Week Six Post

Digital Technology
In the course reading material, the resources provided are based on the development of Digital Technologies in the 21st century and its effect on education. After spending the last five weeks researching the different aspects of design learning, it is interesting making correlations between the two curricula, in the Technologies unit. According to the Australian Curriculum, Digital Technologies (2015) refers to the students ability to "use computational thinking and information systems to define, design and implement digital solutions". In this day and age, it is vital that students  develop the skills necessary to be producers with technology  not just users of technology. For this reason, an understanding of how computers, networks and systems function is integral to the core operations in various enterprises. As seen in the week six video, Globe Trendy, Zora , a seven year old, is given the opportunity to develop her own computer game. This creating process is used by the teacher to encourage Zora to reach learning outcomes in digital technology. The designs focus on her learning needs and strengths. This made me realise the nature of my responsibilities as a teacher to support my students learning needs and implement digital practices as a vehicle to effective learning.

Curriculum Links
This week the topic of digital technologies draws from three areas of the Technologies curriculum: Data Representation; Computational Thinking and Algorithms, Digital and Information Systems, and algorithms and programming. This focus has been pursued to develop my professional understanding of the "systematic approach to experimentation, problem-solving, prototyping and evaluation instills in students the value of planning and reviewing processes to realise ideas" (ACARA, 2015).

Binary Code

When focusing on 'Data Patterns, play and representation', digital learning challenges have been set to develop our knowledge of binary codes. In the video resource provided, Pre-Algebre 3, an informative description to processing digital code is given, listing the various types of code evident in computer systems today. These are referred to as modern number systems as they are designed using positional notation along the base of a value to determine the reading of the number provided. There are four main systems used today. These include: the decimal system, which has a tens value number base, the Octal number system, with an eights value number base, the Hexadecimal system, with a base 16, and one of the more common, the binary system, with a twos value number base. The information provided in this video is then reinforced in the Traveling Circuits resource on Binary Baubles. This document went into further detail of the binary process, showing "how a computer codes data that will be stored for use later" (Thinkersmith, 2013).  


Designing a Binary game
The video provided in this weeks course material, Computer Science Unplugged (2005), supports teachers in implementing the concept of coding into pedagogy through the use of binary games. As stated in the supporting document, "The activities introduce students to Computational Thinking through concepts such as binary numbers, algorithms and data compression, separated from the distractions and technical details of having to use computers. Importantly, no programming is required to engage with these ideas". Interacting with the Cisco Binary game helped me consolidate my knowledge of this process of binary conversion. Learning through this method gave me interesting ideas of how I would integrate coding into my own pedagogy.

Infographics
For the next Digital Learning challenge, another concept is raised in the material, Infographics. This term refers to the process of combining data and visual literacy to promote conceptual understanding. According to Resourcelink (2011), infographics be integrated into pedagogy as "a source of information, a tool to teach visual and critical literacy, and as a way for students to express their or others’ data". This would promote student learning as "visual literacy has a unique and positive role  in the development of creative problem solving and innovative thinking" (Younie et al, 2015). For this reason Infographics are an important competency for students of the 21st Century to acquire. They provide visual explanation, integrate word and pictures in a dynamic way, reveal hidden information, promote efficient and consistent understanding, and are universally understandable.

Pedagogy 
Engaging in the course material for this week was very helpful in developing my professional knowledge of Digital technologies; educating on how to implement this area of the curriculum in 21st century classrooms. Firstly, I learnt binary coding and other forms of modern number systems in technology toady. As a teacher I would encourage computational thinking and student learning in this area  using binary games that the Cisco resource provided. In addition to this, I would also teach binary by designing my own games that focus on the desired learning outcomes I want achieved. A game like binary bingo could be created, to encourage students to  convert between ordinary numbers and positional notation. In addition to this Digital design challenge, my research on Infographics was also of benefit to my professional development. Through this material i realised the importance visual literacy plays in promoting creative problem solving and innovative thinking. Students could design their own infographics using 'easely', a website providing several template structures and scaffolds for representing data in a visual appeasing manner. My experimentation with this site (see right), reinforced my understanding of visual literacy and its function in the modern day classroom. In summary, this week's course material helped me realise the nature of my responsibilities as a teacher to implement digital practices as a vehicle to effective learning.

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA]. (2015). Technologies.

Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/technologies/technologies-across-foundation-to-year-10

Easely. (2014). Create and share visual ideas. Retrieved from Easely: http://www.easel.ly/

Computer Systems. (2011). Cisco Binary Game. Retrieved from https://forums.cisco.com/CertCom/game/binary_game_page.htm#popup-content

Thinkersmith. (2013). Binary Baubles. Retrieved from Traveling Circuits: http://code.org/files/CSEDbinary.pdf

CS Unplugged. (2014). Computer Science Without a Computer. Retrieved from Unplugged: http://csunplugged.org/