Strand: Processes and Production Skills- Follow, describe, represent a sequence of steps needed to solve simple problems (ACTDIP004)
Strand: Knowledge and Understanding- Recognise and explore digital systems (ACTDIK001).
Mama codes is a fantastic free online resource for the early childhood learning setting!! The site provides an opportunity for the students to dive into coding that is fun, enjoyable and educational. Through songs, rhymes, stories and history, the students are presented with a digital technology website which can be accessed through a computer, laptop or iPad. Bursting with patterns, computer codes, sequencing and mapping, this resource makes learning fun!
Link to resource: mama.codes/
Links to other learning areas: History, Geography, Literacy, Science,
Click the button dive in!. This will then take the participants to the websites gallery.
Here the teacher or students decide which of the following area to commence coding:
Songs
Jokes
Nature
Poems
Rhymes
Stories
Histories
Travel
This caters for range of interests and preferences. The website contains plenty of animations, videos and information for the students to grasp the introductory concept of coding.
As a novice in the world of coding, I was looking for activities that made sense to me. Starting where most children start their learning journey, I went back to Foundation skills to look for inspiration.
To understand the abstract idea of something (a symbol) representing something else, I searched for concrete materials, to express the idea. What I found was a ‘decoder’.
This is a simple activity you can do with students to teach some basic principles of coding, without touching a computer :). A good confidence builder, children who believe they know nothing about coding, will be provided with opportunities to be successful. Strong links to History – decoders and deciphers were used, pre-computers, to communicate.
Subject: Digital Technologies
Year Level: 4-5
Strand: Knowledge and understanding
Sub strand: Representation of data
Data can be represented in different ways (ACTDIK008)
Select, and safely use, appropriate components and equipment to make solutions
To incorporate the use of computers and digital technologies in this activity, children can be directed to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the USA’s website and engage with their online decoding games. The decoding games build on the same principle the children have just explored with their own handmade decoders.
The use of this resource extends and expands the children’s experience with coding in an historical and real world context.
General capabilities: Literacy, ICT, Numeracy, Critical & Creative thinking, Personal & Social capability
Links to other learning areas: History, Maths, Art
To make a decoder, you will need:
School technology
Cardboard
Coloured pencils
Scissors
A compass
A pencil
A ruler
A paper fastener
A fine tip marker
Step 1: Cut out three circles per decoder out of cardboard. You will need one that is 8cm in diameter, one that is 6cm in diameter, and one that is 4cm in diameter. Note: The size of the circles is very important! If you change the size of the decoder, you will have to change the measurements for marking off the letter sections.
Detail is important in this step
Step 2: Colour your circles with coloured pencils, if desired.
Step 3: On the largest circle, make small pencil marks on the outside edge. You should end up with 27 sections. Detail is important in this step!
Step 4: Poke a hole through the center of the largest circle and the middle circle. Attach them with the paper fastener. The best way to find the middle of the circle is to use the compass. Then, use the ruler to draw a straight line from the paper fastener to each edge mark. Again, detail is important. You really want each of the sections to be equal in size, or your decoder will be difficult to use.
Step 5: Write the alphabet on the outside circle and put a ? in the 27th section. For the middle circle, you can either write the alphabet in order or mix it up. Then add the smallest circle to the decoder.
To write a message:
First, set the code. There are several ways to set the code.
Set the decoder where the “A” on the outside circle matches the first letter of the day of the week.
Use a “code word” with each message and set the decoder where “A” on the red circle matches the first letter of the code word.
Or, come up with your own system!
To write a message, find the letter you want on the outside (red) circle and write down the corresponding letter on the middle (blue) circle.
To read a message, find the letter on the middle (blue) circle, and write down the corresponding letter from the outside (red) circle.
