and are two of the major issues facing the world today. This project explores energy use in homes, and compares individual energy use with the class average and calculate and graph CO2 emissions.

Audio

Casino West Public School reflects on learning during the DTiF project

In this audio file teachers from Casino West PS share their experiences in developing a Digital Technologies program in the school, They chose to focus on creative and critical thinking.

Text

Visual programming with Scratch: years 3-6

This comprises a collection of sample activities that incorporate visual programming (Scratch) into teaching and learning programs. They show the possibilities Scratch offers for integration. The projects are incomplete and are designed to be used as samples for inspiration or modification by teachers.

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Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies: years 5-6

This PDF provides a line of sight from content descriptions to achievement standards.

Video

Bethany Christian School – Progress report 1

This video explains the progress that Bethany Christian School has made in the Digital Technologies in Focus project. It is the first in a series of four.

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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 ...

Video

St Mary’s Primary School – Progress report 3

This video explains the progress that St Mary's Primary School, Moruya, has made in the Digital Technologies in Focus project. It is the third in a series of four.

Video

Expert webinar video: Jennifer Hemer: Tasmanian Smart Seafood Partnership

Jennifer Hemer from Natural Resource Management Tasmania explains what's happening in the seafood industry in her state and how digital technologies are used to make the industry more sustainable.

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St Mary’s Primary School – Final report

This report provides details of St Mary's Primary School'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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Bethany Christian School – Final report

This report provides details of Bethany Christian School'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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Green Hill Public School – Timeline

This document presents the milestones in Green Hill Public School's participation in the Digital Technologies in Focus project.

Video

St Mary’s Primary School – Progress report 4

This video explains the progress that Bethany Christian School has made in the Digital Technologies in Focus project. It is the last in a series of four.

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.

Video

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.

Video

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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South Kalgoorlie Primary School

South Kalgoorlie Primary School is located in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, on the Traditional Lands of the Wangkatja people of the North-Eastern Goldfields. It has about 450 students. Deanne Poole is the curriculum officer who works directly with the school to support the implementation of the Digital Technologies curriculum. ...