Webinars

This series of videos are recorded webinars with experts in a variety of academic and professional fields. Each video begins by illustrating the connection of the content to the key concepts of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies.

Professor Stephen Heppell: The impact of environmental factors on learning

Summary: In this webinar Professor Stephen Heppell, the Felipe Segovia Chair of Learning Innovation at Universidad Camilo José Cela, Madrid, discusses the aggregation of marginal gains in learning environments. He provides examples from the Learnometer project, designed to help students monitor their classroom environment for factors that may hinder learning. Stephen discusses how students might undertake similar research and make modifications in their own classrooms with plants, existing apps and simple designed solutions.

Keywords: digital systems, data collection, data interpretation, impact

Related links: DTiF classroom ideas Environmental measurement (visual programming) (Years 5–6) or Environmental measurement (visual programming and general-purpose programming) (Years 5–8) and www.heppell.net/

 

Professor Tim Bell: Computational thinking

Summary: In this webinar, Professor Tim Bell discusses helpful ways of understanding and teaching computational thinking, a key idea of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies.

Keywords: specification, algorithms, implementation, abstraction, computational thinking

Related links: CS Unplugged website https://csunplugged.org/en/

Dr Karen Joyce: Map my school

Summary: Dr Karen Joyce of She Maps discusses geospatial mapping and methods she uses for teaching underpinning concepts to primary, secondary and tertiary students. Her presentation provides opportunities to think about how we might teach digital systems, data collection and interpretation to our students in context.

Keywords: digital systems, data collection, data representation, data interpretation, specification, algorithms, implementation, geospatial mapping

Related links: She maps website https://shemaps.com/

Martin Richards: AI, AR and VR F–10 and links to the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies

Summary: Martin Richards, Content Manager, Digital Teaching and Learning, Education Services Australia, manages the Digital Technologies Hub. He discusses the relationship of artificial intelligence to the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies and shows some useful resources for teachers.

Keywords: digital systems, data representation, algorithms, impact, AI, AR, VR, artificial intelligence

Related links: www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/teachers/topics/artificial-intelligence

Dr Michelle Ellis: Learning resources for using micro:bits

Summary: Dr Michelle Ellis gives a demonstration of the Edith Cowan University Makerspace visual and general-purpose programming environment. She also shows a range of materials to support the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. This includes teaching resources and lesson plans.

Keywords: digital systems, data representation, algorithms, impact, AI, AR, VR, artificial intelligence

Related links: Edith Cowan University Makerspace http://makerspace.ecu.edu.au

Jennifer Hemer: Tasmanian Smart Seafood Partnership Project Coordinator

Summary: Jennifer Hemer from Natural Resource Management Tasmania presents what's happening in the seafood industry in her state and how digital technologies are used to make the industry more sustainable.

Keywords: digital systems, data collection, data interpretation, impact

Related links: https://nrmsouth.org.au/

 

Nathan Alison, Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria (DLTV): Focus on systems thinking. How do we teach it well?

Summary: Nathan Alison from DLTV explains what systems thinking is and how it is used in the context of Digital Technologies. He explains what we need to consider when teaching digital systems, covering topics such as networks, hardware and software protocols, people and processes. He discusses the impact of digital systems on economic, environmental and social sustainability and shares resources he has developed on systems thinking including lesson plans which highlight the habits of a systems thinker.

Keywords:  systems thinking, digital systems, data collection, data interpretation, impact, interactions

 

6 key moments in this video

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2

3

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5

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00:00 - 14:42

14:42 - 16:00

 16:00 - 21:00

21:02 - 27:00

27:00 - 28:08

28:08 - 42:12

Systems thinking; types of systems; digital systems explained

Systems and people; user interface; interactions

Social, economic and environmental impact of digital systems

Habits of systems thinkers

Systems thinking and AI

Causal loops and system examples

To listen to an audio version of this file click below:

 

Related links: DTiF classroom ideas Environmental measurement (visual programming) (Years 5-6) or Environmental measurement (visual programming and general-purpose programming) (Years 5-8)

Links referenced in the video:

Digital Technologies Hub systems thinking topic page: https://www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/teachers/topics/systems-thinking

Systems thinking and AI applications: https://www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au/teachers/lesson-ideas/ai-lesson-plans/systems-thinking-and-ai-applications

Systems thinking video tutorial: https://youtu.be/8swWDyuapt0

Habits of a Systems Thinker from the Waters Center for Systems Thinking: https://waterscenterst.org/systems-thinking-tools-and-strategies/habits-of-a-systems-thinker/

The way things work: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_Things_Work

Why your internet habits are not as clean as you think: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think

The impact of online video: https://theshiftproject.org/en/article/unsustainable-use-online-video/

In conversation with Elke Hacker, QUT: Using gamification and virtual reality at Qld Health to teach sun safety to adolescents.