Strand: Digital Technologies processes and production skills
Years 1- 2: Digital Technologies Processes and Production Skills
Share and publish information in a safe online environment, with known people (ACTDIP006)
Years 3-4: Digital Technologies Processes and Production Skills
Work independently, or collaboratively when required, create and communicate ideas and information safely (ACTDIP013)
Years 5-6:Digital Technologies Processes and Production Skills
Create and communicate information, including online collaborative projects, using agreed social, ethical and technical protocols (codes of conduct) (ACTDIP022)
Link to the resource: https://getkahoot.com/
Cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities:
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Literacy (LIT)
Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT)
Personal and Social Capability (PSC)
Intercultural understanding
Links to other learning areas:
Kahoot can be incorporated in all learning areas including; Literacy, Mathematics, Health and Physical Education, Society and Environment, Religion and Science.
A classroom activity using this resource:
Kahoot! can quickly become a go-to for teachers looking for an engaging way to run checks for understanding, act as an assessment tool or act as a concluding lesson activity. This engaging, motivating and interactive resource allows students’ to develop their computational and critical thinking by analysing and organising data. This resource allows students to either collaborate with peers or work individually.
Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform, that makes learning fun and engaging for all subjects, languages, ages, abilities and on any device. This resource is used to create quizzes, class discussions or even surveys. Students are able to easily access the application by logging in with a specific game pin, generated by a teacher once they have created or selected a classroom quiz. Students have the opportunity to create their own quizzes which can also be shared (Kahoot, 2017).
I have seen this resource implemented within a classroom and I was extremely impressed with how engaged and motivated all students are when completing the task. Kahoot! created a social, fun and game-like learning environment for all.
How to use this resource:
Reference List
Kahoot! learn happy, learn loud (2017). Retrieved from https://getkahoot.com/how-it-works
Minecraft is interesting from lots of different perspectives. It is a familiar and engaging gaming platform where kids can spend hours building and modifying virtual worlds. Whilst doing things that they consider to be entertainment they are inadvertently learning key computational thinking skills.
What is Computational Thinking?
“Computational thinking is a way humans solve problems; it is not trying to get humans to think like computers. Computers are dull and boring; humans are clever and imaginative. We humans make computers exciting. Equipped with computing devices, we use our cleverness to tackle problems we would not dare take on before the age of computing and build systems with functionality limited only by our imaginations; ” Jeanette M Wing
Minecraft happens to be a fantastic sandbox game to explore computational thinking. Minecraft provides a platform in which 21st century literacy skills can be explored and developed to cater for the learning objectives in the Australian Technology Curriculum. Educators have the option to utilise the existing user interface or subscribe to the new and improved Minecraft:Education Edition which makes implementing this amazing learning tool into your existing curriculum as easy as clicking on a mouse.
Using Minecraft as an Educational Tool
Read on further to discover how Minecraft can address the four cornerstones of computation thinking and the lesson plans offered in the Minecraft: Education Edition!
Description: Book Creator by Red Jumper is a fantastic and easy way to create and publish wonderful ebooks from your iPad. Book Creator allows students to create and publish a variety of books including story books, journals, photo books, text books, comic books, children’s picture books and many more. The app is highly engaging and allows students across all year levels to publish work they have produced in any subject area such as English, Science, HASS and The Arts. Students can work individually or collaboratively in small groups to create different types of books. The app can even be used to produce a teacher led whole class project/unit of work. By publishing their work into different book styles, students are able to share their books as digital resources with other students in their class and throughout the school. They are even able to publish their books to the iBooks Store!
**Winner of a Parents’ Choice Gold Award**THE No.1 Book app for the iPad in 80 countries**Voted Best Educational App in the 2015 BETT Awards.
