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