Summary: Elke Hacker is a post-doctoral researcher in the skin cancer field at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology. Elke’s latest research has involved testing emerging technologies such as wearable UV indicators, smart phone applications (or ‘Apps’), platforms for virtual reality (VR) and Internet of Things (interrelated computing devices). Her recent work is focused on testing technology to prevent skin cancer and continues to create solutions to reduce the burden of this disease on our community. Elke showcases the VR gameplay and explains what her VR technology is designed to do and how it will help adolescents and young adults become more aware of the dangers of sun exposure.

Keywords:  design thinking, digital systems, virtual reality, augmented reality

6 key moments in this video

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2

3

4

5

6

00:00 – 02:40

02:40 – 04:41

 04:41 – 15:30

15:30 – 19:40

19:40 – 22:43

22:43 – 31:17

Elke Hacker bio – QUT research on Adolescents and sun exposure.

Overview of research into use of virtual reality technologies to engage behaviour change.

Using a two-phase design approach – identifying the problem, determining stakeholders and designing an immersive solution.

Reflecting on the design process from an Australian Curriculum perspective.

Sun protection – (HPE content focus). Age-appropriate education practices. The use of wearable technologies to collect data.

Responding to user feedback during the design process. Building a design team.

Related files: A virtual reality game for cancer prevention: Malignancy VR

Related links:

Elke’s profile: https://research.qut.edu.au/ihop/team/elke-hacker/

Sunburn and skin cancer prevention methods explored: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/sunburn-and-skin-cancer-prevention-methods-explored-20150717-gif41p.html

In conversation with Paul Mead from She Maps: A wide-ranging discussion from women in Technology and unconscious bias to digital systems and the ethical and safety considerations of using drone technologies Summary: Paul discusses unconscious bias in young students and how She Maps is spreading the word about women who work with technologies in the field. He discusses digital systems and explains how geospatial systems and geographical information systems are used to collect, analyse and interpret data. Paul shares some learning area connections and resources available from She Maps, including the book, Pippa and Dronie. He also discusses the ethical and safety considerations of using drone technologies.

Keywords: digital systems, geospatial systems, geographical information services, ethics, safety

6 key moments in this video:

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2

3

4

5

6

00:00 – 04:42

04:42 – 12:00

 12:00 – 19:05

19:05 – 21:00

21:12 – 24:32

24:32 – 28:13

Unconscious bias

Geospatial systems

Geographical Information services

Learning area connections

SheMaps resources

Ethical and safety considerations

Related links: She maps: https://shemaps.com/

Pippa and Dronie book: https://www.pippaanddronie.com/

DTiF in conversation with Kevin Bradley and Cassandra Arkinstall from Save the Bilby Fund – Background information on the Save the Bilby Fund

Summary: Kevin Bradley, CEO of Save the Bilby Fund and Cassandra Arkinstall, a researcher and volunteer at Save the Bilby Fund explain why the bilby is so important as an indicator of the health of an ecosystem and how their decline impacts other wildlife. This video gives an overview of what the Save the Bilby Fund does as they work towards increasing Australia’s declining bilby population.

Keywords: sustainability, endangered species, digital systems, data, Science, systems thinking

6 key moments in this video 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

00:00 – 01:55 
 

01:55 - 03:27 

03:27 - 04:22 

04:22 - 07:25 

07:25 - 14:14 

14:14 - 17:20 

Introduction

Kevin Bradley’s role as Chief Executive Officer

Cassandra Arkinstall’s role as researcher

Where bilbies are located in Australia and habitat decline

A day out in the field

Threats faced by bilbies

Related links:

Save the Bilby Fund www.savethebilbyfund.com

Digital Technologies Hub www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au

The Bilby Channel on YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCIPDmExDU5nntS_sC3StbEw

DTiF in conversation with Kevin Bradley and Cassandra Arkinstall from Save the Bilby Fund – Using digital technologies to help save bilbies

Summary: Kevin Bradley, CEO of Save the Bilby Fund and Cassandra Arkinstall, a researcher and volunteer at Save the Bilby Fund explain how important digital technologies are in the campaign to save the bilby from extinction. The video explains how digital systems are used to collect and visualise data and help eradicate threats to bilbies’ survival.

