Level 3

At NCEA level 3 students are working level 8 of the New Zealand Curriculum

Computational thinking for digital technologies

Students will develop an understanding of computer science principles that underlie all digital technologies. They’ll learn core programming concepts so that they can become creators of digital technology, not just users.

Progress outcome 8

Within authentic contexts and taking account of end-users, students evaluate concepts in digital technologies (for example, formal languages, network communication protocols, artificial intelligence, graphics and visual computing, big data, social algorithms) in relation to how key mechanisms underpin them and how they are applied in different scenarios when developing real world applications.

Students understand accepted software engineering methodologies and user experience design processes and apply their key concepts to design, develop, document and test complex computer programs.

Designing and developing digital outcomes

Students will learn how to design quality, fit-for-purpose digital solutions.

Progress outcome 6

Within authentic contexts, students independently investigate a specialised digital technologies area and propose possible solutions to issues they identify. They work independently or within collaborative, cross-functional teams to apply an iterative development process to plan, design, develop, test and create quality, fit-for-purpose digital outcomes that enable their solutions, synthesising relevant social, ethical and end-user considerations as they develop digital content.

Students integrate in the outcomes they develop specialised knowledge of digital applications and systems from a range of areas, including:

network architecture
complex electronics environments and embedded systems
interrelated computing devices, hardware and applications
digital information systems
user experience design
complex management of digital information
creative digital media.

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COURSE INFO

The course starts with ten weeks of learning skills through your chosen software i.e. Blender, Fusion360, Inkscape etc. This is an opportunity to develop all the skills that you'll need without any assessment or risk and have some fun.

After you have an idea of your own capabilities and the capabilities of the software, you'll decide on what you'll make for your project and then design it. This will help you create your Design Portfolio that you can use to help you answer the question in the Design DCAT, AS92007, that will be held at the end of Term 3/Start of Term 4 (Date to be confirmed).

After you finish the design you get to create what you have designed. This will be around 12 weeks of work where you will plan and develop what you designed, testing and getting feedback along the way to make it better. This will be assessed by your teacher in AS92005 - Develop a digital technologies outcome, for 5 credits.

By the middle of term 3 you'll have your outcome finished. You will then have two weeks to put together a compelling presentation that tells a story of developing your outcome and covers some of the key aspects you entailed. This presentation is a nice way to pull all the knowledge, understanding and skills you have learnt in this course and showcase your project.

At the end of Term 3 you will move on to study for your two DCAT Exams. As mentioned above, one of the DCATS will be AS92007- Deisgn a digital technologies outcome and the other will be AS92006- Demonstrate understanding of usability in human computer interfaces. Instead of AS92006 you could always work though the other internal AS92004 - Create a Computer Program. The content and knowledge for this is all contained in the unit shown further down . HCI is a computer science concept is seen throughout all digital technologies and will help you get a much better understanding of interfaces as you move on to further study in digital technologies in following years. Each of the DCATs are worth 5 credits.

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NEED SOME PROJECT INSPIRATION

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YOUR CHOICE

We are going to spend Term 1 working through a variety of tasks and tutorials to hopefully develop your skill level further, and help you make decisions later on about what sort of project you want to spend the rest of the year on.

You are going to keep a record of your learning using this Skills Log. Update it as you go.