Features: The app has a huge variety of features that are appropriate for all ages and provide students with the opportunity to produce books to a high standard. Features include: Over 50 font options, upload photos and images from the web, iPad or iPad camera, add music, video and voice recording (narration), choose from a variety of book sizes and layouts, page turning animations, background music, built in dictionary and bookmarks.
the components of digital systems: hardware, software and networks and their use
Representation of data
how data are represented and structured symbolically
Processes and Production Skills
Collecting, managing and analysing data. Creating digital solutions by:
investigating and defining
generating and designing
producing and implementing
evaluating
collaborating and managing
Sub-strands and Content Descriptors (From Year 2 – 6): http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/technologies/digital-technologies/curriculum/f-10?layout=1
References:
Book Creator®. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.redjumper.net/bookcreator/
Book Creator® Videos. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/user/bookcreatorapp/videos
Technologies Curriculum Learning Area Structure. (2016). Retrieved from Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority website: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/technologies/structure
Find App Here:
Apple iTunes Store: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/book-creator-for-ipad-create/id442378070?mt=8
Can be used for all, (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, Sustainability), depending on how this resource is used
General Capabilities:
Again, dependant on the use of the resource;
Literacy
Numeracy
Information and communication technology (ICT) capability
Critical and creative thinking
Personal and social capability
Ethical understanding
Links to other learning areas:
English
Science
Mathematics
History
Health
Humanities and Social Science
The Arts
A classroom activity using this resource:
SockPuppets is an enjoyable and easy to use app which allows users to present their ideas through visual story telling. Children choose their characters, (sock puppets), backgrounds and props from the menu to create their own puppet show. Whilst recording a show, their own voices become the character voices and as they record their voices, the puppets move their mouths accordingly. There are options for animated and realistic puppets which can be moved around whilst speaking. Switch between puppets by pressing on each character and move props and puppets by simply dragging across the screen. There is also a setting which allows voice pitch to be altered.
The uses for this resource are endless! Students can create shows to explain mathematical or scientific concepts, recount stories, retell stories from different points of view, make journal entries, tell jokes, explore emotions or even use to roleplay appropriate behaviour and online safety. Another great idea is to use this resource at the beginning of the year as a fun way for students to introduce themselves.
This app gives children a chance to reflect on learning and build on their vocabulary in a less intimidating way. It can be extremely helpful to those students who are not confident with public speaking and those less likely to contribute in a classroom setting. This resource also teaches social skills such as turn taking.
This resource can be adapted to cater for all years levels, particularly year 3-4. The learning can even be extended by having students edit their movies in an app such as iMovie. Another way to extend this activity is to have children create their own sock puppets and possibly film their own shows once their confidence has been built.
This is a free app available from the Apple App store, however you can also purchase SockPuppets+ for $3.99 which will give you access to more features and longer recording time. The latter also has options to import your own backgrounds, which would therefore extend the digital technology aspect.
How to use this resource:
Download app free from the Apple App Store
From the main menu, select ‘New’. If a file has already been saved, press ‘Open’)
On screen prompts will help to select puppets, background and props. Eyes will appear at the bottom of each chosen icon.
Once all items have been loaded, items can be dragged around the screen. To resize, simply pinch the images
A puppet will be selected when the red arrow appears above it. Press the record button at the top of the screen and the puppet’s mouth will automatically move as you speak. You can also re-record if you like.
Save a show by selecting the disc icon. This is also where you will have an option to share.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
Sustainability
General Capabilities:
Literacy
Information and communication technology (ICT) capability
Critical and creative thinking
Personal and social capability
Ethical understanding
Links to other learning areas:
Literacy
History
Health
Humanities and Social Science
The Arts
A classroom activity using this resource:
This resource is reminiscent of a digital version of playing with dolls or action figures. Children are taught to sequence with this user friendly, story telling app. Not only is this app aesthetically pleasing but it is a great way for children to be creative and let their imaginations run wild whilst being engagingly educated. Students start with a story planner, which is called a ‘Story Arc’. This makes it necessary for students to plan before commencing their oral narrative. The planner includes setup, conflict, challenge, climax and resolution. A narrator will then guide them through creating a scene, adding animation and music. There is also an option to draw your own animated characters. It is worth noting that the flow of the Story Arc can be changed if need be, as well as an option to add one extra frame anywhere in the story.
