Author: shanaedykstra

Hopscotch
by

Hopscotch

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Subject: Digital Technologies

Year level: 5 and 6.

Year 5 Syllabus: Students develop understanding and skills in computational thinking, they have opportunities to create a range of solutions such as games, interactive stories and animations that involve branching. When creating solutions students identify appropriate data and requirements.  They develop skills to write clear algorithms by identifying repetition and incorporate repeated instructions.

Strand: Knowledge and understanding: Digital Systems

  • Digital systems have components with basic functions that may connect together to form networks which transmit data. (ACTDIK014)

Strand: Processes and productions skills: Collecting, Managing and Analysing Data

  • Design, follow and represent diagrammatically, a simple sequence of steps (algorithm), involving branching (decisions) and iteration (repetition). (ACTDIP019)

Year 6 Syllabus: Students develop further understanding and skills in computational thinking.  Students consolidate their understanding of the role individual components of digital systems play in the processing and representation of data.  They increase the sophistication of their algorithms by identifying repetition.

Strand: Knowledge and understanding: Representation of data

  • Whole numbers are used to represent data in a digital system (ACTDIK015)

Strand: Processes and production skills: Digital Implementation

  • Design, modify, follow and represent both diagrammatically, and in written text, simple algorithms (sequence of steps) involving branching (decisions) and iteration (repetition). (ACTDIP019)

Link to resource: https://www.gethopscotch.com/

Cross Curriculum priorities: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability and Critical and Creative Thinking.

Link to other learning areas: Literacy and Numeracy

A classroom activity using this resource:

This application can be downloaded onto an iPad device. It is an application that enables students to create their own game and allows them to publish it into the community.  Students learn concepts of core coding and algorithms to create their game.

You can give students guidelines for their games, for example a game that promotes sustainability. Students are required to design and then follow a series of steps to produce a functioning game. The game requires students to use coding to create their own game.  This game can be based on a subject of the teachers choosing.  The application requires students to use numbers and algorithms to create the movement of the characters in their game.

This application can also be a good introduction to coding and using algorithms.  Students must use problem solving skills and numeracy to create aspects of the game.

(Below is a tutorial on the Hopscotch App)

 How to use this resource:

  •  Download the app “Hopscotch” onto your iPad device.
  • Before starting it is a good idea to brainstorm ideas for the type of game you want to create.
  • Create a short story board of the game objectives.
  • Sign up to “Hopscotch” using a username and password.
  • Select a character
  • Start using movements to create your own game

 

by

iMotion

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Subject: Digital Technologies

Year Level: 5

Year 5 Syllabus: Students further develop understanding and skills in computational thinking, they have opportunities to create a range of solutions, such as games and interactive stories and animations that involve branching (choice of options).   When creating solutions, students identify appropriate data and requirements.  They develop skills to write clear algorithms by identifying repetition and incorporate repeat instructions or structures when implementing their solutions.

Strand:Processes and Production Skills

Substrand: Digital Implementation

Link to resource: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/imotion-hd/id421365625?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

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Other Curriculum Links: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities and Creative Thinking.

Link to other Subjects: Literacy, Numeracy.

Activity in the Classroom: Clay motion

Clay motion is an engaging method to integrate technologies and concepts of computational  thinking into the classroom.  Give the students a topic for their project, it could be a cross-curriculum priority eg. Sustainability, Australians engagement with Asia or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and culture.

Students are required to create a storyboard for either an animated story, instructional video or trailer for movie.  Students consider their background setting, lighting, how they are going to keep the camera still, filming of each scene and the sound effects.

All these things need to be edited and arranged on the iMotion application.  Students then use clay to create their characters and create movements in their videos.  Each still shot they take will be placed in sequence to create the movement of the clay. Students need to think about how to make the movement realistic by transforming the clay ever so slightly each time a new shot is taken.  After taking all photos the students must create a time-laps video to show the movement.  Students use and create sound effects, still images, music and other editorial skills on the iMotion application to finalise and complete the movie.

How to use this resource:

-Download iMotion onto iPad

-Create new movie

-The Start button means you are ready to start your new movie

-When you press the start button the camera will open to finish capturing the scene press pause.

-The display button will adjust the camera’s lighting, frame etc.

-When you have finished each scene you are able to edit your video by adding sound, changing the light, adding a photo or taking out photos.

-To export the movie when finalised press the export button.  This allows you to share your movie via youtube, email, iTunes, Facebook etc.