Keywords: sustainability, endangered species, digital systems, data, artificial intelligence, Science, systems thinking

6 key moments in this video 

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2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

00:00 – 03:30 
 

03:30 - 06:57 

06:57 - 08:10

08:10 - 09:10 

12:47 - 16:35 

16:35 - 18:30 

Digital systems used to help save the bilbies

Using digital systems to collect and visualise data

Different types of data – image and numerical

Using data in research

Data visualisation

Community involvement

Related links:

Save the Bilby Fund: www.savethebilbyfund.com

Digital Technologies Hub: www.digitaltechnologieshub.edu.au

The Bilby Channel on YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCIPDmExDU5nntS_sC3StbEw

DTiF Staffroom video – Core concepts - Interactions

Description: In this video, DTiF Curriculum Officer, Martin Levins explains what is meant by interactions in the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies and provides examples of how the Personal and Social capability can be used when teaching about human-to-human interactions and how design thinking is used when teaching about human-to-computer interactions.

Keywords: interactions, personal and social capability, e-safety, project management, user interface design, user experience, design thinking, project-based learning, assessment, human-to-human interactions, human-to-computer interactions

Audience: suitable for primary and secondary teachers years 3-10

 

DTiF Staffroom video – Key concepts – Implementation – a primary school perspective

Summary: In this video, DTiF Curriculum Officer, Sarah Atkins, explains what is meant by the key concept ‘implementation’ and key terms like branching and iteration. She gives suggestions on how teachers can address the concept with their students in a primary setting.

Keywords: visual programming, branching, decisions, repetition, user input, primary

Audience: suitable for primary teachers

6 key moments in this video 

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2 

3 

4 

5 

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00:00 – 01:06
 

01:07 – 03:41 

03:42 – 5:38

05:39 – 08:54 

08:55 – 13:50 

13:51 – 20:20

Introduction to implementation

Curriculum links

Visual programming explained

Branching explained

User input explained

Iteration explained

Related links:

DTiF Scratch studio – sample projects: scratch.mit.edu/studios/19161555/

Interactive Christmas Tree: scratch.mit.edu/projects/267477298

Australian Computing Academy (Now Grok Academy): aca.edu.au/curriculum/implementation/

Mandala with ‘square’ function: scratch.mit.edu/projects/326508621/

Mandala with ‘square’ function and repeat until loop: scratch.mit.edu/projects/405510973/  

Grow with Sphero - Spherograph: edu.sphero.com/cwists/preview/30728

Code.org: studio.code.org/courses

Code Club Australia: codeclubau.org/projects/

Scratch for Educators: scratch.mit.edu/educators

Microsoft MakeCode: microsoft.com/en-us/makecode

Scratch Jr activities:

The Bilby Channel on YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCIPDmExDU5nntS_sC3StbEw

DTiF Staffroom video – Key concepts – Abstraction Part 1

Summary: In this video DTiF Curriculum Officer, Martin Levins explores the definition of abstraction in the Australian Curriculum: Technologies and explains what abstraction looks like in Digital Technologies.

Keywords: abstraction, computational thinking, models, graphs

Audience: suitable for primary and secondary teachers

6 key moments in this video 

00:00 – 00:52
 

00:52 – 01:02

01:02 – 03:12

03:34 – 07:03 

07:04 – 09:10 

09:12 – 09:50 

Defining abstraction in the Australian Curriculum

Unpacking the definition

Looking at abstraction through images, railway maps and mud maps

Abstraction in computational thinking

Using models to explain abstract constructs

Abstraction recap

Related links:

The knight’s tour: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight%27s_tour

Interactive knight’s tour challenge: www.maths-resources.com/knights/

DTiF Staffroom video – Key concepts – Abstraction Part 2

Summary: Curriculum Officer, Martin Levins explores how abstraction in Digital Technologies can be taught in conjunction with Mathematics – Measurement and Geometry.

Keywords: abstraction, computational thinking, mathematics, geometry, polygon

Audience: suitable for primary and secondary teachers

6 key moments in this video 

1 

2 

00:00 – 00:53
 

00:54 – 01:18 

01:18 – 1:38

01:38 – 02:08 

02:10 – 05:22 

05:29 – 06:32 

Introduction to applying abstraction in the classroom through Mathematics and computer programming

Geometric reasoning through angles and direction

Concepts leading to calculus

Identifying angles as measures of turn and their relationship to regular polygons

Decomposing polygons and developing algorithms to draw them

Recap of process to draw a polygon

Related links:

Abstractive procedure polygon in Scratch: scratch.mit.edu/projects/357685001/

Digital systems – Communication between 2 devices 

Summary: This video for teachers of Years 5–6 explains how computers use whole numbers to communicate. The video explains how morse code was used to communicate between 2 different locations and goes on to make the leap to teletype machines, the first form of digital communication which sent messages between 2 devices via printed messages. ASCII code is explored to explain how digital devices convert base 2 (binary digits) to base 10 (decimal numbers) to translate between computer and human interfaces. Communication from a computer to a printer is explored followed by an explanation of pixels and RGB values. 

