Digital Technologies Level 8 Scope and Sequence

Executive Summary Aims For students to undertake four separate units of work which enable them to build on their skills and understanding of the Digital Technologies curriculum. - Robotics - Explore some basic functions robots are capable of before using a number of these to complete simple tasks. - Databases - Learn about the basics of Structured Query Language (SQL) and use these to retrieve information from an existing database. - Game Making - Using a block based language in order to cover more elements from the creating Digital Solutions section of the curriculum. - Arduino - Uses text based code to exploit the functionality embedded in Arduino boards.

Note - The last two activities could both be done with text or block programming, but at least one needs to be text to meet (VCDTCD043).

Goals - Design, create, manage and evaluate sustainable and innovative digital solutions to meet current and future needs. - Use computational thinking and the key concepts of data collection, representation and interpretation; algorithms and development to create digital solutions. - Apply systems thinking to analyse the interactions within and between information systems. - Confidently use digital systems to efficiently and effectively automate the transformation of data into information and to creatively communicate ideas in a range of settings. - Apply protocols and legal practices that support safe, ethical and respectful communications and collaboration.

Covering the Level 7 - 8 Digital Technologies Curriculum - These units of work are designed to cover 40 hours of the recommended 80 hours across Levels 7 & 8. These units address some, not all, of the Digital Technologies curriculum.

Content Descriptions Level of Coverage Investigate how data are transmitted and secured in wired, wireless and Touched on but not mobile networks (VCDTDS035) assessed Investigate how digital systems represent text, image and sound data in Touched on but not binary (VCDTDI036) assessed Acquire data from a range of sources and evaluate their authenticity, Addressed but further accuracy and timeliness (VCDTDI037) reinforcement is encouraged Analyse and visualise data using a range of software to create information, Addressed but further and use structured data to model objects or events (VCDTDI038) reinforcement is encouraged Manage, create and communicate interactive ideas, information and Addressed but further projects collaboratively online, taking safety and social contexts into account reinforcement is (VCDTDI039) encouraged

Define and decompose real-world problems taking into account functional Addressed and assessed. requirements and sustainability (economic, environmental, social), technical and usability constraints (VCDTCD040) Design the user experience of a digital system, generating, evaluating and Addressed and assessed. communicating alternative designs (VCDTCD041) Design algorithms represented diagrammatically and in English, and trace Addressed and assessed. algorithms to predict output for a given input and to identify errors (VCDTCD042) Develop and modify programs with user interfaces involving branching, Addressed and assessed. iteration and functions using a general-purpose programming language (VCDTCD043) Evaluate how well student-developed solutions and existing information Addressed and assessed. systems meet needs, are innovative and take account of future risks and sustainability (VCDTCD044)

Structure of Unit - A presumption has been made that students will be involved in a Digital Technologies class throughout the whole of Level 8. The units have been structured into 4 terms of work, based on 1 class per week of approximately 50 minutes.

Potential Changes - If your school does not have a dedicated ‘Digital Technologies’ subject, there is the potential that other departments could undertake some of these units. For example, depending on the challenge/scenario focus for the Robotics unit, either the Humanities (Sustainability) or Science department could undertake this unit. Again, depending on the desired focus, the Arduino unit could be undertaken by the Mathematics or Science department in the school. The Game Making unit could be run over a couple of focus days with the potential of the English department assisting with the narrative writing process.

Student groupings - For both the Robotics and Arduino units, students will most likely be working in pairs or small groups, depending on the school's’ resources. The Game Making and Database units can be completed individually.

Further Information - Please refer to the Level 8 Scope and Sequence Document available: https://drive.google.com/open? id=1DxQfrStnvjRpq01mnshzznS6iFHI0G99s6pfwObt5Ak - This document outlines the structure of this unit and provides an overall summary of the work to be completed across the 40 weeks.