Task 1B

After completing my design challenge and contributing to the activities by using my skills and knowledge about design technologies, I can say that I have certainly learnt a number of things which I will take away and use in the future. As a student learning to become a teacher the practical and pedagogical issues that may come about in the classroom setting became evident. When I was first introduced to the design cycle in class I was very unsure how to even process it. However when I saw all the information translated to go with it I began to understand. I was able to understand and make sense of the diagrams used to assist me while I began to structure my deign challenge. I now understand that it is the teachers job to scaffold all types of ways an object may work so that the students understand how to design a project on their own. I became more aware that when in a classroom things may go wrong and that when implementing a challenge to be aware of this. It is important to thoroughly research an idea first and figure out all pros and cons. It is also important to implement a risk assessment to ensure all areas are covered.

I made sure that this design challenge would meet the Design Technology strand of the Australian Curriculum. When designing my challenge I learnt that showing the design to the children first would be a better idea before completing the design challenge. As a teacher it is important to get the children to try for themselves first as this enables them to give it a go and not let others do things for them. I would of course help any students who needed a hand although I will have a modelled design up the front for them to follow.

Bloom's Taxonomy is one of the most widely used frameworks for teaching in the classroom. Bloom's Taxonomy's aim is to encourage higher order thinking in the classroom. This including analysing and evaluating instead of just remembering. The behaviours described would assist teachers in understanding their students and scaffolding their learning (Collins, 2014).

This task has been interesting and challenging; it has broadened my knowledge and understanding of design and digital technologies. From this I can take away an in-depth understanding of the challenges and expectation a teacher might face when designing a challenge inside the classroom. I believe that these design challenges are great for creative thinking in the classroom and develop children's communication, higher order thinking and expands their current knowledge.

In conclusion, Digital Technologies provide students with authentic learning with challenges that include curiosity, persistence, creativity, confidence, coordination and respect for others. All of these are necessary when completing a design challenge in a classroom. Digital Technologies help students to be the best they can be of actively and ethically communicating and collaborating.

Week 8 - Reflection         Algorithms  


This week we looked at Algorithmic programming continuing on with our digital learning experiences. There are many activities which include coding that are not computer based. This is good to remember if you do not have computers in your classroom. This weeks learning challenge is to explore the website called 'Scratch' and look at the Angry Birds Maze. This game can be effectively used in your own classroom as it meets the Australian Curriculum learning outcomes as it transforms data into information to creatively communicate ideas in a range of settings.

Scratch is a website where you can play games or create your own and share with anyone. Scratch is creatively designed to be useful in the classroom for all ages - K- 12. Many educators have supported Scratch since 2007 in all sorts of learning environments with all ages. Scratch is great for teaching young children to learn and think for themselves by putting their own ideas into a game. Scratch engages children almost straight away as it is a game and all children love games. For older children their creativity comes to life when they can make a game based on their own thoughts. Scratch helps young people of all ages work collaboratively within the classroom.

The ability to code computer programs is an important part of literacy in todays world. When learning to code a computer game they learn and discover strategies and new ways to solve a problem. This is not just a computer game, students are always learning when using Scratch from all ages including primary school all the way through to college.

In class we completed a digital learning challenge on scratch. We got given hand outs with codes on them to try and follow to make a game. I enjoyed following instructions to create a game where a shark follows your mouse to eat the fish. The process of making this game would be a great activity for students in the classroom. It would be best suited for children from around year 4 and higher as they will use computational thinking and key concepts such as data collection, representation and interpretation; algorithms and implementation to create digital solutions.

Week 7  Reflection

This week we focused on computational thinking. Computational thinking is not only embedded into Digital Technologies, it is also embedded in other areas of the Australian Curriculum as well including Science, Social studies, maths and the arts. Computational thinking can be broken down into 4 main parts; patterns, decomposition, abstraction and algorithms.

We completed an activity in class this week called 'Thinking Myself'. This activity introduced the class to four processes of computational thinking, as mentioned above. This activity was interesting at first as I had never seen it before but was helpful in demonstrating each process. A few of the activities didn't give any instructions to the audience and left you a bit dumbfounded but after giving it a go it became easier. Whilst the activity is aimed at how the audience interacts, without any given instruction I feel this activity would be aimed at higher grades such as year 5 or 6. Younger students may find this boring as they look for instructional advise first instead of using their initiative.