In this bridge between formal and informal learning, children are given a creative way to express themselves. Vocabulary is built, as language skills are developed. There is also a teaching point when choosing background music, as this is based on emotions. Another lesson could stem from this activity as to why music changes for differing moods, asking how we know what a character feels based on the tempo of a song. Learning can be extended by having them edit their animations in an app such as iMovie.
Videos can then be shared via email, or through an in-app feature called ‘ToonTube’. This feature allows students to share videos around the world by selecting a location from a 3D globe. Children can also scroll the globe to view cartoons created from others to learn about their worlds or teach those about theirs. This is a great way for collaborative learning to take place; not only from peers and students’ own creations but others around the world as well. Be sure to cover online safety and information sharing online before this step.
This interactive app is available free from the Apple App Store. There are options to purchase more features.
How to use this resource:
Select ‘Create Cartoon’ then ‘New Cartoon’
A narrator will then explain the concept of the ‘Story Arc’, (this can be skipped after first use of the app)
An extra frame can be added by pressing + , (although you are still only limited to six frames in total)
Select ‘Setup’ and begin to choose a background
Select the arrow in the top right hand corner of the screen to continue
Select or create characters, then press the arrow
Select “Start Animation”. The app will then countdown from 3 before you beginning to record voices. Characters can be dragged around the screen whilst recording.
Select “Stop Animation” for an instant replay of the recording. Scenes can be re-recorded
Select the arrow and choose music based on emotion/mood
Subject: Aurasma Aurasma is a software tool to create an augmented reality. Using the location and visual recognition features of a smart device (smart phone or tablet) users can detect auras tagged to real world items. These auras can contain additional visual or audio content that is available to enhance or augment the viewing experience.
Examples of real world use and instructional video content are provided on the Aurasma website. My experience in a year 4 class is that students quickly engaged with learning tasks knowing that their end product would include an Aurasma presentation explaining it to peers, parents and Administration.
Year Level: Year 4 (Applicable students from year 3 on)
Strand: Digital Technologies
Sub strand:
Knowledge and understanding
Digital systems … are used for different purposes and can store and transmit different types of data (ACTDIK007)
Different types of data, and the same data, can be represented in different ways (ACTDIK008)
Processes and production skills Collect and present different types of data for a specific purpose using software (ACTDIP009)
Work with others to create and communicate ideas and information … using agreed protocols (ACTDIP013)
Cross curriculum priorities and general capabilities
Numeracy, ICT capacity, Critical & creative thinking, Literacy, Personal & social capacity
Links to other learning areas
English, History & Social Sciences, Science, The Arts, Health & Physical Education
How to use this resource
Teacher use of Aurasma: In the education context, this tool could be used by the teacher to provide students with additional information, perhaps rewarding students as they complete a scavenger hunt activity around the classroom. Likewise, information concerning works of art, the artists and the social context could be displayed as an aura during a gallery tour.
Student use of Aurasma: More excitingly, students could create their own Aurasma presentations, to present explanations of the planning and execution process of a work of art, a science activity or other type of work. The aura could show images or video of the task in progress, and include an explanation of the real world problem and the solution they have created for it. Alternate presentations even of the same problem and solution would effectively demonstrate how this information could be presented in different ways.
Resource name: Socrative Teacher and Socrative Student
About resource: The resource of Socrative is named based of the philosopher Socrates.
Socrative is a wonderful free digital technology resource, which can be used to teach Digital Technologies to students of all ages. It is an engaging resource tool, which can be used to assess student’s knowledge and understanding using quizzes. It caters for students as well as teachers. Using this resource teachers are provided with the opportunities to create their own range of quizzes which can connect to any learning area.
The resource is a great tool for assessing students both diagnostically and formatively.
Socrative provides instantaneous results and feedback; which aids in quick and efficient grading as well as providing a visual of the results that give the teachers an insight and understanding of the student’s level of understanding.
