This teacher resource has been designed for teachers in Year 5. It is critical for students to have a sound understanding of digital systems and how to create and use these systems, in order to take an active role in meeting the future needs and wants of society. This teaching resource acknowledges this and aims to engage students in these critical digital design processes. This unit of work uses an inquiry-based approach, where students are initially posed with a real-world problem that they must solve. In order to gain the knowledge, understandings and skills to solve the problem, students must engage in a series of learning activities within a WebQuest. Students are then required to create their digital solution by completing a Design Booklet, which scaffolds them through the digital design process. 

Content Descriptions

Knowledge and Understanding

Examine the main components of common digital systems and how they may connect together to form networks to transmit data (ACTDIK014)

Process and Production Skills – Assigned

Plan, create and communicate ideas and information, including collaboratively online, applying agreed ethical, social and technical protocols (ACTDIP022)

Cross Curriculum Priorities: Sustainability

Students identify problems and needs presented by society and generate ideas and create solutions by anticipating the social impacts of their solutions.

General Capabilities

Literacy

Students will:

• Interpret detailed explanations and visual representations to understand the representation of data and digital systems (hardware, software and networks).

• Clearly communicate network deign ideas (through visual representations and written explanations) and peer reviews.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

Students will develop understandings of how:

• Data (text, images, sound) is represented in digital systems.

• The functions of internal and external components of digital systems.

• The internal and external components of digital systems coordinate to accept, manipulate and present data.

• Data may be transmitted between two digital systems, in different ways, such as cable or wireless networks.

Critical and Creative Thinking

Students will:

• Think critically and creatively about how members of the school community may wish to connect their iPad to other digital devices and what networks they would require to do so.

Personal and Social capability 

Students will:

• Engage in independent, self-directed and self-managed learning through the WebQuest and the completion of the assessment project.

Ethical Understanding

Students will:

• Understand and apply socially responsible principles through collaboratively developing, agreeing to and following ‘rules’ for appropriate conduct when communicating with peers on the class webpage.

Australian Curriculum: Digital Technolgies - Key Ideas 

The assessment task has been designed based upon the Australian Curriculum’s key ideas of:

• Creating preferred futures – students will identify the needs of society (school community), in order to plan and create beneficial and sustainable solutions.

• Project Management – Students will engage in the process of planning, managing resources and time, decision-making and evaluating.

• Systems Thinking in technologies – Students will coordinate a number of digital devices to achieve a desired purpose.

Click the link below to access the Nifty Networks WebQuest.

http://questgarden.com/q/networks

• Lessons are approximately 60 minutes in duration.
• You will be required to insert your Due Date for the assessment task within the Nifty Networks Design Brief. You will need to update this document on the student WebQuest. 
• You will be required to print of a copy of the Nifty Networks Design Booklet for each of your students. 
• Students are encouraged to independently print off all other printable resources. 
• You will need to organise and notify students of the peer they will be completing a peer review for. 

See the Unit Overview and Resources section below to find a lesson sequence and required resources and the Differentiation section to view differentiation considerations. 

WebQuest

The WebQuest provides the teacher with flexibility in that it can either be directed by the teacher to enable more scaffolded learning or it can be used to promote independent learning, where students work through specific sections of the WebQuest independently. 

The WebQuest also caters for a range of learning styles, such as, visual-spatial, auditory, verbal-linguistic, kinaesthetic, logical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, as it provides opportunities for students to learn through viewing and listening to video presentations, reading information, completing written and hands-on activities and completing both independent and collaborative tasks. 

Nifty Networks Digital Design Task

This project caters for a range of learning styles, as it provides different approaches for students to communicate their knowledge and understanding. These learning styles include: visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, kinaesthetic, logical, interpersonal and intrapersonal. This differentiation is achieved through providing opportunities for students to draw diagrams of their design, communicate their understandings using graphic organisers and written text, physically construct their network design, work independently and collaborate with peers through online feedback.