Infographics -         Week 6       6/5/16

Infographics are an interesting and great way to communicate with children using visual literacy with data analysis. It shows children a clear and concise message. Infographics would be a great resource to use in the classroom with children of all ages. It can be used for projects and displaying the data of an investigation that may be happening in the classroom. By using Infographics, it would create a lesson where both design and technology can be combined. The students can design the Infographics and then record their findings to create a presentation.

After interacting with the program easel.ly and making a visual aid, I found that it was easy to complete and would recommend this site for other teachers. There are many options to use and play around with on this program. You can easily make a presentation more appealing as this site is easy to understand and has many different creative tools to use.

Design Cycle

                                                                              Design Cycle

Investigate

Develop the design brief –

Design ideas – Places around the world, globes, different countries around the world, Years 5/6.

Formulate a design brief –

The purpose of this design is to gain children’s knowledge on global warming and what the globe looks like at the moment. The size of the globe will be an averaged size balloon blown up. This design will only cost around $10-$20. The targeted age group for this design will be at years 5 to 6. It will take approximately 3 lessons to finish this activity based on whether children are attentive or not.

Plan

Design a product or solution - Years 5-6 will create a paper mache globe. They will begin by bringing in newspapers from home and in spare time cut up the paper into strips ready to use. In class students will watch videos and learn about global warming over a few weeks first. This design task will lead on from the global warming unit in the classroom. This design task will take place in art lessons or in any free/spare time during the day. It should only take a maximum of 3 lessons to complete. It may take longer for children if they are away or struggle to work on their own. Teachers will guide students and help them along the way.

Create

Appropriate techniques and equipment, follow the plan and create! (over 3 lessons)

-          Send home a note to parents to gather newspapers and bring them to class either in strips on as a whole.

-          Teacher to show a video on how to begin making paper mache and the steps that they will go through.

-          Blow up balloons for children to a suitable size, ensure all students have a balloon.

-          Try and have strips already ripped up for and easy start. Make sure there is enough newspaper for all students.

-          Make sure the glue and water is already made up. Enough for each group of children to share.

-          Ensure all children are putting the correct amount of paper onto the balloon.

-          Help children when necessary; if possible get a teacher aide or a parent helper.

-          Display a model already completed up front of the classroom so children can copy.

-          Once children begin to finish ensure they leave a gap at the bottom of the balloon so the balloon can be removed.

-          Paint balloon blue all over and dry.

-          Once dry pop balloon and pull it out.

-          Colour in the different countries and cut each one out.

-          As a class place each country in the correct place following the teachers’ instructions.

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wordle

31/3/14

Definitions

Accessibility - Accessibility also refers to the quality of being available when needed. You like the accessibility of the company's customer service because you don't have to wait endlessly on hold in hopes of reaching a human being.

App - a self-contained program or piece of software designed to fulfil a particular purpose; an application, especially as downloaded by a user to a mobile device.

 

Characteristics – a feature or quality belonging typically to a person, place, or thing and serving to identify them.

 

Data – facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis.

The quantities, characters, or symbols on which operations are performed by a computer, which may be stored and transmitted in the form of electrical signals and recorded on magnetic, optical, or mechanical recording media.

 

Deconstructing – A process of dismantling or pulling a product or system apart to systematically identify and analyse components and their relationships

 

Design brief – A concise statement clarifying the project task and defining the need or opportunity to be resolved after some analysis, investigation and research. It usually identifies the users, criteria for success, constraints, available resources and timeframe for the project and may include possible consequences and impacts.

 

Deign processes – Design is the creation of a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system (as in architectural blueprints, engineering drawings, business processes, circuit diagrams and sewing patterns).

 

Design thinking – Use of strategies for understanding design problems and opportunities, visualising and generating creative and innovative ideas, and analysing and evaluating those ideas that best meet the criteria for success and planning.

 

Digital Technologies – Any technologies controlled using digital instructions, including computer hardware and software, digital media and media devices, digital toys and accessories, and contemporary and emerging communication technologies. These technologies are based on instructions given using binary (0 or 1) code that invariably mean one or more processors are present to respond to these instructions. Computers, smartphones, digital cameras, printers and robots are all examples of digital technologies.

 

Evaluating – Evaluating measures performance against established criteria. It estimates the nature, quality, ability, extent or significance to make a judgement determining the value.