Keywords: ASCII, Unicode, digital systems, networks, binary, pixels, RGB values 

Audience: suitable for upper primary and lower secondary teachers 

Digital systems – Communication between multiple devices 

SummaryThis video for teachers of Years 5–8 explains how network traffic is directed and coordinated between digital systems. It first explores how human communication is transmitted when controlling aircraft traffic. The video goes on to explain how digital systems use protocols for network communications and error correction. This is explained through binary communication methods, error correction protocols and MAC addresses.  

Keywords: ASCII, MAC address, communication protocols, binary, digital systems 

Audience: suitable for primary and secondary teachers

Digital systems – Communication across networks 

Summary: This video for teachers of Years 5–8 explains how computers access other computers on different networks via a switch and router. MAC addresses and IP addresses are explained along with how routers send communications between networks. 

Keywords: IP addresses, MAC address, error checking, networks, router, switch, protocols, digital systems 

Audience: suitable for primary and secondary teachers

Digital systems – Communication over the internet 

Summary: This video for teachers of Years 5–8 explains the domain name system (DNS). The video explains how internet addresses (human useful locations) are converted to IP addresses (computer useful locations) and how firewalls are used to block disallowed traffic. Network paths and redundancy and least-cost routing are explained. Terminology for error checking is explained in detail including protocols for how TCP packets are transmitted. A summary of all content from the 4 videos is provided at the end of this video.  

Keywords: web addresses, IP addresses, TCP, error checking, networks, internet, protocols, digital systems 

Audience: suitable for primary and secondary teachers

Dr Rebecca Vivian - The CSER Digital Technologies Education Program

Summary: Dr Rebecca Vivian gives an overview of the CSER Digital Technologies Education project from The University of Adelaide. The project includes free professional learning, a digital equipment lending library and a range of other resources designed to support teachers in the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies.

Keywords: professional learning, resources, digital technologies

Related links: https://csermoocs.adelaide.edu.au/

Russell Scott - Vortals: Augmented reality, virtual reality, 2D, 3D and game design lessons

Summary: Russell Scott, Co-Founder at Vortals demonstrates some of the ways he teaches students about augmented reality, virtual reality, 2D, 3D and game design.

Keywords: digital systems, specifications, algorithms, implementation, interaction

Related links: https://www.vortals.app/

Andrew Harris - Lead Teacher, Agricultural Education, Hagley Farm Primary School

Summary:  Andrew Harris from the Hagley Farm school in Tasmania shared the work they are doing teaching Digital Technologies and its meaningful use in agriculture at the school. For example, Andrew provides examples of ways students learn about digital systems and data collection.

Keywords: digital systems, digital technologies, agriculture, VR

Related links: Hagley farm school website, Primary Schools to Primary Industries Education Framework, Virtual farm tour, Tasmanian Department of Education Field Study Centres, Tasmanian Agricultural Education Network

 

Part 1: Introduction and overview: accessing the Australian Curriculum National Numeracy Learning progression

Summary:  DTiF Curriculum Officer Sarah Atkins discusses how you can use the Australian Curriculum National Numeracy Learning Progression to help students address aspects of numeracy and also learn about Digital Technologies.

Keywords: numeracy

Part 2: Learning from flowers

Summary: In this video Sarah Atkins shows an early childhood example using flowers to explore number patterns and algebraic thinking, quantifying numbers and interpreting and representing data.

Keywords: numeracy, F-2, data collection

Australian Curriculum code(s): ACTDIP010, ACTDIP011, ACTDIP012

Part 3: Compass rose

Summary:  In this video Sarah Atkins demonstrates how to create a compass rose using visual programming (Scratch).

Keywords: numeracy, visual programming, algorithms, digital solutions

Australian Curriculum code(s): ACTDIP010, ACTDIP011, ACTDIP012

Part 4: Tessellations

Summary:  In this video Sarah Atkins discusses ways to help students understand geometric properties using visual programming with apps and robotics in order to learn about polygons and angles.

Keywords: numeracy, visual programming, geometry, polygons, angles, tessellation

Australian Curriculum code(s): ACTDIP019, ACTDIP020

Part 5: Data from sports

Summary:  In this video Sarah Atkins explores data with sports, games and simple activities such as measuring how far we can throw a seed pod.

Keywords: numeracy, data collection

Australian Curriculum code(s): ACTDIK008, ACTDIP009, ACTDIP016

Part 6: Using literature as a springboard to numeracy and Digital Technologies

Summary: In this video Sarah Atkins shares ideas and resources that may assist teachers to make connections between Numeracy, Literacy and Digital Technologies in the primary classroom.

Keywords: numeracy, literacy