How does this resource work:
You can access Socrative using computers, tablets, ipods, laptops and or smartphones, any browser and web-enabled device will work.
Sign Up: As a teacher you will need to sign up to be able to use Socrative
It is a free resource, and you can sign up using your email address or google mail account from either a mobile device or computer/laptop.
Once sign up is completed, you can start creating your quizzes. Quizzes can be either short answers or multiple choices. Once the questions are written in, teacher can add in and or select the correct answers/responses.
After the quizzes are set up, the teacher can also provide instant feedback and results to the students. Teacher can also track the progress of the students over any period of time.
Students can access Socrative anywhere (at home or at school) using the log in provided by the teacher. This way Socrative can even be used as a homework alternative, making quizzes that students can answer at home or as part of a lesson at school.
What are the benefits of Socrative?
It has a very simple, straightforward app,
You can create games (team, races etc.) out of your questions,
Students can respond from wherever they are,
You don’t need hardware (e.g. no clickers),
Socrative is good for concept checking and gaining a feeling of class understanding before and after the lesson,
Results can be made immediately available to both the student and the tutor,
Socrative is free.
Socrative was created by a group of teachers
Its interative and engaging
It provides immediate feedback via formative assessments
It is paperless
It saves time when grading assignments
Students can use Socratic on any device, on any platform.
Socrative steps: how does it work? Here is an example of Socrative in action;
The teacher has logged into her Socrative account
and sets up a quiz. The teacher is then provided with a room number (this is what the students will need to be able to access this quiz)
General Capabilities: The general capabilities that are expected and developed using the resource Socrative could include:
Literacy (LIT)
Numeracy (NUM)
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
Critical and creative thinking (CCT)
Cross-curriculum Priorities:
All cross-curriculum priorities:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
And
Sustainability
Can be addressed as well as developed via the use of Socrative. Quizzes can be tailored to suit whichever or all Cross-curriculum Priorities, depending on the aim and content of the quizzes.
Links to other learning areas: Socrative can easily be connected and linked to these learning areas:
History
Science
Maths
References
EmergingEdTech. (2014, October 19). 3 Minute Teaching With Tech Tutorial – Socrative (Free SRS). [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=qCG1MuWf_Os&feature=youtu.be Lands, B. (2012, February 24).
13 Ways to Use Socrative as a Formative Assessment. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.thelandscapeoflearning.com/2012/02/11-ways-to-use-socrative- as-formative.htmlBotfield, N. (2014, November 11).
Technology Enhanced Learning: Are you using Socrative? An engaging tool to quiz student understanding. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blogs.sussex.ac.uk/tel/2014/11/11/socrative-visualise-student-understanding/Bharti, P. (2014, October 13).
A Complete Guide for Teachers on How to Use Socrative. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/1532-a-complete-guide-for-teachers-on-how-to-use-socrative?start=324
Socrative by MasteryConnect. (2016) Retrieved from www.socrative.com
Sub-Strand: Present data of any kind using a variety of digital tools (ACTDIP003)
Elaboration: Exploring and creating graphs to represent classroom data, for example collecting data on the country of birth of each student and presenting the results as a picture graph.
Where to locate the resource: App store
General Capabilities: Literacy, Numeracy, Information and Communication Technology Capability, Critical and Creative Thinking
Links to other learning areas: Literacy, Numeracy, The Arts, Science, Geography, History
Resource Description:
Educreations can be used on devices such as an iPad or Interactive Whiteboard. It is simple and fun to use for a variety of age groups. You are able to; annotate, animate and narrate an idea or concept. Teachers are able to create instructional videos to share with students and vice versa. Students may use Educreations to show their teacher what they know about a subject or simply to teach a friend how to do something. This will enable teachers to use this app as an assessment tool in various subjects and then keep a record of it on their own online Educreations account which will be available at all times. The Educreations can then be shared via link, email or even embedded in your classroom blog. It is a great resource for classroom teachers.