 

Functionality – the quality of being suited to serve a purpose well; practicality.

 

Graphic Organisers - A communication tool that uses visual symbols to represent structured thinking. Graphic organisers make thinking processes visible by showing connections between ideas/data. Examples include concept maps, flowcharts and cause-and-effect patterns. Their use has become more popular with the availability of software to create, edit and display them.

 

Materials – Natural (e.g. animals, food, fibre, timber, mineral) and fabricated (e.g. metal alloys, plastics, textiles, composites) materials. Materials are used to create products or environments and their structure can be manipulated by applying knowledge of their origins, structure, characteristics, properties and uses.

 

Model – a three-dimensional representation of a person or thing or of a proposed structure, typically on a smaller scale than the original.

 

This can be either a physical model, such as in a scale model of a car or house to show the form of a final production design, and is made with tools, jigs and fixtures; or virtual, such as a simulator program that demonstrates the capabilities of a vending machine through interaction with a computer user.

 

Multimedia – The use of digital technologies to present combinations of text, graphics, video, animation and/or sound in an integrated way. Where there is facility for the user to interact with the multimedia the term ‘interactive multimedia’ may be used. Examples include interactive games, media-rich websites, electronic books (ebooks) and animated short films

 

Producing – Actively realising (making) designed solutions using appropriate resources and means of production.

 

Product – One of the outputs of technologies processes, the end result of processes and production. Products are the tangible end results of natural, human, mechanical, manufacturing, electronic or digital processes to meet a need or want.

 

Production processes – In Design and Technologies, the technologies context-specific processes used to transform technologies into products, services or environments, for example, the steps used for producing a product.

 

Project – an individual or collaborative enterprise that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.

 

 

Prototype – a first or preliminary version of a device or vehicle from which other forms are developed.

 

Resources – In Design and Technologies, this includes technologies, energy, time, finance and human input.

 

Risk management practises – The practice of identifying potential risks in advance, analysing them and taking precautionary steps to reduce/curb the risk. Risk management involves risk identification, analysis, response planning, monitoring, controlling and reporting.

 

Social network – a network of social interactions and personal relationships.

 

A dedicated website or other application which enables users to communicate with each other by posting information, comments, messages, images, etc.

 

Social protocols – Generally accepted 'rules' or behaviours for when people interact in online environments, for example, using language that is not rude or offensive to particular cultures, and not divulging personal details about people without their permission.

 

Systems – The structure, properties, behaviour and interactivity of people and components (inputs, processes and outputs) within and between natural, managed, constructed and digital environments.

 

Systems thinking – Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things, regarded as systems, influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish.

 

Technologies – The materials, data, systems, components, tools and equipment used to create solutions for identified needs and opportunities, and the knowledge, understanding and skills used by people involved in the selection and use of these.

 

Technologies contexts – The focus and opportunities for students in Design and Technologies to use processes and production skills to design and produce products, services and environments. The prescribed technologies contexts for Foundation to Year 8 are: engineering principles and systems; food and fibre production; food specialisations; and materials and technologies specialisations

 

 

 

 

 

Technologies processes – The processes that allow the creation of a solution for an audience (end user, client or consumer). The processes involve the purposeful use of technologies and other resources and appropriate consideration of impact when creating and using solutions. The processes typically require critical and creative thinking such as: computational, design or systems thinking. For Design and Technologies, the processes involve: investigating; generating; producing; evaluating; and collaborating and managing (design processes) and technologies-specific production processes. For Digital Technologies, the processes involve: defining; designing; implementing; evaluating; and collaborating and managing.

 

Tools – a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function.

Implements and machines to carry out specific processes when working with materials. For example, a saw is an example of a tool used to cut timber; scissors are used to cut fabric, paper and cardboard; a tape measure is used to measure lengths and widths of wood and fabric; a blender is used to mix and blend food ingredients; secateurs are used to prune plants.

 

Visualisation software tools – Software to help in the recording of ideas as visual representations. Examples in Design and Technologies are computer-aided drawing (or computer-assisted design) (CAD) and computer simulation. Graphic organiser software are visualisation tools as are software that display graphs of data.

 

Working Models – Engineering simulation software product which when run can be used to test how virtual components interact. The program can simulate various interactions of the parts (components) and graph the movement and force on any element in a system. These working models are also known as prototypes and can be used to evaluate performance and to make alterations and improvements if necessary.