Digital technologies / Year 9 and 10 / Digital Technologies Processes and Production Skills

Curriculum content descriptions

Design the user experience of a digital system by evaluating alternative designs against criteria including functionality, accessibility, usability, and aesthetics (ACTDIP039)

Elaborations
  • designing the user interface of a solution using story boards and mock-ups, for example mocking up the product design of an app for people with disability
  • identifying similar digital systems and existing user interfaces, assessing whether their elements can be reused
  • evaluating aspects of the total user experience, that is, all aspects of the system as perceived by the users, for example, a user’s initial experience of setting up and using a system, or a user’s emotional or cultural response to using a digital system
  • designing documentation, branding, and marketing for a digital solution, for example a product demonstration screencast or ‘getting started’ user guide
  • applying the principles and elements of design to a client’s requirements and evaluating the success of a solution through an iterative feedback process, for example using customer feedback to refine a user interface to more effectively provide access to important features
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Information and communication technologies,  Critical thinking,  Aesthetics,  User interfaces,  Usability,  Accessibility

Video

DTiF Classroom Exploring AI in the Classroom: Activity discussion

Digital Technologies in Focus curriculum officers discuss a lesson about Artificial Intelligence with Simon Collier and a student.

Video

Creating the Bubble Popper game

Bubble Popper is a game that combines computer gaming and sport. Listen to Chad and Joshua as they explain their aim in designing this game. What kind of equipment is needed to play it? Why might it be a good idea to make games that involve physical exertion? Use your imagination and think up your own game that combines ...

Video

Expert webinar video: Russell Scott - Vortals: Augmented reality, virtual reality, 2D, 3D and game design lessons

Russell Scott, Co-Founder of multimedia design company Vortals, demonstrates some of the ways he teaches students about augmented reality, virtual reality, 2D, 3D and game design.

Text

Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies key concepts mapping - Years 9 and 10

This PDF uses colour coding to provide a line of sight between key concepts, content descriptions and achievement standards in the Digital Technologies subject in the Australian Curriculum.

Text

Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies: years 9-10

This PDF provides a line of sight from content descriptions to achievement standards in the Digital Technologies subject in the Australian Curriculum.

Text

Reducing the burn

In this set of learning activities, students explore the health issues of sun burn and develop a mathematically rigorous solution that allows Australians determine their level of sun exposure. The module includes a comprehensive teacher guide, curriculum links, materials lists, design process guides and printable student ...

Text

Game builder: Level 2

Designed for students with some experience of creating digital games, the sequence builds on skills developed in Game builder: Level 1. Students explore ideas for games. They then move through the more advanced aspects of making a video game including detailed ideation and structuring methods, creation of complex systems ...

Text

Years 9–10: Data science skills

This unit introduces data science as a process, focusing on specific skills used in data science. These include the acquisition of data from surveys, sensors or online repositories; storage and analysis of that data; and its visualisation, including with interactivity. When acquiring and analysing data, students can apply ...

Text

Years 9–10: Webpage design

This unit introduces students to key layers of webpage development that represent content, structure and presentation. Students develop simple webpages employing hypertext markup language (HTML) for the structure of webpage content, as well as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for styling. They explore aesthetics in modern webpage ...

Downloadable

digIT Web Design workbook

This lesson provides an introduction and overview to learning HTML and CSS. It provides guidance and tips to help students to create and design their own website.

Video

Expert webinar video: Dr Karen Joyce: Map my school

Dr Karen Joyce from STEM education provider She Maps discusses geospatial mapping and methods for teaching underpinning concepts to primary, secondary and tertiary students. Her presentation provides opportunities to think about how we might teach digital systems, data collection and interpretation to our students in context.

Text

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

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.

Text

Volmert et al. review: STEM learning

This report examines the similarities and differences in the understandings about STEM education between experts and the general public in some American states. The authors contend that one of the most interesting findings is the role of Science: the general public equates STEM as Science, whereas the experts view all STEM ...

Text

Supporting Digital Technologies curriculum in schools

This PDF lists seven ways in which schools can support the Digital Technologies curriculum

Text

Kim review: Systems thinking

This article explores the types of systems in our world, their characteristics and how our behaviour can initiate and respond to changes in their performance. The author differentiates between systems thinking and a system and elaborates on those factors that contribute to systemic behaviour.

Text

Effective DTiF strategies

This PDF lists eight ways in which Digital Technologies in Focus (DTiF) supported the implementation of Digital Technologies in disadvantaged schools.

Text

Curzon & Bell et al. review: Computational thinking

This article explores the concept of computational thinking within computer science learning and in relation to other learning areas. The authors assert that because of its focus on analysis, computational thinking is not only suitable for computation but also the development of systems-based on computation.

Text

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 ...

Text

Good teaching practice with Digital Technologies

This PDF lists seven characteristics of good teaching practice in the Digital Technologies curriculum.